Posted on 4 Comments

TWiP: New Year, New Photo Project

This Week in Pictures, Week 1, 2019

Happy New Year!!! May it be kind to us all 🙂

This week’s TWiP contains the last few entries for Picture the Holidays and the first few entries for my eleventh Project 365. I can’t imagine not having a daily photography practice, so there was never any question that I would start another 365. That doesn’t mean there weren’t any questions at all, though. As usually happens, when January rolls around, I look back at the previous year’s photo project and figure out what, if anything, needs to change.

This time I decided two things:

  1. Maybe 1 or 2 photos a day on Instagram was too many. I seemed to get better traction with my posts when they were better spread out.
  2. Using a third party to serve images for these TWiP posts was opening myself up for a load of maintenance headaches.

Fixing the first issue was simple. I’ve moved my 365 back to Flickr and will go back to using Instagram for more spur-of-the-moment stuff a few times a week.

The second issue is less simple, but it’s something that really needs to be dealt with. In the past, I’ve built my TWiP posts through a series of clever (if I do say so myself) automations. This has made posting a weekly roundup very simple, but it relies on the Instagram (or Flickr) photos always being available through the exact same mechanism that I originally used to post them. I learned the hard way that that is not always the case. For the last several months, every time that I post a current TWiP, I go back and edit the same week’s TWiPs from previous years and fix the broken links. And there are many broken links!

I would like to save Future Me from that kind of headache going forward, and so I’m now hosting my weekly photos right here on the blog, and just posting a link to the Instagram or Flickr photos. This way, you can see them where they were originally posted, but the TWiP post itself doesn’t rely on the availability of those services.

This is definitely going to be a better way of doing things, but for now it’s still a bit awkward for me in the actual building of the post. I like to automate as much as possible so I’m not spending my entire Saturday morning matching images, words, and links. So far I have not refined that process at all. Hopefully, I can come up with some time-saving measures as the year goes on!

If all of this sounds complicated and crazy, it probably is. But it seems to be my January ritual, and I don’t think I could have it any other way… 😀

So, what is This Week in Pictures?

It’s a roundup of the microblogging I’ve done on Instagram and Flickr all week. This includes photos I shot for Project 365 and any other extra images I may have posted.

All photos were taken with a 📷 (Canon EOS 80D) or a 📱 (Samsung Galaxy S7).

Ready? Cast your mind back to this time last week…

Saturday

Day 34: What’s the Word.
If I have to pick a word for 2019, it should be something that counteracts my natural disposition as a worry wart. So, let’s go with “calm.”
#picturetheholidays

(View original Project 365 / Picture the Holidays post on Instagram.)

I’m happy with the new short-sleeved sweater I knit for myself, but the roomier long-sleeved version I knit for Neil needs some work. For some reason he’s not happy with sleeves that are 3 inches too long! Today, I’m attempting to fix the problem. Wish me luck.

(View original post on Instagram.)

Sunday

Day 35: All in Good Time.
Soon it will be dinner time, and then bed time, and then back to work, because I miscalculated how many days off I had left, and now I have to work New Year’s Eve. Bummer.
#picturetheholidays

(View original Project 365 / Picture the Holidays post on Instagram.)

Monday

Day 36: Warm Glow.
This candle, kind of like 2018 itself, is down to the tiniest little stump. Happy New Year!
#picturetheholidays

(View original Project 365 / Picture the Holidays post on Instagram.)

Tuesday

Day 37: No Looking Back.
You can tell that the new year has begun when I put away the Christmas CDs in the car, and pull out my Winter playlists.
#picturetheholidays

(View original Project 365 / Picture the Holidays post on Instagram.)

1/365
Happy New Year! I hate to watch TV with idle hands, so I’m adding to my woven square stash while I’m in between projects. I still don’t have a plan for these. I’ll probably just keep adding to them in dribs and drabs until inspiration strikes.

(View original Project 365 post on Flickr.)

Wednesday

2/365
I was stuck at a railroad crossing, but I happened to have my camera with me, so silver lining, I guess. If I’d had time to wait for another train to go by, I’d have tried again with a slower shutter speed so the train would be even blurrier.

(View original Project 365 post on Flickr.)

Day 38: The Buddy System.
Two jar candles are better than one 😊
#picturetheholidays

(View original Picture the Holidays post on Instagram.)

Thursday

3/365
I took myself out to lunch today. Mmmmmm, Chipotle!

(View original Project 365 post on Flickr.)

Day 39: All is Calm.
I’m learning to appreciate winter. What choice do I have, when I get home every day and it’s already dark? Amping up the cozy factor with candles and fairy lights is a big step in the right direction.
#picturetheholidays

(View original Picture the Holidays post on Instagram.)

Friday

Day 40: Your Creative Center.
This maker is definitely gonna make. As long as I am learning new techniques or doing something useful and/or beautiful with my hands, I am satisfied. And thus ends my third iteration of #picturetheholidays 🙂

(View original Project 365 / Picture the Holidays post on Flickr.)

Thanks for taking a peek at this week’s photos! If you want to see this stuff as it happens, please feel free to follow me on Flickr or Instagram ♥

SAME WEEK PREVIOUS YEARS (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018)

This Week in Pictures, Week 1, 2015 This Week in Pictures, Week 1, 2016 This Week in Pictures, Week 1, 2017 This Week in Pictures, Week 1, 2018

LET’S KEEP IN TOUCH!

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Posted on 4 Comments

4 thoughts on “TWiP: New Year, New Photo Project

  1. Happy New Year!! Isn’t being a maker the best??? 💕

    1. YES! And Happy New Year to you, too. Hope your holidays were wonderful 🙂

  2. Hi, Lisa.
    I love the new format. It saves me having to jump between your blog and instagram to see the captions. I hope you have a happy new year.

    1. Oh, then I’m doubly-glad I changed it up! I didn’t realize the old format was difficult for some people. Happy new year to you, too 🙂

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