Ambitious resolution

Sometime in mid-November, as I looked a window or took notice of a particularly pleasant autumn scene before me, I lamented the lack of a camera nearby -- or was just flat-out lazy and didn't make the effort to walk inside or upstairs to get it.

Then, one late, quiet night at work, in the early-morning hours, I whiled away the final few minutes browsing Flickr and found myself (as I often do on such virtual strolls) inspired. Hopefully, that inspiration carries over into action, because as I've thought about it over the last few weeks, I'm excited for the potential this project could bring.

My resolution for 2009? One photo a day. Every day. Three-hundred and sixty-five new images, each taken during a different 12 a.m.-11:59 p.m. period. I know it's not a new or novel idea, but I think it's just the thing to spark my creativity and avoid the regret I feel when I see a particular scene and think, I've got to remember to come back here with the camera tomorrow, and then never do.

Ideally, I'll not only shoot at least one picture a day, but I'll post one, too. I'll give myself more leeway in the posting department; while I'll have only 24 hours to shoot a photo for a particular day, I'll allow a few days' worth to pile up if I can't get to a computer or take the time to organize the images. That may be the project's undoing, but so be it.

I understand that I won't be able to produce 365 stellar images. Not every day is going to lead to a praise-worthy shot. Maybe not every week will. But that's not the point; the aim is to see what a different scene each day leads to. I'm sure there will be more than enough days when I post a picture of the cats or a closeup of a leaf just to mark that day done. But I also expect that setting this goal will lead to some new personal discoveries in my artistic eye, method and results.

I'm excited to see what comes of it.

Here's one last 2008 picture to start things off as the snow comes down on New Year's Eve in Boston.

Snow on Tremont