Letting Go of My iPhone Guilt--Project 365+1

My Project 365+1---The iPhone Version

Well, I'm three months into my Project 365+1 and so far so good.  Although I have to admit my iPhone is saving me on most days!  It is the camera that I always have with me and therefore many of my shots have been taken with this pocket sized piece that doubles as my way of keeping in touch with the world.

I was starting to feel a bit guilty about the fact that I wasn't using my DSLR as much as I should.  I have an amazing camera that I love and I really thought that this year I would try and focus on using it more for this project.  My goal was to learn more of it's features, experiment more with settings and in general get to know my beloved Canon a little bit better.

But alas, the iPhone is always there, waiting and at the ready to catch a photo of the kids on Bling Day at school, my new owl coffee mug, or my dog jumping around at the beach.   It is so easy and I take photos with it effortlessly....without thinking that it is for a project of any sort.

However, I was feeling like I was relying on it too much.  That it had become my project 365+1 crutch.

As each new month would start, I would tell myself that THIS will be the month that I use my "real" camera more.  That THIS will be the month that I do not rely on my smartphone.    But then I realized, what does it matter?   Who is judging me aside from myself?  And why am I being so hard on the steps I am taking to achieve something that will be so special.  At the end of the year, I know I will be thrilled to have this collection of photos that will be my treasured visual scrapbook of 2012 and whether an image was taken with my trusty iPhone or Canon 7D doesn't matter.

So to those of you who are still plugging away at your Project 365+1, congratulations!  Keep up the good work.  And don't beat yourself up (like I was doing), if the majority of your photos are taken with your camera phone.  As you know, they take amazing images and with fun apps like Instagram (now available for Android users), you can really spruce up your photo!

And in the end, it really isn't about the equipment, right? It is about capturing the memories.