Week 1 for 2011 of the 52 Project

Happy 2011, dear readers. I have a year-in-review post cooking (sort-of), but until that's done, I have another idea to throw out here:

You may have heard of the "365 Project", a website/service that encourages users to document a year of their lives by snapping a picture a day and facilitates this by providing the service to upload and share their daily snapshots. Why, you ask? Well, the website answers that succinctly in list form (bold emphasis mine):

• Improve your photography skills
• Capture otherwise forgotten moments in your life
• Easier than writing a diary or blog
• Only takes a few minutes each day
• Facebook App to make sharing easy

I think this is a pretty neat idea, except that I know myself, and I know that I'd be kidding myself if I thought I could uphold the discipline of doing this every single day. I bounced this idea off of Sharon, who smartly suggested that I try to post a few pictures each week instead.

This seems like a proper compromise, so I hereby embark on what I'll call the "52 Project". While acknowledging this as a maybe-cheap ploy to get myself to blog more, I do in fact want to improve my photography skills; it's quickly becoming a hobby of mine, and these days, I'm thrilled to explore anything that piques my interest enough to legitimately be considered a "hobby."

So, I'll use this space (instead of that website) to post at least one picture per week with some accompanying description either of the composition or of "what I was going for" or more, if I'm ambitious. If I'm lazy, well... it happens. I may even try to include photograph "stats" should I get around to it.

Without further ado, here's 2011 Week 1:

A little guy I shot at the National Aquarium in Baltimore, MD. I was pleased with the focus on this one.

Shutter: 1/80, Aperture: f/4.0, ISO: 800

Playing with the zoom and focus in Baltimore, MD. 

Shutter: 1/800, Aperture: f/4.3, ISO: 80

A nice, dumb-luck shot aboard the USS Constellation in Baltimore, MD. 

Shutter: 1/1000, Aperture: f/2.8, ISO: 80