At the first winter attempt at Lay of the land, I noticed the long shadows made for a good self-portrait opportunity. When I returned, I decided to turn idea into reality and do an abstract self-portrait to close the project. You can think of this shadow cast on any of the other images, because it's an invisible part of all of them. This picture sums up the project for me, because it goes straight to the heart of the project: me getting out there with a camera.

•

This is the final photo of my 99 photo project, which began September 23, 2009. I decided to take a photo a day for 99 days leading up to the start of the new decade, giving myself permission to take a bit longer if required. Life being what it is it did take a bit longer and I am fine with that. I feel a sense of satisfaction upon posting today's picture.

At the end of 99 photos, my photography has grown and broadened. Many of these images only happened because I was committed to going out to shoot for the project. Some of the images were of things I would never normally have thought to stop and photograph (e.g. C-GINP, Fungus, Life and Death). Some were a "plan B" when my first photograph didn't turn out the way I would have liked and the need to post a picture drove creativity (e.g. Lay of the land, Under the Dunbar Bridge, Impending, Ice Flow). And some came out just the way I hoped they would when they came to me (e.g. Gizmo, Circling the market, Whiteout, Poutine). My goal was for a photographic re-awakening and so I posted very few snapshots. I pushed myself to create, in my own style, pictures I wanted to share.

The project has generated some interesting directions to follow up on, for example the ugly tag (e.g. DEZEAZ↜), the 1km tag (e.g. Mountains on their sides), the texture tag (e.g. Corn texture), the abstract tag (e.g. Penguin) and completing Lay of the land come spring and summer. Plus there are some things I didn't get to, such as HDR (High Dynamic Range) imaging, and strobe work. I'd also like to become more comfortable photographing people, still uncharted territory for me. Thus, while the 99 days project is at an end (the daily goal along with it) the photography is not. With all these avenues open, this photoblog will continue; the name, XCIX, will remain in reflection of its roots and philosophy. Keep watching this space.

To mark the end of 99 photos, I'll be at Picturama this Tuesday with twenty shots from the project. It'll be a satisfying way to celebrate a successful ending to a creative, re-awakening and fun photography project.