One year ago today I created ShootTokyo with the publishing of my inaugural post with no expectations for what I wanted to achieve with a blog. Happy 1st Birthday ShootTokyo! I didn't know the first thing about creating a blog or what was involved in setting up and maintaining a blog. I had no idea was I was going to say to the world. I didn't realize the commitment it takes to continually generate content. What unfolded for me over the past year was a self exploration I hadn't expected. I found and explored a creative side of myself that I had not know existed before. I was throwing myself into my profession 150% while raising a young family. I had no 'me' time...between work, a demanding travel schedule and family commitments. I found a hobby I truly love. I learnt to slow down a bit and explore the world around me. I realized I am happier at home and more productive at work when I have time for 'me'.

I have learnt a lot about photography. I learned what I like and what I don't. I have met some great people here who have since become my friends. I have poured my heart and soul into building what I consider to be a great blog. This has been my labor of love for the past year with 350 posts and more than 279,000 vistors to ShootTokyo. I have so enjoyed the journey so far...

I have tried to share what I know with others here. Through sharing I believe I have learned more than I gave.

Here is a look at the Top 5 most popular posts ShootTokyo this year:

10 things I learned from Daily Shooting.

Cherry Blossoms on Meguro River

Bring your photography alive with panning

How to photograph the moon

The Leica M9 Review

This blog has followed me through just about each day this year. A lot of you were able to live Japan's triple disaster through my lens earlier this year as I documented what I was seeing on the ground in Tokyo on the day of the Earthquake and in the confusing days that followed.

Read how the days unfolded...

Photos from today: Tokyo Earthquake

My commute home: Tokyo Earthquake

The hunt for bread

Tokyo begins to return to normal

As readers, you get to see the final product of my shooting, the blog post. For me, it's about the experience of what I am doing, seeing, and learning. Here are my favorite posts:

The Jay Maisel Workshop

Anti Nuclear Protests across Tokyo: Part 1

Anti Nuclear Protests across Tokyo: Part 2

One of my wife Mayumi's favoriate photos from this year is a photograph a took of Yutenji Temple near my home in Nakameguro at 3AM. It was the first photograph that I got published in a public forum on a website's Photo of the Day. I actually got a lot of negative comments from a few people saying it looked 'photoshopped' or the sky was fake as the headline was Yutenji 3AM. Well it wasn't a photoshopped sky. It was an HDR taken at 3AM. I got a lot of positive comments as well but it was a good lesson that the anonymity that the internet provides caused some people to be extremely rude and cruel. I also came to the realization that you can't please everyone and took the attitude if people didn't see what they like then they should look else where.

My wife is a big fan of my HDR shots and she also loves these two...

Looking back today, I probably could have done better on my Yutenji photo but to me this is all part of the learning process. As I learned what I like and don't like I found I love a more natural look to my photographs. My favorite photo of the year, as well as my wife's, is what I call 'Reflections of Central Park West'.

I have been fortunate enough to get a bit of attention for ShootTokyo in the media. I was humbled and proud when at just 6 months old ShootTokyo was chosen to be ShutterBug Magazine's Blog of the month. You can also read about ShootTokyo in The Tokyo American Club Magazine, in my interview on Majirox News and on various sites across the web.

It was a tremendous learning curve for me to understand this side of photography. As I said I knew nothing about building or running a blog. If you are thinking of writing your own, make sure to read Creating ShootTokyo.

This has truly been an amazing experience for me. I am happy with success of ShootTokyo and the joy I get creating it.. I am shifting my approach a bit from posting daily to a few times a week so I can focus more on my photography and the proces of creating photos than my blogging. I am also aggressively studying my Japanese now which shifting my blog posting schedules helps free me up time to do this.

Thanks for all of your support over the past year.

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