Mostly 365: One Day, One Photo and lots of beauty at a time

Camera+ had been rated highly by many users but had been removed from the App Store for several months.  The reason for the removal was that the developers had added a hidden feature that violated Apple's guidelines.

However, I was poking around the Internet one evening in late December and saw that Camera+ had been added back to the App Store.  I was thrilled to see this and immediately bought the app for 99 cents.   With the app in hand, what was I going to do with it?

I've had an interest in photography for a while.  In fact, I am armed with my Iphone, two point and shoot camera (one older, one newer) and one Digital SLR.  The Digital SLR was purchased for the express purchase of learning to take better photos manually.  Alas, learning the basics and getting out to do photography can be time consuming.

However, I lucked out.  After purchasing Camera+, I was reading a blog posting by Lisa Bettany (developer of Camera+) discussing a project she called Mostly365.  The idea behind the project was to encourage everyone to take one picture a day for 2011 and share the picture with the world via a website she created:

Mostly 365 Website

For some reason, this project resonated with me and for the past month, I have been snapping away with my Iphone.  Check out my photos here:

coach41's Mostly 365 Photos

Originally, I was doing the project as Lisa had stated.  I was looking around for interesting things to shoot and I would share the picture.  However, a co-worker made an interesting point.  He saw one of my photos  that was shot at a department store and commented:  "Are you sure you want that to be the thing you remember from that particular day?  Try shooting things that would make your day memorable".

Since then, I've tried to shoot things in the locations I have been in.  This could be murals, food or just the scenery.  But the point is I am trying to capture a moment that I will remember at the end of 2011.  I can't say I've had fantastic success with all of my photos but I feel I have some nice shots.

There has been one additional benefit to participating in this project.  With my eye constantly looking out for things to shoot, I have noticed there IS A LOT OF BEAUTIFUL THINGS out there in the world.  It could be the sunset, a mural or just a small flower that maybe you otherwise wouldn't notice.

In our day to day lives, we tend not to appreciate the little things due to stress, work or other things.  With this Mostly365 project, I think I've certainly gotten back to appreciating some of the little things.   Beyond taking pictures though, I think everyone's lives would be improved if they slowed down and appreciated some of the smaller and beautiful things in the world.