kris mcneil photography

201-300 are in the book! November is fast approaching and I can feel the speed picking up. Usually now is when I start on the end of the year video I do for my family. It’s a big project and I’m hoping I won’t regret the 366 when it comes to the holidays. I’ve never made it this far before! And I say 366 because the only other time I tried this was 2012, also a 366 year.

I’ve taken on a big batch for the push into the end of the year: the shots from Shutter Sisters Oasis photographers retreat in 2012. That event was huge for me. I had met so many delightful people through online photo workshops that when the opportunity arose to get to meet a bunch of them in Palm Springs, I jumped at the chance. And then I went and was surrounded by rock star photographers/creatives. Holy Smokes. So yes, the feeling of not-good-enough for all that was a real thing. To be fair, Tracey Clark was awesome about addressing this feeling when we all arrived. Still didn’t keep those feelings away. So when I got home, I kind of needed to step away from all that and consequently, the photos went into deep freeze. But here at the end of the 366, this is the time to get them out and focus on seeing what’s there. And so far, I’m liking what I see. While I don’t need constant reassurance to work on my photography, there did come a point of just basically not wanting to look foolish and being happy in my own shoes. I can now better appreciate the brilliant work of my peers without feeling like I need to change my style to be more like their style. And this is nice, as is everyone I encountered along this journey of photography.

Floral clips from Shutter Sisters Oasis

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A delightful thing happened recently that also made me feel the time was right for this batch. I was flying last week and happened to be boarding the plane behind the husband of a “photo friend”. I had never met this gentleman, but I recognized his name on his bag from Facebook and introduced myself. I messaged my friend before take off and she said she was picking him up so maybe we’d run into each other. And there she was when we departed the terminal. I got a hug and she said, “Today is 4 years since Shutter Sisters.” Coincidence?

Wire Bird in a Cage

Photos 201-300 are in a little video here.

Photos 1-100 are here: here.

Photos 101-200 are here.

and the whole album with photo descriptions is here.

Thanks for looking!