Dad's daily photos chart 21 years of son's life

(CBS News) Most parents will tell you their children grow up too fast.

But if you go online, you can see one man go from birth to adulthood in six-and-a-half minutes. Cory McLeod's journey -- one picture taken on each day he's lived -- is of interest to more than just his family. It's become a web sensation, garnering nearly five million hits on YouTube -- and counting -- since it was posted on the site just a few weeks ago.

McLeod's father Ian has been behind the camera from the beginning. Ian McLeod says he first thought he'd manage the daily photo routine for a couple of years. But he was having so much fun, he just kept going.

Asked if the project was a pain in the neck -- having your father take your picture every day, Cory McLeod said, "Sometimes. It was stuff like when I was at a friend's house or something and my dad would ring up and say, 'I need to come round and take your photo'."

All of the photos -- now more than 7,500 of them -- were all taken on an old-fashioned film-camera. Scanning the photos into a computer took Ian McLeod a year and a half. Now, 71 albums later, the effort is all part of a YouTube video.

And the journey is not over. Cory McLeod says he's going to take his own picture every day from now on to continue the family tradition.

For more on this story -- and to watch Cory McLeod's life so far through pictures yourself -- watch Mark Phillips' full report in the video above.