The Tool: The Fujifilm X-T1 MirrorlessiPhone 6

BLOG # 16 SPECIAL EDITION 2016: PROJECT 365 COMPLETE! 

First Day of being finished with Project 365. I am going through my Facebook, Photos App, and website to synchronise the content and make sure that it's all there. I am finding some inconsistencies and sorting them out. This is for the purpose of posting all 365 photos on jeremyhgreenberg.zenfolio.com and also to make a book through Apple's Photo Project Printing Service.

What's next you might ask?  Kirill Voloshin​ and I are planning a show in a local art gallery. Something like out 12 best printed plus some others perhaps. We will be inviting some of you who are around ½ way done if you would like to attend/participate in the photo show.  In the meantime, I will continue to complete my online NYIP course sequence, shoot street, shoot portraits, and plan to get heavily into film again. I have been getting some paid work doing events and portraits so I will continue that as well. This was one of the most unexpected consequences of Project 365. 

I might buy a new lens to congratulate myself for completing this VERY demanding project. As Kirill Voloshin would say, "Why not"?. We had dinner and drinks last night to celebrate our completion! It's a GREAT feeling! I'm interested in the Fujinon 50-140 f/2.8 weather resistance monster lens with image stabilisation something to the tune of 5-stops! It's a killer lens for portraits, wildlife and sports especially when paired with the also-weather resistant  teleconverter 1.4 by Fujifilm. Ummm, gear! 

I experimented with almost every genre within photography during this project: landscape, urban exploration, travel, food, cityscape, waterscape, still, trick photography, street, portrait, environmental portrait, sports, wildlife, and macro. I think that the function of a project 365 is to try many genres within photography so that one can decide what they most like making images of and perhaps what they are good at making images of. It's a valuable exercise for any photographer and artist. 

My photos included many family and friends and of course lots of random people all over the world. The photos were made in Hong Kong mostly (where I reside), Macau (2x), China (2x), Japan (2X), and USA (3X). That's quite a lot of travel for me! It was very appropriate that I chose this year for Project 365 since I had just about the most travelling I have ever had in one year. 

The gear included the full frame Nikon D610 DLSR with a various assortment of lenses.  I began to carry a camera everyday throughout this project and the Nikon was a pain the neck (literally!) to schlep around.  I sold that system and replaced it with my now-only digital trusty Fujifilm X-T1 mirrorless also with a various assortment of lenses. I also shot film using my beloved retro Nikon FM2 (50mm f/1.8 & 28mm f/2.8 lenses also shown in Photo #4/365), my precious Leica M6 with Summicron 35mm f/2, and super fun Nikon 35Ti compact film camera. The film was usually Kodak Portra Color 400 Speed or TMAX B&W ISO 400.  Film photos were processed, scanned, and in some cases lightly edited. Of course my iPhone 6 proved a handy device and I always had that with me.  Post processing usually included Lightroom but rarely Photoshop. 

One take-away is that I believe that I am closer to understanding what I like to make photographs of.  This is very important part of making successful images.  I think that I am closer to defining my "style". I seem to enjoy making mostly photos of people.  Most of my photos are portrait, street, and environmental portraits. It's safe to say that I am biased towards black and white.  I also like urban cityscapes and some landscape photography but usually those images include people as well.  Interestingly, I have very much enjoyed playing around and experimenting with abstract imagery using multiple exposure, long exposure, slow synch flash, or zoom blur effects. These images also include people for the most part.  Trick photography like this is amazing and fun although very difficult to have a consistent style with since no two photos will have the same effects. The nice thing about those creative techniques is that they are all done "in camera" rather than in the post-processing software so these techniques are fast and easy but very difficult to do well using film. These tricks are most easily executed with a digital system. 

Please continue to shoot, edit, post, and comment! Also, invite others to join. This is not for the faint of heart! It's a damn-difficult project and but one that will force you to grow having a steep learning curve. It's grown organically and that was another pleasant surprise that resulted from the sharing the project 365. It's really people that make it worth doing. 

Here's the link to all 365: http://jeremyhgreenberg.zenfolio.com/p151336832

May the light be on your side! 

Jeremy H. Greenberg​