A Journey Through My Lens

Introduction

My name is Joel, and this is my final report for the WP Credits program. During the program, I contributed to the WordPress Photos Team by submitting photographs to the WordPress Photo Directory while learning more about photography and the WordPress community.

Teams and Projects I contributed to

I contributed to the WordPress Photos Team. My project focused on submitting my own photographs to the WordPress Photo Directory.

Although I study Computer Systems Engineering and initially considered contributing to the Core team, I decided to choose something different. Photography has always interested me, and I wanted to challenge myself be exploring a new area while contributing to WordPress. My goal was not to improve drastically in photography, but to capture meaningful places and moments that others could also enjoy.

Learning Resources

Through the program I mainly relied on the WordPress Photo Directory submissions guideline to understand the requirements that my photos needed to meet before being submitted.

Beyond those guidelines, I intentionally chose to learn through my own experience. My goal was not to become a professional photographer, but to improve a little with each photo I took. This project was about exploring new places, capturing meaningful moments as I experience them, and gradually developing my own perspective trough photography.

Challenges and solutions

One of my biggest challenges was deciding which photos were worth submitting. Sometimes a photo captured a meaningful memory even if it wasn’t technically perfect. Over time, I learned to evaluate my photos more carefully while still focusing on telling a story through my images.

Another challenge was simple being prepared to take photos. There were times when I missed opportunities because I didn’t have my camera with me or because the battery ran out after a long day. These experiences taught me to prepare ahead of time whenever I planned to visit interesting places.

My Contributions

My First Photo – A Journey Through My Lens

From the ground – A Journey Through My Lens

Above the Skyline – A Journey Through My Lens

Seagull – A Journey Through My Lens

A Remnant of the Old Days – A Journey Through My Lens

Historic Beauty – A Journey Through My Lens

Statues in the Park – A Journey Through My Lens

Hudson River – A Journey Through My Lens

Photo Directory: https://wordpress.org/photos/author/jjperalta/

Key Learnings from the WP Credits Program

I learned that open-source contribution is not limited to writing code. There are many ways to contribute to WordPress, including photography, or helping the community in other creative ways.

Also learned that photographs become more meaningful when they tell a story. Combining images with written reflections allowed me to preserve memories while improving my writing skills.

I became much more comfortable using WordPress and now feel confident creating and managing my own website.

New Skills Gained

Soft Skills

Personal Reflections and Next Steps

Looking back, I’m really happy that I chose the Photos Team instead of selecting something directly related to my university studies. The experiences allowed me to develop a new hobby while making meaningful contributions to WordPress.

After the WP Credits program, I plan to continue contributing photographs to the WordPress Photo Directory. I hope to keep exploring new places, capturing meaningful moment, and sharing them with the WordPress community.