I did it. I completed an entire year of self-portraits. The rules are simple- one photo a day, every day, of yourself. You have to be in the photo somehow, even if its just a fingertip or a reflection. It isn't that difficult of a concept to grasp. One self-portrait a day, every day. For a year.
And today, I did it. I completed my first year of the 365days Self-portrait project on Flickr. All of my photos can be seen here- in My First 365Days Project. That's right, my first. Which, of course, implies I'm doing it again. I was going to take a few days off and then restart, but I like starting on Valentine's Day. It gives that day a new meaning since, quite obviously, the intended meaning is long gone for me. Also, I have a whole mess o' not-submitted self-portraits and a few I used as "mini-challenges" in the 365days group (linked above). This is my "Other self-portraits" set.
But I digress... back to the year in photos.
I had hoped to lose weight this year and mark that obviously in photos. But it didn't happen. Let's start at the beginning. This is going to be a long one, so you might want to grab a drink and possibly a snack.
Here's day one. Taken with my camera on "auto", using a flash. I was standing outside, waiting on the dogs, and just snapped this photo. Not great. Not bad. Just a typical arm's length self-portrait.
![1 of 365]()
My reason for starting this project as opposed to a 365 days project about anything else was- no matter where I am, I'm with me. And since I'm supposed to be both photographer and subject, I figured I could complete it. This is day 365-
![365 of 365- I did it!]()
I was trying to re-create the first photo (even wearing the same hoodie), but the wind was blowing and its also daylight... but look, you can see Gypsy in the background. Now let's get to the year in review.
So many things happened in the past three hundred and sixty-five days. One of the most important things being that I am now using my camera to its full potential. I've sold a few photos and one of my photos is hanging in the local Denny's Restaurant (not a self-portrait, obviously). I've met so many wonderful people and made some amazing friends. I made new friends- in real life, not just online- and I even lost a friend. He was one of my friends who shared an interest in photography with me.
Some particularly great things that happened this year:
Shawn came to visit from Australia. And I wrestled him to the ground and forced him to be in my self-portrait project. Here are a few-
Day 21, where I told him to stare off in the distance.
![21 of 365]()
Day 23, where I wrestled him down and put him in a headlock. This photo is in a frame above my desk.
![23 of 365]()
There are a few others, but I have to say that this is Shawn's favorite.
Day 43-
![43 of 365]()
This isn't all of the photos with Shawn in them, just a choice few. And this one was sort of a sneak attack. (the railing says, "This is not a photo op").
Day 45 (this was also the day before he left).
![45 of 365]()
So March was great. He even went to a doctor appointment at the Veteran's Hospital with me. We did a two-day trip to Milwaukee and the photos of his trip are in this set on my Flickr. (there are loads more photos, but we've shared them on Facebook).
I took a lot of photos of my eyes and a few of my cleavage. I've been naked in a bunch of photos but the viewer couldn't really tell. (I have great light in my bedroom from the window if the sun is out- hence the naked-but-can't-tell photos). And I have a few were I am naked. And here, I share them with you now.
Day 184-
![184 of 365- Bodyscape and tattoos]()
Day 265- (the giant eye!)
![265 of 365- Jeez, my head is huge!]()
Originally, I was going to write this in order, but it seems to be going out of order, so just enjoy the randomness that is my mind today. During this year, a few neat things happened. I mentioned meeting friends. I went to faire and met up with my dear friend, Angus, and one of his friends joined us and now we're friends. I didn't use any photos of us as a self-portrait that day, but I had a good time at faire and I hope he comes back this year. I went back to the faire a few times with my daughters. And from that...
Day 147- the day I met up with Angus and Mary. On the way home, it stormed like crazy and I got some amazing sunset photos. And my submission.
![147 of 365- Reflections and sunset]()
Day 169- at Bristol Ren Faire with my daughter Christine (aka- Ceej).
![169 of 365- Me and Christine-]()
Also, at Faire, this happened. Day 204- "Sir Maximilian" (also known as Matthew), this photo is also in a frame near my desk- it shares a frame with this photo of Jane the Phoole with my girls. Not only does Matthew joust, he does amazing leather work. He's an artist, to put it mildly. Maxx Empire Leather (on Facebook).
![204 of 365- Me with a Knight in Shining Armor]()
I think its safe to say we're friends now. Not because of this picture, of course, just in general. I look forward to Bristol this year. But I digress...
Along with meeting the knight (and a few others), I met a group of acrobats (Barely Balanced) and I'm friends with "Medium" (aka Cameron) in much the same way. I don't have any self-portraits with Cameron, but I have a photo of the girls with him. Ceej, Kat and Cameron (on stilts, of course). Ceej has this photo and the photos of her with Jimmy (aka "Large") and Casey (aka "Small") in a triptych frame in her room.
![Cameron and my girls]()
In the Fall, I went to a faire I'd never been to- and it happened to land on my birthday weekend. I spent part of the first day with Jane the Phoole, where we had a long conversation about everything from garb to the final joust at Bristol. And she remained in character, of course, and people stopped to listen to us talking and maybe took photos- I don't know, if they did or not, but I'd be thrilled to know that someone took a photo of me with Jane (that is, aside from me). I've actually known Jane for quite a few years, but this year was the first time we had a chance for a long conversation.
Also on that day, I took an extremely cool photo for my self-portrait. I'd say it was the coolest self-portrait I'd ever taken, but I can't say that because I have photos with a knight, and Jane, my dad, my daughters, my best friend from Australia... my son is in a few as well. So, this is cool, but its not the coolest.
So, here's day 231- Nero's eye.
![Day 231 of 365- Me Reflected in a Horse's Eye]()
The second day of Faire was my actual birthday (age 41, thanks) and Jane was in my photo with me. I also regaled her with the story of why I had a bandage on my finger. ("Its quite shocking, really, I was attacked by a sea monster! And it was really amazing since I live in a land-locked area..."- in reality, I was accidentally bitten by one of my Chihuahuas and his little canine tooth punctured my finger. Jane said that was a better story- being mauled by a Chihuahua).
Day 232- where I gave Jane a statement she called a life lesson: "No one wants to breed with a fat Chihuahua"...
![232 of 365- Jane and Me!]()
Now, in the midst of the summer, I was diagnosed with a debilitating disease. But its okay, don't feel bad! With a diagnosis comes a solution! June 28, 2010, I was officially diagnosed with fibromyalgia. And my self-portrait was taken in the lab, while I was getting some blood work.
SQUEAMISH WARNING!! Day 135 is a photo of a butterfly needle in my hand and a tube full of blood. Scroll past this picture if you're the squeamish type.
Here it is...
Day 135-
![135 of 365- blood work]()
My mother was also on IV antibiotics this year. I was the "second on call" if anything was needed. And a few times, I had to give my mom her drugs- she had a PICC line in her arm, so there's no needles here, just my hand in a rubber glove and a syringe (no needle though). SASH- Saline, Antibiotic, Saline, Heparin.
Day 103-
![103 of 365- SASH, saline, antibiotic, saline, Heparin]()
Along with meeting all these amazing people (both online and in real life) and the fantastic diagnosis that changed my life (for the better), my son graduated from high school. Interesting factoid- while I was in labor with him, I watched TV till they turned it off and most of the time, I was watching "Kids in the Hall".
And if you're a fan, you'll laugh at Day 119-
![119 of 365- Crushing your head!]()
My dog had puppies this year. Day 137 (the day after Ceej's 17th birthday).
![137 of 365- Luna had her puppies!]()
We acquired a new dog- Gregg the girl dog with a boy name.
Day 220 (there are other photos with her, but this is the cutest one).
![220 of 365- Gregoria's Grey Ghost and Me]()
In the middle of November, my seven-year-old Dell up and died. Beyond repair. The experience was so awful, I went outside and up and died. Day 267-
![267 of 365- It was so awful, I went outside and died...]()
After surviving for ten days, using my son's laptop (which he was extremely generous about letting me use), my parents got me a new computer. Day 272-
![272 of 365- MY PARENTS ARE AWESOME!]()
I also got to meet, in person, the chick who is like a sister to me. This is our first time meeting after knowing each other for over seven years. This wasn't a self-portrait submission, but it would have been day 222 if I had used it-
![Me (in red), Michelle (middle), Christine (skirt)]()
Along with the meeting of new friends, I reconnected with an old friend. The last time we spoke was twenty-six years ago (almost to the day!). The Internet brought us back together- well, not "together" in any sense, but it turns out he lives in Wisconsin... five hours to the north. He drove down to see me. And I forced him to be in my day 274-
![274 of 365- Twenty-six years later...]()
So, there you have it... my year at random. What have I learned this past year? A lot about my camera. Also, I have amazing eyes even though the left one squints more than the right one. I'm a pretty damn good photographer, self-portraits and otherwise. I learned that I'm tenacious and can finish what I start. I learned that the disabled guy thinks I exaggerate my physical pain, he doesn't think what I do can be called "art", and he doesn't think some of my self-portraits look like me. (Day 364 he said of: "Its nice. It doesn't look like you. Where's the color?").
I have amazing friends. And even though I already knew this, it needs to be stated again: even though I've never met some of these people in real life, they are fantastic people. They are warm and funny and they care about me (and I care about them). Sure, we joke online (usually Facebook) and type in all-caps how much we love each other, but I do. I love my friends.
I'm not sure what else to say about this year- so much has happened and its amazing to me that I can look at my self-portraits and remember what was going on in my life when that photo was taken. Also, before I go, I have to give a nod to my photographer friends. I have yet to meet any of them in person, but they are amazing- they take amazing photos and I can only hope to be as good as they are.
And today, I did it. I completed my first year of the 365days Self-portrait project on Flickr. All of my photos can be seen here- in My First 365Days Project. That's right, my first. Which, of course, implies I'm doing it again. I was going to take a few days off and then restart, but I like starting on Valentine's Day. It gives that day a new meaning since, quite obviously, the intended meaning is long gone for me. Also, I have a whole mess o' not-submitted self-portraits and a few I used as "mini-challenges" in the 365days group (linked above). This is my "Other self-portraits" set.
But I digress... back to the year in photos.
I had hoped to lose weight this year and mark that obviously in photos. But it didn't happen. Let's start at the beginning. This is going to be a long one, so you might want to grab a drink and possibly a snack.
Here's day one. Taken with my camera on "auto", using a flash. I was standing outside, waiting on the dogs, and just snapped this photo. Not great. Not bad. Just a typical arm's length self-portrait.
My reason for starting this project as opposed to a 365 days project about anything else was- no matter where I am, I'm with me. And since I'm supposed to be both photographer and subject, I figured I could complete it. This is day 365-
I was trying to re-create the first photo (even wearing the same hoodie), but the wind was blowing and its also daylight... but look, you can see Gypsy in the background. Now let's get to the year in review.
So many things happened in the past three hundred and sixty-five days. One of the most important things being that I am now using my camera to its full potential. I've sold a few photos and one of my photos is hanging in the local Denny's Restaurant (not a self-portrait, obviously). I've met so many wonderful people and made some amazing friends. I made new friends- in real life, not just online- and I even lost a friend. He was one of my friends who shared an interest in photography with me.
Some particularly great things that happened this year:
Shawn came to visit from Australia. And I wrestled him to the ground and forced him to be in my self-portrait project. Here are a few-
Day 21, where I told him to stare off in the distance.
Day 23, where I wrestled him down and put him in a headlock. This photo is in a frame above my desk.
There are a few others, but I have to say that this is Shawn's favorite.
Day 43-
This isn't all of the photos with Shawn in them, just a choice few. And this one was sort of a sneak attack. (the railing says, "This is not a photo op").
Day 45 (this was also the day before he left).
So March was great. He even went to a doctor appointment at the Veteran's Hospital with me. We did a two-day trip to Milwaukee and the photos of his trip are in this set on my Flickr. (there are loads more photos, but we've shared them on Facebook).
I took a lot of photos of my eyes and a few of my cleavage. I've been naked in a bunch of photos but the viewer couldn't really tell. (I have great light in my bedroom from the window if the sun is out- hence the naked-but-can't-tell photos). And I have a few were I am naked. And here, I share them with you now.
Day 184-
Day 265- (the giant eye!)
Originally, I was going to write this in order, but it seems to be going out of order, so just enjoy the randomness that is my mind today. During this year, a few neat things happened. I mentioned meeting friends. I went to faire and met up with my dear friend, Angus, and one of his friends joined us and now we're friends. I didn't use any photos of us as a self-portrait that day, but I had a good time at faire and I hope he comes back this year. I went back to the faire a few times with my daughters. And from that...
Day 147- the day I met up with Angus and Mary. On the way home, it stormed like crazy and I got some amazing sunset photos. And my submission.
Day 169- at Bristol Ren Faire with my daughter Christine (aka- Ceej).
Also, at Faire, this happened. Day 204- "Sir Maximilian" (also known as Matthew), this photo is also in a frame near my desk- it shares a frame with this photo of Jane the Phoole with my girls. Not only does Matthew joust, he does amazing leather work. He's an artist, to put it mildly. Maxx Empire Leather (on Facebook).
I think its safe to say we're friends now. Not because of this picture, of course, just in general. I look forward to Bristol this year. But I digress...
Along with meeting the knight (and a few others), I met a group of acrobats (Barely Balanced) and I'm friends with "Medium" (aka Cameron) in much the same way. I don't have any self-portraits with Cameron, but I have a photo of the girls with him. Ceej, Kat and Cameron (on stilts, of course). Ceej has this photo and the photos of her with Jimmy (aka "Large") and Casey (aka "Small") in a triptych frame in her room.
In the Fall, I went to a faire I'd never been to- and it happened to land on my birthday weekend. I spent part of the first day with Jane the Phoole, where we had a long conversation about everything from garb to the final joust at Bristol. And she remained in character, of course, and people stopped to listen to us talking and maybe took photos- I don't know, if they did or not, but I'd be thrilled to know that someone took a photo of me with Jane (that is, aside from me). I've actually known Jane for quite a few years, but this year was the first time we had a chance for a long conversation.
Also on that day, I took an extremely cool photo for my self-portrait. I'd say it was the coolest self-portrait I'd ever taken, but I can't say that because I have photos with a knight, and Jane, my dad, my daughters, my best friend from Australia... my son is in a few as well. So, this is cool, but its not the coolest.
So, here's day 231- Nero's eye.
The second day of Faire was my actual birthday (age 41, thanks) and Jane was in my photo with me. I also regaled her with the story of why I had a bandage on my finger. ("Its quite shocking, really, I was attacked by a sea monster! And it was really amazing since I live in a land-locked area..."- in reality, I was accidentally bitten by one of my Chihuahuas and his little canine tooth punctured my finger. Jane said that was a better story- being mauled by a Chihuahua).
Day 232- where I gave Jane a statement she called a life lesson: "No one wants to breed with a fat Chihuahua"...
Now, in the midst of the summer, I was diagnosed with a debilitating disease. But its okay, don't feel bad! With a diagnosis comes a solution! June 28, 2010, I was officially diagnosed with fibromyalgia. And my self-portrait was taken in the lab, while I was getting some blood work.
SQUEAMISH WARNING!! Day 135 is a photo of a butterfly needle in my hand and a tube full of blood. Scroll past this picture if you're the squeamish type.
Here it is...
Day 135-
My mother was also on IV antibiotics this year. I was the "second on call" if anything was needed. And a few times, I had to give my mom her drugs- she had a PICC line in her arm, so there's no needles here, just my hand in a rubber glove and a syringe (no needle though). SASH- Saline, Antibiotic, Saline, Heparin.
Day 103-
Along with meeting all these amazing people (both online and in real life) and the fantastic diagnosis that changed my life (for the better), my son graduated from high school. Interesting factoid- while I was in labor with him, I watched TV till they turned it off and most of the time, I was watching "Kids in the Hall".
And if you're a fan, you'll laugh at Day 119-
My dog had puppies this year. Day 137 (the day after Ceej's 17th birthday).
We acquired a new dog- Gregg the girl dog with a boy name.
Day 220 (there are other photos with her, but this is the cutest one).
In the middle of November, my seven-year-old Dell up and died. Beyond repair. The experience was so awful, I went outside and up and died. Day 267-
After surviving for ten days, using my son's laptop (which he was extremely generous about letting me use), my parents got me a new computer. Day 272-
I also got to meet, in person, the chick who is like a sister to me. This is our first time meeting after knowing each other for over seven years. This wasn't a self-portrait submission, but it would have been day 222 if I had used it-
Along with the meeting of new friends, I reconnected with an old friend. The last time we spoke was twenty-six years ago (almost to the day!). The Internet brought us back together- well, not "together" in any sense, but it turns out he lives in Wisconsin... five hours to the north. He drove down to see me. And I forced him to be in my day 274-
So, there you have it... my year at random. What have I learned this past year? A lot about my camera. Also, I have amazing eyes even though the left one squints more than the right one. I'm a pretty damn good photographer, self-portraits and otherwise. I learned that I'm tenacious and can finish what I start. I learned that the disabled guy thinks I exaggerate my physical pain, he doesn't think what I do can be called "art", and he doesn't think some of my self-portraits look like me. (Day 364 he said of: "Its nice. It doesn't look like you. Where's the color?").
I have amazing friends. And even though I already knew this, it needs to be stated again: even though I've never met some of these people in real life, they are fantastic people. They are warm and funny and they care about me (and I care about them). Sure, we joke online (usually Facebook) and type in all-caps how much we love each other, but I do. I love my friends.
I'm not sure what else to say about this year- so much has happened and its amazing to me that I can look at my self-portraits and remember what was going on in my life when that photo was taken. Also, before I go, I have to give a nod to my photographer friends. I have yet to meet any of them in person, but they are amazing- they take amazing photos and I can only hope to be as good as they are.