Three hundred sixty-five days.

Three hundred sixty-five photos.That is the challenge Jeannie Carl has chosen to accept.To date, she has completed 158 days.The Jim Thorpe native began her journey in the Capture Your 365 challenge on Jan. 1 after learning about it from a friend who did it last year."I found the website captureyour365.com and thought 'I'm going to try that,'" she said. "Jan. 1 was the first time I started picking up a camera daily."The task at hand seemed easy enough. Take a picture of something using a word prompt. The picture could be of anything and could be posed or spontaneous.Carl found this to be fun and sometimes challenging, but alway very worthwhile and fulfilling."Growing up we always had cameras in the house but nothing really where you gave much thought to it," she said. "We never really a thought of composing a picture and paying attention to what's going on. But my husband bought me my first digital camera in 2005, and then people would say that a photo was really cool and I couldn't believe I did that. That got me into photography."The challenge pushed her past her comfort zone and forced her to learn just what her Nikon D3000 was capable of doing. She read books, visited photography tip websites, took a few classes at Dan's Camera City in Allentown and picked the brains of fellow Palmerton Camera Club members.Carl said that the photos she took are posted on the challenge's website for others to see and sometimes borrow ideas from and learn."It's a very supportive community," she said. "It pushes me every day to pick up my camera. I see other people's pictures and say 'I want to try that.' It's about pushing yourself and never giving up."Carl said that she can see a difference in her photography from the beginning of the year and is looking forward to learning more during the second half of the challenge.Finding her nicheAfter trying a number of types of photography, Carl found that macro and nature photography are her strengths because she is an "in-your-face photographer.""I like to be in the flower and up close near that bug," Carl said, adding that she plans to work on improving her landscape and portrait photography."I get lost in nature," she said, noting that she is also a naturalist at the Carbon County Environmental Education Center. "It surrounds me, and I feel at peace and I try to capture a small piece of what I smelled, felt, heard, saw in that moment in time that won't happen again. It is very soothing and calming to be in the middle of nature and to connect to what is around me."Some of her most notable photos aren't nature or macro photos though.She said that sometimes the prompts lead her to things right in her own home.One prompt, "elegant," was expressed by capturing a photo from her son's wedding. It was a picture of her daughter-in-law when she was standing near a window in her wedding dress."It just caught her in the right moment," she said, adding that the photo received quite a few compliments from the photography challenge community."Some days I think 'why am I putting myself through this,' and then you have that 'wow' moment, and you can connect with someone," she said. "It makes it all worthwhile."Carl admits she has taken many bad or blurry photos, but the hundreds of images she has deleted along this journey because they just weren't right have also helped hone her skills on composing and capturing some minute detail of that moment.Looking aheadAs the days continue to tick by in 2014, Carl will continue marching through the challenge.But after it's over, what will become of the photos she took?She said that she may print them in a photo book for herself to see how she has progressed over the year.She also plans to maybe use her newfound skills to help family friends by taking pictures of special events and capturing once-in-a-lifetime moments"I don't plan to make this into a business, but just if I could attend an event and take pictures to help capture the day, that is fulfilling enough," Carl said.So would she recommend this challenge to others?"Absolutely," Carl said. "It's fun and it's about pushing yourself as a photographer and pushing yourself to think outside the box. I think sometimes photography can get too serious, but you just have to never give up."