87 thoughts on “Photo a day has totally changed my life.”

  1. It’s certainly a beautiful creation that has created joy for millions worldwide Telle. You should be so very proud of that. I wish I were more disciplined with it but the times I have joined in, I’ve created some gorgeous shots, beautiful memories and lovely art. It’s fun! Plain and simple, and that’s what makes life wonderful. Thank you x

  2. It certainly IS real and has drawn the World in to almost seem like a village at some times! It has given so many, so much and that’s a wonderful achievement Chantelle! Keep up the great work, the wonderful blog, the positive encouragement and the beautiful pics that give us a small glimpse of the ‘real’ Fat Mum Slim xx Happy New Year!!!

    • Hey Donna, I sent you a message a week or so ago {when I started putting together this post} on Facebook to make sure that you were OK with my publishing your letter. I think it’s in your ‘other’ box because we’re not friends. You can go to messages on FB, and then click OTHER. It might be there. I hope it’s OK. x

  3. I started the challenge on october 2011, I was having problems with my gallbladder (was kicking and screaming), and it helped me cope with pain and discomfort of being sick. I love photography, so yes every day I looked forward to take a pic every day. Thank you, and btw I didn’t know about the secret santa, I would like to participate this year, I’m just a tad bit far, in Puerto Rico, the other side of the world :/.

    But that aside I am having a blast…

  4. HI Chantelle,

    I am in my 12th month of your photo challenge. I love it – thank you. I share mine on FB with only my friends and was not worried that people were not interacting with them. However it is the word of mouth comments that shock me. friends dont comment on my photos yet will often ask me about the challenge or tell me ho much they loved the way I approached a prompt word. It is true using online media we are influencing peoples feelings in ways we dont know.

    Thank you. I look forward to many more months.

    🙂 Courtney

  5. One thing I love about doing the photo-a-day is that it gives me something to focus on each day, trying to find something to take a picture of to meet each day’s challenge. I don’t always find something to photograph because, honestly, I don’t get out of the house much any more. But even with that, sometimes I can go back through older pics and find something I can use. At the same time, I try different angles and views for those pics I do take, partly because of the wonderful photos I see others take and partly because the more I use my camera, the more I learn to appreciate my son’s talent with his. (I do admit that, once or twice, a picture I’ve posted as ‘mine’ was actually his work.)

  6. Summers are bittersweet for me; since I don’t work during the summer, I get to spend them with my sons. The thorn is August because I know I am one more year closer to them being grown and gone with their own lives. Before I found your photo challenge, I had decided to do something for myself; to capture a part of my day in order to be present and yet, be able to reflect. You and your challenge have inspired me to keep up the momentum. It is now a part of me, something I do… It has changed my life.

    • It’s so ingrained in me as my routine… like you, it’s something I do.

      I know that feeling. It’s inevitable that one day we’ll have to set our little people free {although I’m sure yours are not so little by the sounds of it}. xx

  7. Is there something wrong with me? I’ve done photo a day for 3 months and each time I never do every day. Sometimes I think it’s the thought that people wont like it when I post on FB (because my creative mojo was low!!). And what does that say about me?

    • I think it’s pretty normal to ‘worry’ that people won’t like what we put out there creatively. It happens when I write posts that mean a lot to me, or when I take photos that mean something special. It’s normal.

      But the payoff once you set it free is great, right?

      Sometimes it’s easier to share with people you don’t know in real life. We have a FMS photo a day group now that’s filled with great, supportive people. You can share your photos here if you like: https://www.facebook.com/groups/FMSphotoaday/

    • Mary, I used to beat myself up about not doing one every day. I try to post a photo every day but most months I don’t and for me the key has been remembering that it’s not something that I have to do, it’s something that I like to do. Chantelle doesn’t have a roll-call each day to see who has and hasn’t posted. I often feel like you and think “who’s gonna want to see this” but with 7 billion-odd people on the planet, maybe someone will see something in one of your photos and be blessed by it. Keep at it and keep enjoying it!

  8. Hi Chantelle, I am new to Instagram & new to blogging but I have fallen in love with both!!! In a very busy life it is a few moments of me every day. I love your photo a day challenge. I have now got my whole family taking part! It’s a lot of work for you I’m sure so a big thank you for all your efforts.
    Happy snapping 😉

  9. I’m in my second month participating in this photo a day challenge, and I love it!! I have something to look forward every day!!! And I ‘m learning a lot!! Thanks for doing this wonderfull thing. 🙂

  10. Hello Chantelle,
    I love your photo a day and have been doing it since March 2012. I retired the year before and although I have a great social life and do several courses, it is just something else to focus on each day! My photos sometimes are good and sometimes really bad but I still like the daily challenge. I must admit sometimes my friends think I am crazy – when we are on a walk I am always running behind them because I am taking photos …. ! I also have made many IG friends which is lovely too.

  11. Photoaday helps me in so many ways. As a photographer (hobby, not profession) it challenges me to think differently and keep trying new things. As a self-employed, always busy, person, it gives me a little window of sanity to peep through for a few minutes each day. It give me an insight into the lives of many people I wouldn’t otherwise have met. Being a bloke in a pretty much mostly female online community (ie FMS), it helps me to be a better husband to my lady and father to my daughters by seeing the things that interest and motivate all kinds of women around the world. It helps my depression and anxiety afflictions by being something sweet and enjoyable each day.

  12. I completed last year’s photo a day challenge (yep, I managed to do every single day) and can’t thank you enough for creating the concept as it really gave me the opportunity to stop for 5 minutes each day and do something creative. Even my two kids got on board and would ask me every morning, “What’s your photo today?” and offer ideas about what I could take a photo of. It was fun to be a part of it and making ‘friends’ via instagram was an unexpected bonus x

  13. Another thought for you all re photoaday. I have bought some magnetic inkjet paper from the local bigname stationery store. I use my photo program on my Mac (PCs can do it, too) to print six square-format pics on an A4 sheet, then cut them up and put them on the fridge door. It’s my little photoaday and Instagram gallery at home. You can see what I mean here http://on.fb.me/UAkADO

  14. For the last year or two I’ve watched other FB friends complete their 365 or 52 photo challenges and been so impressed with their creativity, and equally convinced that I’d never be able to do it myself. It was another friend who posted the link to your January photo a day challenge on FB too – but this time I decided to just go for it – and I’m SO glad that I did! I know it’s only 6 days in so far, but I am totally loving it! I decided to be really brave and push the boat right out, so I’m also using them as the basis of a daily blog post on my photography business website, and the interaction it is causing has really surprised me. So THANK YOU so much! xxx

  15. I am in my first month. Until recently I have been looking for something to help with my creative side. It’s been a bit different starting something new but im willing to stick to it. Do you have any advice for someone starting the challenge?

  16. Life can be pretty stressful. My son and his wife moved in with us several months ago so that we can help with his care as we wait for the hospital to call for his double lung transplant. The waiting is hard. Listening to your child struggle for breath is hard.Having the electricity go out and rushing to switch him from the electric oxygen tank to the manual one is hard. Taking a photo a day is something I do for me. It is a fun diversion. I LOVE the puzzle part of it. …trying to come up with a photo to match the prompt.I love how on somedays someone who lives in a different country from me will say that they are thinking about my son or praying for him. That little note brightens my day 🙂 I love looking at all the photos and the fact that no one cares that I am not a professional photographer. Thank-you Chantelle

    • I am so sorry to hear that your son {and therefore you as well} are going through a tough time. May he get a donation soon.

      And I’m glad you’ve got that little something for you. That’s pretty special. xxx

  17. Gorgeous words Chantelle. Photo a day for me is my break from the stressful & chaotic day I live in with 2 crazy kids but just 5-10mins to take a pic & upload brings me some peace & clears the brain. Thankyou!

  18. Hi Chantelle

    I have loved doing photo a day, it’s inspired me to think outside the box when taking photos, and given me something fun to do with my children, that ends up being about me. You have also inspired me to start blogging (please check it out: http://lookslikeweremoving.blogspot.co.uk/), and to notice all the good and magical things happening in my life, which has really helped me accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative (always a process, mind!). Thank you thank you thank you. I also love looking at everyone else’s photos from around the world. Thanks for bringing us all together.

    I too am trying to find something I love to do, and I feel like I’m getting close. You are an inspiration. Thanks again. 😀

    Cara

  19. This is such a beautiful post. I loved doing your photo a day challenge the first time I gave it a whirl, it made me more creative with my photography and even though some days it was a challenge – it was so worth it at the end of the month, looking back at the pics. I’m so in awe of the way you have brought so many people together with your blogging projects and the support you give fellow bloggers in Australia. It’s fantastic – such an inspiration! x

  20. It is amazing how we can touch people in the most unexpected ways! My moments often come when I am out and about and I get students from 18 years ago come up and hug me and tell me how much they love me and being in my classes were the happiest times of their lives!! It brings me great humility and I love it! It seems you may have found one (of many I am sure) of your purposes here on earth!

  21. I find its the creative types that don’t like to settle on one path in life, I’ve done so many different jobs and courses thinking that I’ll find the one I love and settle down, but there’s always been some sort of artistic thread running through them all. Participating in photo a day helps me look at all the things around me and realise that there’s so much more happening than what’s directly in front of me.
    After a pretty tough 2012 I’m planning to continue to crawl under tables and climb on top of them to get some more great pics and have a better 2013!
    Thanks for the fun Chantelle.

  22. I’m not a very commited person when it comes to goals for myself. Take as an example diets, exercising, blogging! I just can’t stick with it, I loose interest, it gets boring or I simpli forget.

    Then, last year, when I first saw the photo a day hashtag, it got my attention. And I thought that it would be nice to participate. Months later I hadn’t yet discovered where to begin. Then january came, new year, I’m in a really “you have to commit”year (too much weight to loose, too many personal projects that I want to do). And I decided to start on day one, and keep on with the chalenge even if the “picture” would have to be an instaquote! Along with the photo a day, I began a personal chalenge to blog again, but in a different way – I started a 365 names project, where I collect and post about the stragest names I can find (I’m Brazilian and we have lots of made up names, it’s horrible).

    So, chalenge accepted. And so far, photo a day has already changed my life, exactly in the way you put – it’s made me stop to check into my creative side (that has been quite sleepy lately).

    Thanks for taking the time to think on every photo a day. Even if it’s part of your job as a professional blogger, it’s still making a real diference in people’s lives.

  23. Hi Chantelle, great blog. I am relatively new to photo a day, it is a new challenge for me and I am really enjoying it.
    It is lovely to see the beautiful photos from everyone each day and it is a good feeling part of this great community that you have created.
    I am so pleased that you have confessed to not knowing what you have wanted to do in your life as I was the same and have stumbled through a few jobs mostly in retail as a consequence. I too am finally “finding my feet” , doing things that I love and am so glad that you are too.
    Thank you

  24. What a beautiful written post!

    Photo a day is all kinds of awesome! Especially if you are feeling lonely or isolated or bored and want a creative outlet. Or if you are so crazy busy that you forget to take a moment to see the beauty in the teeny tiny things. It’s done both of those things for me. And then all of the people that have been led to my little Instagram page because of it – people I’d have never “met” or known from all ends of the earth.

    A little bit of extra lovely for each day.

    PS I think you’ve definitely found your calling.xoxoxox

  25. Hello Chantelle. I have been doing photo a day since July of last year and I love it! Thanks to you and everyone else you guys have inspired me to be more creative and to take better pictures. I love stuff like this. What you have done here is amazing! I am so glad that I found your page on Facebook (through a friend) and stuck with it. I am seeing some amazing pictures throughout the world.

    Thank you for everything you have done. I hope one day I can do something like this. 🙂
    You are a very sweet and nice person. Don’t ever change. <3

  26. My mum and my sister always laugh at me when I talk about the ‘Photo A Day Challenge’, and joke to each other about how wonderful it would be to have as much spare time as I obviously do. But they just don’t get it. The challenges have reignited my passion for photography, and it is the few minutes a day that I take to do something for myself! I’ll never apologise for it, and I deserve to have something in my life that inspires me. Biggest thanks to you, Chantelle! 🙂
    xx

  27. What a beautiful post! I also started the photo a day challenge last year and love it. As a busy mum of 2 little ones and in amongst work, mummying and life in general, sometimes we can forget to ‘stop and smell the roses’. Not only do I now stop to smell them, I photograph them! I have always taken photos but usually just at special events and of course I never end up in any of them. Now I have a photo diary of last year (my instagram photo book from your offer last year) which the whole family often looks at to remind us of what we got up to, plus the self portrait prompts ensure I make an appearance. So thanks again Chantelle, Happy New Year and here’s to a wonderful 2013 for you, your family and all of your followers. xx

  28. That note is so lovely!

    This is the first time I’ve joined in the photo a day, and I am really enjoying it. I’m not that good with the camera, but having to take a photo this morning when I thought it wouldn’t turn out was a really good thing to do….but the photo did turn out, which I was really happy about!

    Thank-you for hosting this fun challenge!
    xx

  29. You have NO IDEA how much Photo A Day has changed my life. In a way, it has saved my life. Suffering Depression, Photo A Day has given me something else to think about, other than how I am feeling and also giving me a creative outlet. And as a bonus, I think my photos have gotten better throughout. So, Chantelle, Thank You.

  30. In a perfect world, photography would be a realistic career for me but in reality, with work and children and general life, I was never getting a chance to take photos regularly (except the millions I take of my kids). Photo a day has given me the opportunity to flex my creative muscle every day and I have really been enjoying it. Thank you very much for coming up with the idea and thanks also to my friend who brought it to my attention.

  31. Photo a day is a wonderful thing, it connects people from all over the world. It gives us the opportunity to see things we would never have been able to see before. It gives friends a challenge and it gives strangers the opportunity to become friends. You should be immensely proud of what you have created.
    Take care
    Jakix

  32. Hi Chantelle….I just love photoaday, it has made me look at the world in a whole different perspective, I am forever looking at things thinking will that make a good photo lol. I love that I have met (albeit on instagram and facebook) new people from all over the world and close to home. It is so wonderful to see how they see the world with the subject prompts each day. I am participating in 4 photoaday challenges this month (did so in December as well) and it is fun…challenging but fun. I try not to use the same photo for the challenges which sometimes is a challenge in itself. Keep up the good work you are an amazing inspiration. I missed out on the secret santa this year but will be there with bells on this year. Take care and keep blogging 🙂

  33. I’m new to the challenge this year although I’ve seen many people posting “Photo a Day” photos and thought about doing it. I haven’t talked with a lot of participants just yet, but I figure I will. I’m enjoying the challenge of seeing things in different ways and noticing the artistry in the ordinary things of life. I’m also enjoying seeing the many interpretations of the same idea. I don’t know how you come up with the prompts, but I am amazed at the creativity of the prompts and the reactions to them!

  34. Last year, I started a Photo Diary. It basically contained a photo of what I did that day, in attempt to make me do something new and exciting enough to capture. It went well until July. My daddy passed away completely unexpectedly last July. After that the photos became more rare – as I suck further into depression and didn’t feel I had anything to photograph, or at least no motivation to do anything in the ‘worthwhile to photograph’ category. Doubt there is even 1/2 of December filled.
    I found photoaday in about November last year, and loved the idea of the daily prompts. I started photoaday in Jan 2013, and already – in only a week – it has changed my perspective of taking a photo every day from daunting, difficult and confronting, to a creative outlet which allows me to appreciate the things I still have in my life, including all those little things, which are too easily forgotten.
    Thank you Chantelle.

  35. I just found a 365 app on a blog & I started doing a 365 on my ipod touch a few days ago. The ipod touch doesn’t take great pics, but it will be fun anyway.

  36. Dear Chantelle,

    Your photo a day prompts have done so much for me. I started taking pictures when I was in third grade. That is when my grandmother gave me my first camera. I’ve always like taking pictures, but it’s only been within the last 10 years that it has really become a passion for me. I am a full time teacher and both of my kids (ages 13 and will be 11 on the 24th) are very active in their respective sports, so fitting in my things is difficult. You’ve given me a way to do that.

    But, that is not all. I am also a writer. I began writing about the same time I learned how to put words on paper. I have a portfolio of short stories, poems and articles dating back to when I was in 5th grade. That’s been over 30 years ago. Some of them have been in minor and/or local publications. I have kind of lost contact with the writer in me over the last several years. But, the itch to write has come back from reading your blog.

    Because of this I did something I’ve never done before. I made some New Year’s resolutions. One of which was to take my own blog more seriously. This means to really write for it and to really think about and plan what I want in it for each entry. For now it’s mostly about giving me a creative outlet which I’m in desperate need of at this point in my life. It may or may not develop into something more in the future. I’m pretty much going to let it guide me.

    The thing is, it’s a way for me to express my creativity with my photos AND my writing. I’m actually very excited about this. I feel like I’ve just woken from a long sleep and taken a big drink of sunshine since I made this commitment to my creativity. For, this I think you for your inspiration and your dedication to your blog and the daily prompts. You have made more connections than you realize.

    P.S. I am sorry if this is posted twice, but my first post seems to have disappeared, or at least I cannot find it.

  37. I love the photo a day! It has helped me so much!
    A few years ago I moved with my fiance 1600+ miles away from all our family and friends. It gets really rough being so far away especially now that we have a little boy! It’s so hard to be away from family with him, but this has helped! This is only my 2nd month and I love that it’s a fun way for my family and friends to see a new pic from my life every day, and not just the same old me or my son pics! It’s kept us connected from so far away! Plus I love challenging myself to get creative with the pics! I usually get up in the morning and check out the Fab4 right away! 🙂

  38. Just wanted to let you know how Photo a day changed my life today…..

    Today’s prompt is Paper…so I’m a bit of a keepsake person so I thought I would go find a piece of paper I’ve held onto that means something to me. My Gran was one of the most special and influencial people in my life and at the age of 10 she moved back to England. I was devastated! From then on she would write me letters and send me postcards to keep in touch. It was very exciting for me when I was a little girl to receive letters from abroad. Anyway a couple of years ago I went to England and visited Eastbourne the town she was from (always something I promised myself and her I would do). While I was there her sister (as my Gran passed away about 15 years ago) took me on a day trip to a little town call Alfrinston. Its a town that looks like its still out of a picture book. Just gorgeous. So today when I went through my little box of keepsakes and pulled out some of my Grans postcards for my photo today, there was a postcard from Alfrinston which my Gran had sent me in 1993 and on the back she wrote “Just outside of Eastbourne, don’t you thinks its quaint?”.

    Today I realised my Gran had gone to that little town, thought of me and bought me a postcard and then some 15 years later I visited that town not knowing this. Only by Photo a day did I find out this information.

    Thankyou Chantelle x

  39. I loved reading this post. I have taken on the photo a day challenge this year (I just share with friends on facebook) and I am loving it so much already. It has inspired me to take more photos especially of my kids which is awesome. The best part is people commenting on my photos, saying how lovely they are or creative or what a great memory my photo will be. I love it and love the concept so much so thank you 🙂

  40. Hi Chantelle. I’m a bit behind in my blog reading and just saw this post. Firstly, i wanted to say thank you for cresting and hosting the #fmsphotoaday challenge through 2012. I’m sure it was no mean feat! I stuck with it all year and can say it definitely changed me too on a deep and tangible level. It’s not just about a picture but so much more. If you’re interested, I wrote a post about it – http://mixedgems.wordpress.com/2012/09/07/how-photo-challenges-have-changed-me/. Thank you so much once again.

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