commenting.

One quick thing.

Maybe it's not so much a dude thing, but there is commenting allowed on each others' photos. Last year what it came down to was I'd send email notifications if you received comments on your photos.

Personally, I encourage commentary on my stuff. I think maybe we'd all like other opinions on what we photos we take.

Speak up, guys. Tell me what you think about the comments, moderating them, and whether you prefer to receive notification or not regarding comments on your photos.

Food for thought.

First off! I'm damn stoked! I was so excited to log in and see all your photos tonight.

Secondly....

Jared meet Mat and Harry.

Mat meet Jared and Harry.

And Harry meet Jared and Mat.

I think there's going to be a lady named Audrey joining us. I'll have to touch base with her and see. I'll introduce her when she does join. In the mean time, over the next couple days I'll be updating the information on the sidebar (and removing some outdated information). One of the jobs I have is retail, so the hours are really crappy right now, otherwise I would have done it already. I'm actually forcing myself to plan photos already! Things'll settle down though. I know that much for sure.

Soooo... with that last paragraph being said, we all do have the option of having a little biography or blurb about ourselves in the sidebar. There are lots of them from contributors last year still there. If you'd like to have something about yourself in the side bar, please write it up and send it to me in an email and it will be done! Also, if there are any changes or additions to the site you'd like to see, let's discuss. I'm open to making this exactly what we want it to be this year.

Cannot wait to see more, guys!

Alison: Non-photo Update. Interesting.

I have a friend who runs a blog called List of the Day. Actually, we're more acquaintances than friends. Actually, maybe we're not even friends -- I don't know. I love the blog, I told him that. We've exchanged holiday cards. He mailed me a couple CDs of the Lemonheads because he knew I'd like them. Anyway, I think we're friends.

I tuned into his blog yesterday (just before my internet went down) and read this entry. HAHA.

I'd been meaning to write to him to let him know what a neat site we (all of us here at 365) have created, but apparently someone else is doing one too. It seems theirs has gone on much longer too. If you want, take a look. I saw some pretty neat posts there.

I just thought I'd share. If you know of any other kinds of photo blogs on ze interwebz, feel free to share them. =]

I'm going to get caught up on my posts this morning.

Alison Posts: Non-Photo Update!

Boy, February sure snuck up on me. Did it do the same to you? Congratulations on being over one month into the blog project! Don't let your enthusiasm dwindle now; look back at all the great contributions we've all given!

I just wanted everyone to know that I'll be listing the current week's suggested theme at the very top of the sidebar. If you get stumped on a photo for today, try using the suggested theme.

Good luck and, as always, I look forward to seeing what you all post.

peace/alison

PLEASE READ (& reply) Non Photo Update

First of all, thank you to everyone who's worked more diligently on putting labels on their entries. It's making things much, much easier. As I've said one hundred times (and I'm sure you're all tired of hearing it), having your name as a label is most important, as that is the only way the quick search feature will retrieve your entries.

Secondly, WOW. That's all I can say. We currently have 15 actively contributing members on the site. And I feel so privileged to be getting to know each and every one of you. Some of you, I look at your photos and feel as though I'm getting a glimpse into your lives. It's moving. And it's opening my eyes to what else may be in this world. More than even I thought possible, I'm enjoying getting to see the world through the lenses of my fellow photogs. I'm so proud of everyone who's keeping up with the project. We're almost a month in now!

I have a couple quandaries that I'd really love your feed back on.

1. It's been brought to my attention the issue with there not being a notification email sent when someone comments on your photos. Initially I didn't think there was a way around this, as Blogger only gives the option to have up to ten email addresses notified (and you'd be notified of ALL comments, not just ones left on your photos). My question is, would it be beneficial to any of you if I sent out notification emails? It wouldn't take much work on my part. I already get the notices, all that would be required would be me forwarding them on to the appropriate photographer. If you'd like this feature, I'll gladly do it, as we should all be in open communication with one another. Just make sure I have your best contact email on file.

2. How would any/all of you feel about theming weeks? I know some photogs have a difficult time finding something to photograph, while others have photography in their lives every day. The themes could be things like 'edibles,' or 'nostalgia,' or 'travel,' or 'emotion,' or 'weather. . . ' you get my point. And they would be optional -- purely as a source of possible inspiration for those of us who get brain farts from time to time. Would any of you find this useful? We could start the theme weeks February 1st.

Those are my only quandaries. Please let me know what you think so that I can expedite the updates as quickly as possible!

And the last thing I want to say is that if this is something you're proud of, please, please pass the word along. Show your families, friends, co-workers, whoever. Share it. I like the idea of people tuning in to see what we have all accomplished for the day. We welcome everyone.

Once again, I'm very proud of everyone and love all the work I've seen so far. Please keep it up and keep encouraging one another. It's warming to see each of you leaving comments and showing enthusiasm and friendship to the photographers -- who are probably people you don't even know.


peace/alison

Alison Posts: Non-photo Update.

Okay, okay. I know I promised fewer non-photo updates. But I can't help it. I'm so excited with the velocity this project has taken off.

So we have a string of regular contributors and we have some that are gradually dipping their toes in the water -- which is perfectly fine! This year started off rocky, but next year (yeah, I'm already thinking about it) is going to be so much more smooth.

The more contributors we get, the more important it is going to be that you label your entries. Labels are located at the bottom of a blog entry form. Fill in things like "day 6" and "alison." Chances are, the label you're looking for has already been entered and will automatically pop up. This will make future searches much more simple.

Also, if you haven't done so already, please email me a brief bio to add to the side bar. I would like everyone to get the opportunity to get to know one another.

Big news!

Our contributor number has gone from the original four to 15 in six days!

Congratulations to us! We're getting more diverse and more populated as the days go on. Everyone give yourselves a pat on the back ... then when you're done with that ... get out there and take some pictures!

<3

Welcome to all the new members, please jump in and say hello.

Alison Posts: Non-photo Update.

I want to apologize for these non-photo updates, although I believe with any collaborative project, updating the collaborators is somewhat important. =P

We've added two more photographers. One is Jen and she's living in the St. Louis area and the other is Becky and she lives in New Hampshire. I believe both of these ladies have a great deal to offer the photo-blog.

The addition of them really has made me think a lot about adding a map widget to the site. At this point, I don't think we've got enough users to add the widget, but if everyone is okay with it, I thought I would add a quick list of general locations of the photographers. This is up for debate, as locations might eventually be irrelevant due to traveling and what not.

The reason I'm considering this is because I want people to be able to see that all over the world, there are photographers taking pictures of similar moments in life. (We all celebrated New Year's Eve.) But even though our lives might be similar, they are vastly different. Home, region and culture have a lot to do with the vast differences. At least, I think so.

Also, if this is the kind of thing you're proud to be part of, feel free to pass the site along to your friends and family. We welcome the visitors!

And if you'd like to know a little about the project's history. Here are a couple links a friend gave me.
photojojo and Project 365

Enough with the non-photo blogs for now. Sorry pals.

Alison posts: UPDATES

This is a non-photo update.

I know this is a photo-oriented blog, but there are a few things I want to keep reminding you all of...

1. Add tags to your posts if you'd like to make future searches go much more smoothly. If used properly, tags are quite efficient!

2. Anyone participating as a photographer is urged to write up a brief bio about him/herself to be added to the sidebar. You can write whatever you like, it's a definition of yourself. I'm not going to do any editing of these submissions beyond the essentials.

(also something to consider -- including a link to your own website. Perhaps you have a flickr account, or a myspace, or a blog. If you'd like me to include a link, just say so.)

3. WE HAVE A GUY! For the entire existence of this blog (a whopping three days!!), we've been strictly women, although not by force. But as of today, we've got a guy participating. I'd like to give a warm welcome to Mat Ryan. Keep your eyes out for his posts. Heard through the grapevine he's got himself a new camera. I should be expecting lots of experimental shots from him. =P

4. I feel I should clarify I didn't create the "one photo every day for a year" concept. I merely brought it to life within my unit of friends and brought us all together through this collaborative blog. I don't want anyone under the impression I'm trying to take credit for such a novel idea. And should anyone know the name of the genius who did think it up, I'd appreciate that information!

5. I also feel I should clarify that no one is required to post every day. It's a resolution; I look at it that way, so I'm doing my best to stick with mine. You're more than welcome to post less than one photo per day -- whatever suits you and your lifestyle best. This project is merely designed to help you spread your photographic wings and to share experiences with one another.

6. And lastly, I'd like to thank everyone who's been commenting already. The positive criticisms are really nice to hear.

All in all, I'm happy with the direction this is all going. I wish you all nothing but the best. I love all of you and keep shooting these amazing photographs!

peace/alison