Hey Ladies! Just thought I'd start a conversation in regards to how often you pick up your camera. I can honestly say that for me, it is every single day.
As I mentioned in my "Introduction" post, I have been doing a 365 project for almost two years now. A 365 project is a photography challenge where you take a photo every single day for a year. Some folks, like myself, go crazy and attempt a 365 photo where you pick a single object to photograph each day. This is amazingly hard, but OH MY WORD....it stretches you imagination.
My first 365 was called, "The Kitty Project". I started out committing to a month, but I actually ended up going for the entire year. I challenged myself to take a photo each day that featured my little wooden kitty, and each photo had to somehow represent my day. I also insisted that each and every shot had to be different from anything else I had done before.
You might wonder how a project like this could move you towards your goal of being a professional photographer, but let me be the one to tell you that this will definitely force you to get to know your camera....to look for different angles.....different light. It will encourage you to play with depth of field, and to be adventurous when it comes to photography. All these things are essential, in my opinion, if you are to be successful in portrait photography.
Here are a few of my favorite "kitty pictures" from that project.
I took this one the day my friend's husband died.....I was devastated for her.
I was having fun at work for this one.
This one is soooooooooooo me! I'm so forgetful.
My favorite color.
A snow angel. ♥
Playing with sunflare.
Playing with water.
And the last shot of my project...the end of the road.
I am forever grateful that I took on that project, as I saw so much growth in my photography over the couse of that year. My current project that I am almost finished with, is just a basic 365...one shot...each day. It has been fabulous as well.
Haas anyone else done a 365 project? or considered it?
What are your thoughts on such a project?
Do you have any questions or concerns? I'd be happy to see if I can help.
Thanks for allowing me to share. ♥
I did a 365 project in 2007 - it was challenging but a lot of fun too! I LOVE the idea of using the kitty - so creative! I have been thinking about going through all of my pics from 2010 - because with having the baby, and both of us having cellphone cameras, I am SURE we have a picture of every day of Lukes life so far. I think it would be fun.
ReplyDeleteI did something similar - but more along the memory keeping side of things. (I worked in the scrapbooking industry for 10 years before photography - so it is still the top of my mind when I think about photo projects) I did a "screen shot" a week for a year.
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1771500241399.2093810.1056033137&l=3b7ae8cfd8&type=1
It started out accidentally - I just happened to look down at my phone at 10:38 on April 7th, 2010, a week exactly from Luke's birth. And then I did it again the next week, and the next week. So I started doing it every week after that and taking a screen capture of them. I now have a whole year of Luke :) I am missing two, and there are a couple duplicates where I forgot to change my wallpaper, but oh well. :)
I love long term challenges like that. I think I may do the 365 thing again next year.
Does anyone here follow Ali Edwards? I know her through scrapbooking - and she is an amazing person. She does "A week in the life" and documents a week - all the little things. Its phenomenal.
I've seen Ali Edwards! She is amazing. I used to be a whole lot better about taking my camera with me everywhere and taking pictures all the time but with my two boys I find I have let it slide a lot. Actually thats one of my big goals once "real" sessions stop, to keep my camera running it's gotta go everywhere. When I was first starting out that was one of the best pieces of advice; to take your camera everywhere and get used to pulling it out in random places. It definitely helped me not be so self conscious and to come out of my shell a little because I was used to having it out and so were the people around me. It became a part of hanging out with me! My goal, when I was starting was to take 20 photos a day. It was actually challenging! I didn't save most of them because, well they were of things like oranges and shoes :) But they got me used to changes in light, subjects, and flipping my settings over and over really helped it to sink in. I've never done a year long thing but I remember Kitty :) He got a little wind blown when Corey came along with me for a shoot! I thought it was a great idea and a unique way to keep your camera clicking in between taking shots of your daughter and the everyday and your occasional sessions!
ReplyDeleteI have never actually done a 365 project but I have seen some pretty amazing ones posted. However,my family might argue the point becuase I took so many pictures of my son (and those around him) his first year that I literally have 10,000 pictures for just that time period. I need to go through and delete some but still to emotionally attached to them.. I am going to have to edit sometime to eventually scrapbook his first year.. I know its horrible that I haven't done it yet.
ReplyDeleteI am thinking about starting a 365 project after looking at yours. I would love to see how my photography changes.