kris mcneil photography

This year I decided to make another run at a 366 project. I tried this in 2012, and alas, the project died a very sad quiet death on Day 194. Today is Day 194 for 2016. Will she make it til Day 195?  I think I can, I think I can! Of course, I may have to go with the 366 thing from now on. I’ll be like leap year and come around every four years.  Hah!

What is different this time around is that I’m not trying to shoot and edit and post all in the same day. Hell, being an empty nester now, some days I barely make it out of my pajamas. This time around is all about editing for me. Shooting isn’t my problem. I love love love to shoot. Where I struggle is sitting down long enough to edit when it’s just for me. So far 2016 is working because I have a big enough backlog of shots waiting for love and adding a heaping lump of guilt over that compelled me to clean house! I have powered through a lot of travel photos, starting with a 2010 trip to Paris and London.

Chapel of Saint Madeleine, Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris

Elizabeth Tower, Big Ben, London. Fun fact: It is the actual bell that is Big Ben, not the Tower itself. Fun fact two: The tower was known as St Stephen’s Tower until the diamond jubilee of Queen Elizabeth in 2012. 

I followed those with a trip we took in 2015 to Zurich, Prague, Berlin, and Amsterdam. Yes lots of travel stuff because I shoot lots and lots on vacation and those are the most neglected images. Once we get home it’s like trying to eat the proverbial elephant. Holy guacamole, where to start? This on top of the unpacking and laundry? Ahhhh!

Lake Zurich

Old Town Square, Prague

Driving and walking through the site of the Berlin Wall.

Amsterdam. A lover of light can get a little drunk here. 

The biggest challenge came when we went to Hong Kong for a week and I came home with close to 2000 shots. (No we didn’t sleep much on this trip, why do you ask?) When we got home, I got right to the editing. This time, not only am I am a pajama clad empty nester, but I have more editing confidence than I did in 2010 when I was learning something new about digital editing everyday and repeatedly starting over with Paris and London. And while I’m still always learning, knowing how to start was key.

I’m definitely part of the photographic sandwich generation. A gal who cut her teeth on film who has gone wild in a digital world of having a new ISO at the twist of a dial or composing one image for black and white and the next in color all without wasting half a roll of film with each change of want or need. These new fangled digital boxes might just be a hit after all.

I’ll admit that Lightroom has become my best friend in this endeavor. Bam – same dust mark off the sky in 10 photos…Kapow – 5 images now synced as black and white with reduces blacks, popped contrast and an oh so subtle vignette. Sigh, I love you, Lightroom.

Street sweeper, Hong Kong

While the whole of my 366 year thus far has not been travel, I have made a big dent in my backlog of images. When I started, I was nervous about where to start. Now I’m nervous that I won’t know what to do when I get through it all. I know I know, keep shooting and do a 365 like a real photographer. I also have all my mom’s slides to scan and clean up. Maybe that’s next year’s 365? For now, this is working for me.  I feel a little like Samwise Gamgee, “If I take one more step, it’ll be the farthest away from home I’ve ever been.” I look forward to Day 195.

Video: First 100 Days of Edits

Second 100 days video to come!