Blipfoto - Blipping Mad!

I've been really busy lately - summer is here so I'm outdoors more, my foot is finally without pain - the first time in three years, so I'm making up for lost time and not sitting in front of the computer as much as I have in the past. I've also been catching up with friends, and doing some daily photography, so this blog has been neglected. Sorry about that - I'll try and make it up to you in the next few days. 

One of the things I have been doing is Blipfoto. While  was in Wanaka, we met up with a fellow photographer who couldn't speak highly enough about the site. He was that excited about it that I took a look at it when I got home and I could see the benefits in it immediately.

So, tentatively I joined, and within a week I hooked. And I'm now blipping mad!

Blipfoto is a 365 project. You upload one photo a day, like a diary. Once uploaded, you give your photo a title, a bit of a blurb (a journal), and some tags, then publish it.You can even give it a location so people can see where you have taken the photo - but this is optional.

You have to take the image on the day you upload it - the site looks at the EXIF data and takes the date from there. You can backblip, but I have decided just to blip from the day I started.

I've now blipped for 40 days. I started on the 13th December. When my mother came to visit, I told her I had to do a photo a day, and she was very patient while I found something to photograph and get it onto my computer, and upload it. Even though as a non-photographer she must be wondering why.

Non photographers always find me amusing. While away on the boat after Christmas, I took a photo of a fly. The non-photographer said 'Why are you taking a photo of a fly?' I thought about it. Do I explain the hidden world of macro, the amazing eyes, the hair on his body, the intricate wings, the fact they they can be rather beautiful? No, all that would be wasted. My answer was simply - 'Because I can!!"

But I digress. In the 40 days I've been blipping, my photography has been extended. I can honestly say, I'm a better photographer than I was 40 days ago. I've learnt new techniques, patience, and different things in photoshop. I believe it can only improve.

The reason is that I'm taking more time when it comes to the photo. I am thinking and planning in advance, where I'm going, what I'm going to shoot and the way I will shoot it. Prior to blipping it would be random and just in the moment, which is good too, but often you don't take things on board as well, than if it is planned in advance.

The other good thing about Blipfoto, is that there is a huge community of other 'Blippers', and a whole new volcabulary to learn. When you publish your first photo, people welcome you to blip. Such a friendly group. Then they subscribe to your blip journal and make comments every day. Then you find out that they don't live too far away and there's talk of Blipmeets. Then there's the blip birthdays.  After 10 blips you have a blipbirthday and you're no longer a novice. Then there's 50, 70, 100, 200, 365, 500, 1000 and so on. Then you get conblipulation comments

So you meet people, you laugh, and you're having fun, AND your photography improves daily.

What can be better than that?

The other great thing about Blipfoto, is that you don't need to have a fancy pants camera. Androids and iPhones have blipfoto apps, and you can take the images and upload direct from your phone.You blip your day, what you're doing. It may be boring, or it may be interesting but that's just life in general

If you do read this and decide to join and start blipping. You can find me here. Made you you let me know you've joined and that  you read about it in my blog, and I'll add  you to my subsciptions and follow your journey.

I hope you get as much enjoyment out of it as I do.  Any questions? Just ask!