One of my biggest faults as a photographer is that I primarily shoot travel photos—(pretty decent travel photos, IMHO ?), but still, photos I took while traveling. Since we don’t travel every day of the year, I don’t use my camera for about three months a year. The rest of the time, my camera resides in my office cabinet.

Fifteen years ago, Kathleen told me, “You only take pictures when we are on trips or for holiday family shots.” I agreed, and in January of that year, I started my first 365-day project. I took one photo a day for the entire year and posted it. I have done three of these 365 projects since, the last in 2018. It’s time for another, so here we go.

This exercise is not just about taking the photo; it’s about learning more about my camera, my lenses, the features I don’t use and how I can use them. I realized the last time I did a 365, I was shooting a much older camera—I believe a Nikon 750. Since then, I have owned a Nikon D-810 and now have a Nikon Z7II. It’s time to learn my Z a little better.

When you are a travel photographer and go out to shoot about three times a year (when I shoot thousands of photos in a short amount of time), you forget things about your camera in between the trips. The simplest things to turn off and on can really mess you up when you start taking photos that you really want.

So, this project I am starting today is about two things: learning how to use my Z7 from top to bottom and finding new and different ways to shoot everyday life. I have seven months and one day from today until our next big trip to Southern Africa, so that gives me a chance to really get to know my camera and learn a little bit more about myself as a photographer.

Above is today’s shot. About two miles from here is this beautiful, small, private lake that is part of a very high-end and expensive development. I walk by this lake all the time, and as my friend Bob will tell you, I have sent him many photos I took with my phone while walking. Today is the first time I have photographed it with my Nikon. It does make a huge difference.

Now, I don’t want you to worry that you will get a notification every day. I would unsubscribe from that myself. But I am going to take the photo and post it on a new page called 365, which you can see in the menu bar above. Then, one day a week, I will post a quick slide show gallery of that week’s photos. If you want to see them sooner, you can check the 365 page anytime. I will also caption them on that page with exactly where I took them, why I took that particular photo and any technical stuff I might have done to it.

Photography is a way of feeling, touching, and loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever… it remembers little things long after you have forgotten everything.  —Aaron Siskind