On July 1, 2021, I started a “200 days” project, i.e., I wanted to see if I could take a photo each day and put it online (I have many that I haven’t posted yet). Yesterday, 18 January 2024, the streak ended when I unfortunately forgot to take a photo. So the big question is, what should I do now?

The very ironic part is that I was in two meetings yesterday talking about photography, then I edited a photo to see if different crops could improve it. So, two hours of talking about photos + editing, and I still couldn’t remember to take a photo … 🤦🏻‍♂️

When I mentioned this online, I got several comments.

@odd @jean @pcora @jeroensangers @maique McTwist thinks that I should carry on, saying that I’m allowed to have a free day or use the photo I was editing. @bryan suggests that I check for an automated photo from a surveillance camera (unfortunately, I don’t have one).

@birming thinks that 2 photo meetings + editing equals one photo. @Miraz andseachanged suggests that it’s the end of a project, that I should enjoy the achievement and just relax.

@gregmoore asks a few interesting questions that need answering:

Now that the project has an end date, what it mean to you? I had to think about this. At the beginning, I was anxious about missing a day, a bit too much I would say. However, when I started this project I decided that I shouldn’t try to take a good photo, instead it would be enough with a photo. This has made things much easier and I stopped worrying.

Later, it became a habit that I’ve enjoyed (almost every day) and it has made me look at the world in a slightly different way.

It has also taught me that not every photo has to be the best photo, even a really “bad” photo can be a good photo.

Did you learn anything from so many hundreds of successful days? Yes, photos that are important to me, are not necessarily the objectively best photos. It has made me realize that I should take more photos of my daily life and save them.

Also, that “having” to take a photo each day has forced me to look at the world in a slightly different way. And that no matter what, there is always a photo to be taken … you just have to see it.

Did you learn less than you thought? I have to admit that I didn’t expect much, I expected to fail before getting to 200 days, so it has been a very successful project - regardless of what I decide to do now.

Will you restart or is another project calling to you? This is what I need to think about. As I see it I have three alternatives:

  1. Start over, ending the project and see if I can get 933 days this time. Most honest.

  2. Say that I’m allowed one free day/1000 days, post the edited photo and continue.

  3. Start a completely new project that doesn’t involve taking a daily photo.

I need to think about this, I’ve taked photos so all three options are open to me.

Greg ends with “You’ve reached an exciting moment”.

Yes, I need to think about this over the weekend. which of solutions listed above should I choose … because I need some kind of project.