Sarah guessed 12,576—far ahead of Linda’s guess of 6,212.

In hindsight, SMG may have had an unfair advantage. She teased me for easily filling a photo memory card after just a couple of hours at her farm. (Sarah has the prettiest and friendliest dairy herd anywhere.) She also has waited for me (sometimes patiently) as I’ve taken photos when we’ve been out and about (or in). Sarah will receive a fabulous prize when I see her at book club later this month. (Sharelle, don’t let me forget the fabulous prize for Sarah.)

But even with her winning guess, Sarah was off the mark. Way off. That’s because, according to iPhoto, in 2011 I took 26,395 pictures. Some of them were even in focus.

Thank you again for your friendship and support. Happy New Year!

(download)

Click here to download:

The_Number_The_Winner.zip (163 KB)

As much as I have loved this project, I do not have the energy for another.* (At least right now. You can start these things any time, you know. There are no rules or 365 Police, two key lessons I learned early on.)

This year I’m looking forward to continuing to take photos and post them—perhaps on Facebook and definitely on Flickr. Discovering Flickr has been one of the best unexpected benefits of this project. I mistakenly thought it was only a place to share photos with family. Not only does Flickr allow you to store and share photos for free, it’s a social networking site—much like Facebook—centered around photography. There are groups for just about every interest. I participated in the “Get Pushed” group for three rounds at the end of the year and received challenges designed to “push” my photo skills from a Canadian, an Englishman and a Californian, lovely people all, and seriously talented photographers. I hope to do more pushes this year.

I’ve also joined two “52 groups” via Flickr, which means I’ll be doing two “52 projects” this year. The first, Me & You 52 (see the accompanying blog here: http://meandyou52.blogspot.com) is led by two talented photographers, including one I met through the self-portrait class I recently finished. It features only photos taken and processed with mobile phones (like my new iPhone!) and requires photographers to shoot a photo a week related to a theme that begins with a different letter of the alphabet. We’ve already shot Abode, Breakfast, Communication, Divide and Flip. We’ll get a new word tomorrow, and it will start with E. It is not too late to join this group if this interests you! Here’s the link (where you can see a photo of my accommodating [and limber] sister doing a round off in our parents’ basement den for my “flip” photo: http://www.flickr.com/groups/1789735@N25/)

The other group, 52 Weeks: The 2012 Edition, starts today. It includes 376 members from around the world (including two other Iowans). Each Sunday we’ll get a suggested theme, and we’ll plan to post a photo to the group during the week. Our first theme is “my town.” I’m very excited to be part of this group. There was talk of closing the group membership at some point, but it still has a link to invite friends, so it’s probably not too late to join: http://www.flickr.com/groups/52_the__2012_edition/

Whether you’re interested in these projects, I’d love to connect with you on Flickr. My user name is KelcrockerIA. You can also find me on Facebook, although I’m not as good about checking in there regularly.

This posterous will retire. For the time being I don’t want to kill it; I’ll just let it languish in the old websites home. (And who knows? Maybe I’ll return to it some day. Never say never.)

* Why no energy? You’ll probably understand when I share the number of photos I took this year . . . That, and the winner of the How Many Photos Did I Take This Year contest, coming up!

(download)

Click here to download:

Whats_Next_Flickr_52s.zip (304 KB)

This morning, although the video probably was fine, I tweaked it again, for a few hours is all. When it seemed pretty cool (if I do say so myself, for a beginner), I spent a few minutes learning how to post something on YouTube, and then I posted my movie. Shortly after that, I received a message from YouTube saying I seemed to be violating copyright laws, so they had removed my video’s soundtrack. The soundtrack that was choreographed precisely (more or less) to the photos! So, I spent a few desperate minutes learning how to remove a video from YouTube, removed mine, and then searched for music I could use for free for non-commercial purposes. (Not only was my fourth and perfect song a one-time popular hit, so were numbers one, two and three. Sigh. It didn’t even occur to me!)

I am grateful to Zapac and the free use of their song “Test Drive,” which I found through ccMixter.org. Here is my revised video, which you can also find on YouTube. (A word of warning: It goes a little fast. I just watched it on YouTube for the first time and it made me a little motion sick. I apologize in advance if my video makes you ill!)

The easy part, though, is thanking you—those who have subscribed, those who have checked in, those who have left comments (and critiques), those who have encouraged and supported me (even when they didn’t want their photos taken), those who have let me photograph them/their spouse/their kids/their pets/their livestock. Those who waited for me while I took just one more shot (and then another and another). I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.

Twelve days into this thing, I suddenly wondered: Why am I posting these publicly? In one respect, I wanted to be accountable. (Thank you to those who let me know when I missed a day!) I also think it’s a sign of the times. When people launch projects these days, they often share them online. I think it also has to do with a concept that’s familiar to writers: We want our work to be read. Although that metaphor doesn’t completely hold up here because I’d never post a rough draft.

Maybe that’s the secret to why this has been so much fun: From the get-go, I warned you that I’m not a professional photographer and that I don’t have fancy equipment. Although I’ve tried to take good photos, mostly I’ve allowed myself to play. I jumped into this on 1/1/11 on a whim, which means I didn’t think it through. On the first day, I listed my goals.

I hope this project will:
• Be fun.
• Show me how to be creative without words. (Gulp.)
• Help me get to know my character better.
• Open my eyes to the people, places and things around me.

It has done all these things, though it’s been interesting to notice how difficult #2 has been at times. It’s also no lie to say that the benefits of #4 have been life-changing. Taking photos has become a way for me to deeply connect—with the world and myself. The sky, in particular, with its ever-changing colors, clouds and light, seems to thrill me at least once a day. I’ve met and photographed delightful people. I’ve even discovered that taking pictures is one of the best ways to lift a foul mood—I can’t stay grumpy when I’m noticing a flower’s diaphanous petal, the fizz of Diet Coke in a tall glass or my Black Lab Cosmo’s hulking paws (again).

I’ve learned that a camera is magic. It not only captures images, it slows time, throws off stress and plugs into the divine that is all around and within. In 2012, I encourage you to make the time to slow down, play, notice and connect. (Notice I said “make” the time. We all have the same amount of time.) Maybe you’ll take pictures or maybe you’ll take another path. The important thing, I think, is to listen to the whisper that’s calling you. It probably won’t make sense. For example, you may hear something about dancing or painting and you know for sure that you have no artistic ability and, in addition, two left feet. Plus, painting and dancing are expensive. Don’t listen to the Naysayer Chorus in your head. Allow yourself to do something you’re not good at. Allow yourself to do something just for fun. If it turns out to be unfun, that’s okay. Try something else. You don’t have to: Start on January 1, post it publicly or do it for a year. What if there is no whisper? My advice (not that you asked) is to sit quietly for five minutes. See what that’s like. See if you hear a whisper. If not, no problem. Try it again the next day. And maybe the next. Maybe sitting quietly will be your thing.

Happy New Year!

xoxo,
kellye

If you haven’t entered my contest, there’s still time. I’ll post the answer and winner tomorrow.

All you have to do is provide a comment (or email or tweet me, if that’s easier) saying how many photos you think I took in 2011. (It’s much more than 365.) The person closest wins a fabulous prize! (Or, at least a prize!)

Thanks!