Every day in November I posted both a written piece for NaBloPoMo and a photo for the WordPress Photography 101 course. Doing just one or the other would’ve been WAY less stressful, but why not go all out?

Here are my takeaways from Photo101:

• I didn’t take a single new photo for the course. Mostly that was due to schedule restraints, since I’m a full-time college student. I also work part-time and am pretty involved in student organizations on campus. I’m amazed I can keep up my usual 2-3x/week blogging schedule on top of all that, so posting both a written piece and a photo every day meant going into my archives for the photos. While I would’ve loved to use Photography 101 as an excuse to go out and shoot, it just wasn’t an option for me.
• That said, I really enjoyed using Photo 101 as an opportunity to go through old photos. Some of the shots I posted were taken as far back as 2010, and it was fascinating and enjoyable to go into old files and realize how far I’ve come as a photographer. Also, while all the shots were taken before the course, I edited or re-edited many of them in preparation to post, so I wasn’t entirely detached from the process of working on an actual photo project every day.
• Photo 101 (and all WordPress courses, actually) is great for networking and making friends. I’m now connected to a bunch of awesome bloggers, many of whom are both talented photographers and writers. I also liked helping out a bunch of my fellow classmates with technical aspects, such as resizing photos within WP, and artistic aspects, such as being more aware of angles & colors. All constructive feedback can help someone become a better photographer!
• If you’re at all interested in photography, I highly recommend taking this course next time it is offered. I’d also encourage you to go beyond the assignments and spend time hanging out in the Commons to meet others and learn from their tips. My skills are beyond a lot of the technical education offered (although I did appreciate a lot of the ideas as refreshers), but it would prove extremely helpful for a beginner.

Below is a gallery of my 10 favorite images from the course. Tell me in the comments which one (or two or five) of these you like best! 

Street

Connect

Landmark

Warmth

Mystery

Double

Treasure

Edge