30 Frames Has November

A photo-a-day project is nothing spectacularly new and on the surface may seem pretty easy, albeit an inconvenience at worst. Simply press the shutter but once a day, have a decent archiving method, and after a predetermined period of time (in this case 30 days) the project is complete. However, to pose a question in tag form: Nothing is as easy as it seems, is it? Yet with persistence and a daily goal of just getting one slice of life, it is and was very possible. 

For this particular project I wanted to challenge myself a little bit more than a simple snap each day, so I set the following guidelines/rules:

1: Portrait framing only.

2: Set the ISO to the ridiculously high level of 51200.

I have always enjoyed pushing a camera to its absolute limits and since my camera does not go any higher than 51200 ISO that was the limit I chose. Honestly it did feel like the camera was dragging itself through the month and I missed a ton of shots due to its slower response to the request I persistently gave it. But I just imagined I had ISO 512000 film in the camera and let it fly - no excuses or questions asked.

Overall it was a challenging and rewarding month of photography. I did tire a bit of only portrait orientation and when I finally lowered my ISO it felt like I had a brand new camera. I am quite happy with most of the photographs and even caught one or two that I would be happy to rediscover years down the line. I would welcome round two of this next year, especially in November when the light softens and leaves begin to change and twirl to the pavement.

Below are a few of my favorites from the month. The entire project can be viewed here.