Yahoo!

Done. Finished. Completed. Accomplished. 

I completed my 365 day project with only a hiccough or two along the way.  There were days I was ready to throw in the towel, give up, fade away, but by that time I was so close (2-3 months) away from finishing, it seemed a shape to give up.  So I persevered!

What I learned:
    What depth of field (DOF) is and how to control it with my aperture settings
    What all (most) of those button on my camera mean
    How to 'make' bokeh (the blurry light effect in the background)
    How to make the silky water effect or hard splashy drop effect by controlling shutter speed
    My camera has multiple ISO settings to compensate for low light situations (if I can remember to change it)
    Where the ISO setting is on my camera!
    How to throw away 39 of the 40 shots I took and just keep the best one
    There's a huge community of photographers online willing to share techniques and encourage your efforts
    To carry my camera with me always; you never know when a photo op will arise
    To use a tripod
    Sometimes the beauty is in the details rather than the vista

The other thing I realized is I don't want to make the time commitment to continue it for another year.  But, I also don't want to lose my momentum and learning.  So this year I'm going to commit to a 52 project - one photo per week.  Since it's just one photo, I'm going to try to make the one I select a planned, considered photo (rather than a get-up-out-of-bed-because-I-forgot shot).

So, here's to 2012 and 52 more photos.  I'm so glad you stuck with me during 2011 and hope you will again - feedback is always welcome.