Full Circle

Well that's it. The challenge was to complete 365 blips and I have finally made it. What a journey it has been with lots of highs but also a few lows. Landscapes, seascapes, flora and fauna are where my interests lie and, by and large, that is what I have blipped.

The highs ranged from getting out of bed in the depths of Winter to stand in the middle of the river to blip glorious sunrises like this to staking out the motorway service area at Gretna to catch a Murmuration of Starlings. There was also my 200th blip of a Snowy Sunrise when I was totally overwhelmed by the number of comments and stars as well as the time it took to reply to them all! Therein lay the kernel of my problem. As my blips improved the comments and subscriptions increased, as did my time spent on Blip commenting and replying to fellow blippers. Don't get me wrong, I was thoroughly enjoying almost every minute of it, but I was seriously hooked to the point I was uncomfortable with the time I was spending on it.

While Blip provided a great way of keeping a holiday journal when we travelled to the Far East and Australia earlier in the year, it also tested my determination to post a blip on time every day. Searching out and paying through the nose for ropey wi-fi was the price to be paid, although on reflection a short blip holiday and then back-blipping may have been a better option. Once Spring arrived I wanted to spend more time outside and active rather than sitting behind the lap-top. I am conscious that since then the quality of my blips has fallen away and I have not been as conscientious a commenter as I might have been. After all, it was photography that attracted me to Blip and the hope of improving my skills while learning from the critical comments of fellow blippers. Of the thousands of comments I have read over the past year on other's blips I can remember only one that offered valid constructive criticism. So unusual was it, the blipper took it personally and left. It is wonderful to receive praise, but surely we can learn much more if areas for improvement are gently suggested by those with experience?

I hope this doesn't sound as if I've had enough of Blip, because I haven't. Rather, I intend to modify my approach and, if I don't have time to blip or don't get a shot I am comfortable with, I will miss that day without my blip conscience being troubled. There will undoubtedly still be some dodgy blips, but hopefully fewer than there have been of late!
As someone who shuns social network site, the biggest surprise of the last year has to be the incredible worldwide network of blippers I have got to know, many of whom I now consider to be friends. Without your encouragement I don't think I would have made it to this point. I greatly value the privileged insight into your lives and how we can learn so much from each other, particularly as there are so many wonderful photographers on blip. I fully intend to keep commenting, although possibly not on a daily basis.

As for today's blip, well this is where it all started almost a year ago. It just seemed appropriate to go full circle and end the year where it began.

Thank you all and everyone at Blip Central for a truly amazing year!