Thank You, 2021!
2021 was a good year. Lhiza and I were indoors for most of it, which allowed us to finish a lot of things we were working on these past few years. We ended the year looking towards the future.
Looking back to 2021:
This 2021 I also took in a challenge to take a photo everyday for 365 days, which I called “2021 Daily Randoms”:
This is what I wrote on the last day:
Day 365 of 365!
It feels surreal to actually finish the 2021 (Daily) Randoms. 365 photos, one for each day? Incredible.
I didn’t start this challenge on purpose — I took a photo on Jan 1, but it wasn’t enough to be an album. That eventually continued as a photo a day, and I figured why not do this for 2021? I added a few more rules to the challenge:
1. I must use the 50mm Summilux
2. I must shoot in landscape
3. I must not convert to black and white
Whew. Amazing to actually finish this!
This turned out to be my most productive year in terms of photography: 1640 photos in 72 albums, for a total of 44.7 GB. I attribute this to the fact that I had to always have the Leica out, which made it really easy to take photos.
Lhiza and I have been indoors most of the year again, so most of my randoms were at home. Taking photos everyday forced me to notice all the small details, capturing the mundane. I’ve realized that actually, there are a lot of interesting things that happen in a day — I simply need to slow down to see and appreciate them. This challenge required me to do just that.
I would say that this was similar to daily photos everyday during our trips, especially when we travelled to Japan in 2019–2020. The routine was very much appreciated, and I had to really be creative in taking a unique random in the same space we’ve stayed in for most of 2021.
Near the end of the challenge I asked myself: would I continue these randoms in 2022? Do I follow the same rules, or change them? I’m writing this on the 2nd day of 2022, and decided NOT to continue — I felt that 365 days is enough, that good things must have an end.
I plan to still have the Leica at a ready, and make an album at least once a week. Let’s see if I can be just as productive in 2022 as with last year.
I could not have done this without the support of my Lhiza, my love ❤️
Thank you, 2021.
Ealden of #ealdenandlhiza
Lhiza and I had hoped to end 2021 with Hatsumōde. That wasn’t the case. We did decide to head out and welcome the New Year with a flair:
Happy New Year!
