In my quest to become a professional photographer, I’ve decided to take on a new challenge. I want to start a photo a day project. You may have heard people call it Photo 365 or a Photo A Day (PAD) project, either way what it is taking one photo (or more) a day and then sharing it (or them) with the world.
Photographer Katherine Heise of Lamb Loves Fox inspired me to begin this project. I’m sure that this will help sharpen my skills while providing a neat documentary of daily life. Also, have you read this Petapixel article by street photographer Marius Vieth? It’s called How a 365 Project Changed My Life. Since I have a love for both family photography and street photography, I’m interested in seeing which niche I’ll gravitate towards.
There’s a bunch of websites that offer great tips on how to begin this exciting endeavor. I decided to round up the best advice out there. Do you follow anyone’s Photo 365?
1. Maintain A Heightened Awareness
At every moment of the day keep your eye open with a photo in mind. Look for the obscure moments or observations that you might otherwise let go by with out a second glance. Training your eye and brain in this way is where a Photo365/Photo A Day project can help you improve as a photographer the most. Taking great photography can’t happen if you never see or never know when to react.
– via Digital Photography School
2. Train Your Eye To See Light
Learn how to get the most out of the light whether sunny, overcast, or any thing in between. Learning how to get the most out of high contrast and low contrast lighting situations is a great way to broaden your photographic opportunities. In addition experiment and make use of off camera lighting to supplement the available light to you. I learned a lot forcing myself to take photos in all different lighting environments during my Photo365 / Photo A Day project several years ago and it helped make me a stronger photographer.
– via Digital Photography School
3. Bring Your Camera Everywhere
Yes, everywhere. Get in the habit. Grocery stores, restaurants, parties, work, and school. Going to a movie theatre? Snap a pic of the flick with your phone–there are photo-ops everywhere. If you have one of those tiny tiny cameras, you have no excuse not to have it in your pocket all the time. And if you don’t? Camera phones are a great substitute.
– via Photojojo
4. Tell a Story
Use your blog entry, or your photo description, to explain what’s going on in each day’s photograph. How good did that dinner taste? What made you want to take a photo of that stranger? It’ll help you remember down the road, and it gives friends following along a better appreciation of why you took the photo you did. You don’t need to write a lot, just enough to add some color.
– via Photojojo
5. Don’t Stop, No Matter What
This is perhaps the most important tip of all. You will get tired of taking a photo every single day. Some days, you will consider giving up. Don’t. The end result is worth the effort. Remind yourself why you wanted to do it in first place.
There will be times you’ll think there’s nothing interesting left to take a photo of, and times you’ll think you didn’t do anything exciting enough to take a photo of. There’s always a great photo to be made.
Get out of the house and take a walk. Or stay inside and look around. Take a photo of something important to you. Take a photo of the inside of your house so you can see how your taste has changed over the years. Take a photo of anything, just don’t stop.
– via Photojojo
6. Think Ahead
Sometimes you’ll find an interesting shot without even trying, particularly if you’re out and about a lot. If you’re not, or if you’re having a slow day, it’s good to have a list of ideas that you can photograph. The list can include places, subjects, techniques you want to try and more. If you’re really stumped, go to your favourite spot for shooting.
– via The Next Web
7. Make a List of Happy Things
Listen, you are going to get in a photography rut. I am not going to lie and say that every single day it is going to be easy. There are going to be the days when you feel uninspired. But creating and keeping a list handy helps. Sit down and create a list of all the things that make you happy. Whether it is seeing your little one jump off the school bus at the end of the day or pulling a baking sheet of cookies out of the oven, make a list of all those things that bring a smile to your face. Then, tuck that list away in your camera bag and pull it out on those days when you are feeling uninspired. Trust me, this works! And your list will bring a smile to your face, too!
– via The Bethadilly blog
8. Try Different Things
Try different things. A lot of different things! Different cameras, different cities, different settings. Play with light and darkness. Find out what suits you best and then get really good at it. Photography teaches you how to get the best out every situation and to look at things from different angles.
– via Telegraph
9. Think About Whether You Want to Print Your Photos
Personally, I believe that printing your Project 365 is one of THE best things for motivating you to continue. Honestly, I am not sure whether I would have continued through this far if it hadn’t been for the fact that I don’t like to see a gap in the album that holds my 365 images! I love printing out my photos each month: there is something very rewarding about holding a print in your hand.
Of course you may choose not to print as you go along, but perhaps make a photo book out of them each year: again, though, I would suggest filling this in as go along, and then printing at the end of the year. Either way, it’s a good idea to get this set up before you start taking photos!
-via Live Snap Love
10. Start Today!
The best thing is that you don’t have to wait until the end of the year to start your Project 365. You can start today! If you are looking for ways to improve your photography skills, you should consider starting a Project 365.
-via The Sits Girls
So, I’m going to start today! Each day, sprinkled within this blog you’ll see one picture I took, the day prior. I’ll also be posting to my Instagram. Let’s hope I can keep this up!
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