The End

The end of my 2nd 365 days of photographs project, I never thought I would be doing this project again, and even said numerous times that I wouldn’t do it. The reason I wanted to get back into working on such an extreme, challenging, unforgiving, and long project was when I dropped out of Art school I though that I needed something to push myself to create more, different and better photographs sense I wasn’t going to be in school for a semester (which ended turning into a year of being out of school).  Starting this project was a breeze by making lots of my preconceived ideas from my notes I took over the month before the project started, but before I could get a few months in I felt like I had lost a lot of creativity and motivation, It just started to strain me and my life. I am a person that is unable to just give up on any thing I put my heart into or had my heart in, so I pushed on to create some photographs that I am really excited on, but it also came with a bunch of ok and so so photos that I didn’t care for as much. I found that no matter how much you can prepare for a project like this you can never know what life will bring you in a year. 

I wanted to make this project a new great photograph every day, but life ended up getting in the way many times over this past year. This years project ended up being much harder and stressful than the first, and extremely draining to my life and my creativity. With that said I am disappointed that I wasn’t able to complete many of the ideas that were on my list, but I am extremely happy with the few ideas that did come to light.  This year was extremely rough on me with relationships and friends, I lost a lot of people who I thought were good friends of mine that turned out not to be. It was also extremely hard losing my Great grandma, she was one of the only people besides my parents who truly cared for me and who was a great person. This year just ended up being a really hard year, even though there was a lot of bad times this year there has also been a lot of good days. 

I will always remember the countless adventures I went on through this whole year, from Portland to Las Vegas, I was able to see so much and experience it with so many people that I love.  There were a lot of amazing adventures up to the Donner Tunnels, around Folsom Lake, San Francisco, Big Sur, all around Nevada, and Yosemite. This year was full of adventures and some really fun days and nights. Even though this year and its 365 project had lots of hardships I wouldn’t trade it for any thing, I have grown again so much through this project and year in knowing more about myself and my art. This year showed me that I need to get out adventure more and see different places and not limit myself by staying in the Sacramento area. At the beginning of 2014 I will be moving to Las Vegas to go finish my degree in photography, and start a new adventure in life. 

I want to thank all my good friends who helped me out on this project, and a special shout out to Chris, Archie, Sean, Lisa, Kyle, John and the RCK// guys for helping me with many of my photos through out this year. I want to specially thank My Family for supporting me through this project; I wouldn’t have been able to do it with out you. I’m not going to say I am never going to do this project again, but for now I am going to go out and enjoy life for a while. Thank you all.
                                                                                                                                            Sincerely,

- William Mark Sommer

Day 54 (February 23rd)

My great grandma got out of the hospital today, so we went and visited her at her house. This is a picture of her night stand with her perfume and a picture of her husband that I unfortunately never got a chance to meet. It is just nice to see her back home and feeling better!

Day 53 (February 22nd)

This is a triple exposure of my friends Kyle and Caitlyn. They used to have a inside joke going where they would lick each others faces. I wanted to show them and their crazy face licking relationship with todays photo and it turned out pretty funny to me.

Day 50 (February 19th)

It was a cold rainy day, so I was cleaning up my stuff from the trip and I decided to do something I never do, take a picture of whats in my camera bag. This is my collection of my active use cameras, shot film, new film, and working supplies. This is my trip equipment pack that I take on all my hikes and trips.

List of equipment:  A. Impossible 600 film  B. Kodak KB28 point and shoot  C. Hasselblad 500c/m  D. Hassleblad back (color film)  E. 365 2011 post card print  F. Pencils  G. Stickers  H. Polaroid 600  I. Minolta flash  J. Lomography Fisheye 2  K. Fuji instal mini 7s  L. Film  M. Shot film  N. Old instant photo of friends  O. Pens  P. Minolta XG7  Q. Polaroid SX-70  R. Polarizing filter.

Day 26 (January 26th)

I really love nights like tonight and last night, because you get views like this if you look at the moon. The scientific name for this is a Corona, which is produced by the diffraction of light through small water droplets that make up the clouds. I will also be releasing a video tomorrow called the sound of night that will go along with this photo.The Sound of Night: Video

Day 25 (January 25th)

This is my pop art candy bar. Awesome and productive day! I will be having a show up in Auburn pretty soon, so check back because it will be really awesome!

Day 24 (January 24th)

This photo is a homage to one of my new favorite artist David Strigley. I saw his show at the Yerba Buena Center of the Arts on one of the last days it was up, and it was one of the most inspirational shows I have ever seen. This was also the last art show I saw before I moved back from San Francisco. This picture shows how I have been wanting to get over being sick, but the sickness has gotten the better of me.

Day 23 (January 23rd)

Went and hung out with my buddy Archie today at his new house. I shot a few pictures with my Hasselblad as he was sighting in his scope and shooting the targets from his roof.

Day 22 (January 22nd)

Woke up with a crazy migraine this morning that stretched through the day. I was feeling pretty bad today, so I was just chilling around the house. I broke out the old fisheye camera and shot a picture of my kitty Sparky chilling in the sun getting some loves.

Day 21 (January 21st)

I went on a hike around the Auburn ravine with the family today. It was a good time and I got to see an old friend of mine who I haven't seen in too long. I saw the sun shining through this tree, and I thought to myself that I needed to shoot this.

Day 20 (January 20th)

Today I made this abstract bullet picture, because my original photo of the day I shot with my Lomo Lc-a, and only eight of the photos came out and they were all pretty bad. I am happy with the way this picture came out though it wasn't my first choice.

Day 19 (January 19th)

Went over to old town today with the family for a nice lunch. I decided to take a walk across the bridge to take a double exposure of the sky line of Sacramento.

Day 17 (January 17th)

Another idea I have had for a little wile now, and I am stoked the way it came out. I got Neal to jump over Trevor at Rocklin park. Then the rest of the guys and us went and had a rad little bbq.

Day 16 (January 16th)

This is my Mom's favorite word haha. I have wanted to make this banner and photo for a wile now. I took a congratulations and happy birthday banner to make this little parody. I thought it would be a funny photo for today.

Day 14 (January 14th)

Thanks again Neal for doing this picture. I got inspiration from what parents used to do if the caught there kid smoking, so they would make them smoke the whole pack. This is Neal smoking that full pack, a man that doesn't give a fuck.

Day 13 (January 13th)

Still a little under the weather today, but not as bad at all as it was. I wanted to make you a better picture than I have the last 2 days. Tonight I decided to give a honorable burial to one of my old cameras that did lots of work for me over the years, but reluctantly died last year. This camera was mainly used in my book Please and Sincerely, this was a hard photo to make just because it was hard to part with this old friend.

Day 12 (January 12th)

Still sick today, but feeling a lot better. Thank you medicine for making me feel a bunch better from yesterday. This was the only thing I could think about for a photo today. Hopefully I will be able to leave the house tomorrow to make you a better picture.

Day 10 (January 10th)

Puppy 5s are awesome. This is my dog Scooby giving me a 5. I love this guy, he always there for me, and an awesome studio buddy!

Day 9 (January 9th)

Today I shot a picture of my old boob tube t.v. when it was playing my first skate video Destroy it All. This was part of the opening scene where I am driving my old truck through a desolate road around Folsom. Its weird looking back on it because it has been about 5 years sense the video came out.

Day 8 (January 8th)

I want to dedicate this picture to one of my old friends from Sierra College, Caitlyn Littler. She passed away at the end of last year from melanoma at too young of an age and I just wanted to make a picture for her. She was a fun person to hang out with that would always give me shit in a loving way. She was a awesome person and will never be forgotten.