Hi everyone, I am new to the 365 project; like a lot of other people this is my new years resolution and I am going to try my hardest to keep it.. but I might need some help.
Because I am not very good at taking artistic photos, I don't have an amazing camera and I am certainly not very photogenic myself, I picked something a but different to photograph every day.. a rubber duck.
I could do with some good ideas for places to put Greg (the duck) - bearing in mind that I am a college student and don't go to many awesome places! Any suggestions?
Well, I have known others that have done this, including me. After about 1 month, you may find yourself stressing yourself out more trying to think of "something" to shoot with them. It happened to me, and others I know, and then we all just quit.
It's a big world out there. Open your eyes, and look for things. You may find that you'll see more than you've ever seen before, and that is beautiful.
In the fridge, in the freezer, in the middle of a road, in the alloy of a car, on a wall overlooking a huge drop (shot from above), in the microwave, with a phone resting against him as if he's using it, floating in a cup of tea, stuck in a tree, on top of a storm drain, inside your computer's case playing with the electricles, on a table in a restaurant (with bonus FREE funny looks from other patrons), tucked up in bed, balanced on top of a dog's head, glued upside down on a ceiling in a room, make a "have you seen this duck?" poster as if he'd gone missing and stick it to a lamp post and take a shot of him looking up at it, sat by a river with a fishing rod, in one of your college classrooms as if he was drawing on the blackboard, balanced on top of your own head, trying to hide in a bowl of fruit and lastly... in the bath!
That's three weeks worth, for free*!
*not actually free. I accept PayPal and my rates aren't very reasonable at all, I'm afraid.
Hmm, I don't think you necessarily have to find a new location every single day. Even though you can go to the same place, every day will be different somehow, so you could try taking a picture of that 'difference' with your duck in it - for example, if you cook your favorite meal on a certain day, or receive a gift from a friend on another. Just put Greg beside it and you're good to go!
the beauty of this project, for me, has been that i have begun to notice things more. things that i may have walked by every day take on a different meaning when thought of in a photographic way. i don't think you have to work hard to come up with photos. just start with your daily life - - the trees, flowers, desks, broken pencils, stacks of library books, whatever - - silly things can become interesting photos with interesting lighting. stuff like that. good luck. just keep going and remember every photo does not have to be a masterpiece (though I am sure many would argue that mine are - - -hhahahahahahhhahaha :))
Fun idea!! Just remember to take Greg with you EVERYWHERE so you have every opportunity to take photos of him in different locations. And of course you need not have different locations all the time, but even just put him in different created situations. Since he's small, it'll probably be fairly easy to set up various settings for him. Good luck! I can't wait to see your shots!
@eyebrows I have to say- it is a little scary that you had all of those ideas floating around in your head LOL :) They are pretty darn great, and you should be charging top dollar for your genious! You should have made sure the money cleared your paypal account first though hehe...
@katiegc24 I think you are going to find that shooting a rubber duck for a whole year isn't going to be very inspiring. If you want to do theme shots like this I would suggest picking one subject and sticking to in for a week, or two. This site has weekly themes that can stir up your creative juices. Another thing that has been done here by many, myself included, is to do an alphabet theme- taking one shot for each letter of the alphabet... Hope these suggestions help :D good luck with your project!
Behind the wheel of a car, sitting with a remote control to a gaming system/tv/etc, in a fishbowl, in a pool, in a shoe, if you go on vacation, with the sign of the place you went to, if you go to school at a desk, at a concert with the artist in the background, on stairs, reading a book, in a mailbox.. :D
@katiegc24 It's an interesting thought, but you'll be surprised how quickly you'll tire of having a duck in your pictures... and you will find inspiration when you least expect it, you'll find motivation tapping on your monitor via here, there are loads of places via internet to find ideas....
Also, instead of varying places, you can try varying other things: change the lighting (take a picture at different times of day and there'll be a huge difference), change the perspective (looking down at him will be very different from looking up at him from ground level), change the objects you place around him, etc.
Also, the type of camera you have doesn't matter. There are certain things that fancier cameras can do that point-and-shoots can't, but, for the most part, it's the person behind the camera that counts and not the camera itself. Take some time to read about composition (just Google "composition photography" or something) and that in itself should lead to more artistic pictures :)
@rebcastillo77 The perils of being unable to sleep and sitting at the PC with a glass of milk and a bit of chocolate, at work there! A tired (but not tired enough to sleep for some stupid reason) Steve Brain can definitely be a scary thing ;)
@katiegc24 oh my goodness this is such a cute idea! you could set up a mini date for the duck like with a teddy bear or another girl duck all dressed up, or the duck watching tv, or the duck taking a picture! haha this is so cute.
Wow.. thanks everyone!!! This is fabulous, I have so many places to put him now!!
If you want to see your ideas put into practice please feel free to follow me and keep up to date with Greg's antics throughout the year..
@eyebrows That is a lot of ideas.. do you just have a list of "really good places to put a rubber duck" floating ( see what I did there? ) around in your head?? Definitely going to use them, thank you :D
@orchidfire I guess the type of camera doesn't matter much.. but I am only using the camera on my phone, because I don't really have a camera small enough to carry around with me and take to college etc.. having said that they aren't bad quality photos for a phone camera! However if you have any tips for using really really simple/rubbish cameras and making photos look good then I would love to hear them :)
@rebcastillo77 The alphabet idea is a great one, and I will definitely do that at some point during this year. You say it won't be very inspiring.. and maybe you're right but surely that is the challenge of this theme? To find 365 ways to make a rubber duck look interesting?
@moncooga Thank you, I will have to start taking more photos of things, maybe I'll get some good shots. But in the meantime I am going to try to be the one who does persevere with the crazy theme of pics of a rubber duck doing different things.. At the end of May I usually go and stay on a royal naval destroyer for a week.. How cute would it be to have a little red rubber duck sitting on the deck of a battleship?! I am really looking forward to going to some awesome places with Greg the Duck.. but I am also looking forward to the challenge of making the boring, everyday shots quirky and fun too.
@katiegc24 - I think it's more important to have good light than to have a good camera—try to illuminate your subject in a way your camera can capture, and play around with different kinds of lighting if sunlight doesn't cut it (you can try using flashlights, mirrors, etc.). Hope that helps :D
Hehe... eyebrows... a badly lit photo of me, many moons ago, seen by an internet chum, who commented on how "bushy" my eyebrows looked, and then used it as my name... and I rather liked it, so started using it myself ^_^
They're not especially bushy, it was just the bad light!
What's your inkling about the number 24? The GC is because a couple of years ago I taught my mate how to play the 'Gumbie Cat' song from the musical Cats, as a piano duet.. not exactly a miracle, but because his music teacher and a couple of other friends had failed in helping him beforehand and he needed to learn it for an exam, he called me 'Gumbie Cat' for a while afterwards.. and for some reason not many people seem to use that combination of letters after the name Kate or Katie as internet usernames.. so I thought I would, because that way I wouldn't have to fix obscure numbers or extra words onto it to make it acceptable.
@eyebrows Well I don't watch 24.. so not particularly.. rather boringly it's my birthday; 24th March (Nearly 18.. can't wait!!) It also was my house number for a while.. when I was about 5 I thought it was incredibly cool that my birthday was the 24th and I lived at number 24.. Now I have grown up a bit and moved house it's not such a big deal, but it's still the number I use for pretty much everything.
I am indeed going to end up with a lot of pictures of a duck.. hopefully not all boring, but still just a lot of pictures of a rubber duck. Any ideas what to do with them after all that? :P
Hrm I think when done you'll need to pimp it out to the Tate and such, get the complete collection exhibited, could become famous! In fact given we have @simonarmstrong here, the Tate's book buyer, he can probably hook you up! :P You'd need to spin it as a post-modern statement on the ubiquitous materialistic nature of capitalism and how no matter what fancy ways you dress it up it's always the same underneath! Y'know, something nice and pretentious ;)
@eyebrows That's a good plan.. want to help me out with some photo editing? :P everyone on here edits stuff and plays with lighting.. I don't have any editing software and with my phone camera it's pretty much either light or dark and nothing in the middle.. fine for duck pics but it does make me feel rather inadequate as a photographer..
I think I'm going to have to make a nice big collage out of them.. or a scrap book or something, as well as taking over the Tate with rubber ducks..
Also, I am actually in love with your 31st December photo. How did you make that so awesome? = O
Photo editing's my speciality! Aww yeah with a phone camera you might be a bit stuck, but then I'm sure there's something called "hipstamatic"? Maybe you can get that...
Collage would be rad ;)
Well, my final photo as never been in love before, so just you be careful with him! No idea why the streaks from the lamp post appeared, something my wide angle lens does, and the rest was just... a lot of messing with contrasts and other nerdery :p Glad you love it though!
No photardshop here, it always confused the hell out of me, I use its photographer-friendly little brother Lightroom, and I'd literally be lost without it! It's the secret to my "success"
Actually, I do use photoshop's retarded next door neighbour sometimes though, Paint Shop Pro, for if I want to do stuff like this or even this
@eyebrows - They all confuse me mahoosively... It does make me feel a bit better that you manage to be awesome without the help of photoflop.. Never seen Lightroom before though.. Is it expensive? O: /
Well, the copy I use was pretty damn cheap; I'll get around to paying for a legit copy sometime soon, because I love it that much; it's about £250 I think. I could find a way of sending it you over the net-ter-nets but it only works with posh "RAW" photos taken with SLR type cameras I'm afraid 0:/
@eyebrows - Bah. Looks like Greg's followers are going to have to put up with SOOC photos.. Interspersed with a few good ones from when I have the time to go to my mates house and borrow 1) her posh camera, 2) her copy of photomop, and 3) her photo editing expertise. Which hopefully I will be able to do.. Because I have one hell of an awesome idea.. But to do it well I need some serious editing done. And I'm dying to have a go, and post it on here!! O: D
@eyebrows - Totally want to tell you.. (I can't keep a secret to save my life.. Ok maybe then.. But definitely not any other time..) but I don't wanna ruin the surprise....
Ah what the hell, no-one else will read this anyways. He's going to be looking in a mirror.. At his reflection.. But looking back at him is..... A REAL duck!
O: D because that is how he sees himself. Obviously.
@eyebrows - MWAHAHAHAHAAA your mind will explode with the sheer awesomeness of it.. when I get round to making it and posting it....
I have some other really good ideas, but unfortunately they are going to have to wait until the summer, which is rubbish. And I'm actually not telling anyone what they are :P suffice it to say that because I am a sailor and a music teacher.. Which means: duck and boats.. And duck and some awesome musical instruments. Again, they will blow your mind O: P
Dammit I knew exactly what I was going to take today.. got up specially early for it.. and then it was grey and foggy and rainy so I couldn't get that shot after all. Stupid English weather.
@ginifer - Yes, we do. She's my best mate, we've known each other since we were about 6. I bought her a rubber duck for her 18th birthday in September (along with a load of other things!) so she bought me one for christmas.. I came up with the duck idea and started doing it. So she thought it was a good idea and copied me. : /
@eyebrows ... lol re crackberry, i had their )($)*(&)(*#$*&$#&^ awful storm II ... biggest piece of sh!t i've ever had that anyone dared to call a phone.
and LOL at katie re no one reading this hehehe, you'll probably see 10 shots of a similar thing now :-// i have a cool idea for the blue theme, but not sharing and not posting until the last day, mainly 'cause i don't want to see anyone else do it better hahahahahaha ;))
@eyebrows@katiegc24 - It's awesome if you know a friend that works for Adobe as things like Lightroom are only like $25 USD. Another option is to use education/student discounts. I can't imagine not having Photoshop. I've been using it for over 10 years and love it. I have Lightroom 3.0, but haven't installed it yet. Still sitting shrink-wrapped on my desk :).
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I had some fun with rubber duckies a few months ago!
It's a big world out there. Open your eyes, and look for things. You may find that you'll see more than you've ever seen before, and that is beautiful.
Food for thought.
That's three weeks worth, for free*!
*not actually free. I accept PayPal and my rates aren't very reasonable at all, I'm afraid.
:P
@katiegc24 I think you are going to find that shooting a rubber duck for a whole year isn't going to be very inspiring. If you want to do theme shots like this I would suggest picking one subject and sticking to in for a week, or two. This site has weekly themes that can stir up your creative juices. Another thing that has been done here by many, myself included, is to do an alphabet theme- taking one shot for each letter of the alphabet... Hope these suggestions help :D good luck with your project!
Just have that camera with you!!
Also, the type of camera you have doesn't matter. There are certain things that fancier cameras can do that point-and-shoots can't, but, for the most part, it's the person behind the camera that counts and not the camera itself. Take some time to read about composition (just Google "composition photography" or something) and that in itself should lead to more artistic pictures :)
If you want to see your ideas put into practice please feel free to follow me and keep up to date with Greg's antics throughout the year..
@eyebrows That is a lot of ideas.. do you just have a list of "really good places to put a rubber duck" floating ( see what I did there? ) around in your head?? Definitely going to use them, thank you :D
@orchidfire I guess the type of camera doesn't matter much.. but I am only using the camera on my phone, because I don't really have a camera small enough to carry around with me and take to college etc.. having said that they aren't bad quality photos for a phone camera! However if you have any tips for using really really simple/rubbish cameras and making photos look good then I would love to hear them :)
@rebcastillo77 The alphabet idea is a great one, and I will definitely do that at some point during this year. You say it won't be very inspiring.. and maybe you're right but surely that is the challenge of this theme? To find 365 ways to make a rubber duck look interesting?
@moncooga Thank you, I will have to start taking more photos of things, maybe I'll get some good shots. But in the meantime I am going to try to be the one who does persevere with the crazy theme of pics of a rubber duck doing different things.. At the end of May I usually go and stay on a royal naval destroyer for a week.. How cute would it be to have a little red rubber duck sitting on the deck of a battleship?! I am really looking forward to going to some awesome places with Greg the Duck.. but I am also looking forward to the challenge of making the boring, everyday shots quirky and fun too.
@eyebrows - I thought not XD
O: )
Just out of interest.. why 'eyebrows' ? : /
Hehe... eyebrows... a badly lit photo of me, many moons ago, seen by an internet chum, who commented on how "bushy" my eyebrows looked, and then used it as my name... and I rather liked it, so started using it myself ^_^
They're not especially bushy, it was just the bad light!
I'm very glad the new halo fits better O: P
So while we're on the topic; "katie" I can figure out, "24" I've an inkling about, but what's the "gc"?
What's your inkling about the number 24? The GC is because a couple of years ago I taught my mate how to play the 'Gumbie Cat' song from the musical Cats, as a piano duet.. not exactly a miracle, but because his music teacher and a couple of other friends had failed in helping him beforehand and he needed to learn it for an exam, he called me 'Gumbie Cat' for a while afterwards.. and for some reason not many people seem to use that combination of letters after the name Kate or Katie as internet usernames.. so I thought I would, because that way I wouldn't have to fix obscure numbers or extra words onto it to make it acceptable.
What a long explanation that was.. sorryy
O: )
Also "Oh who am I kidding, I'm just going to end up with 365 pictures of a duck." :D
I am indeed going to end up with a lot of pictures of a duck.. hopefully not all boring, but still just a lot of pictures of a rubber duck. Any ideas what to do with them after all that? :P
Hrm I think when done you'll need to pimp it out to the Tate and such, get the complete collection exhibited, could become famous! In fact given we have @simonarmstrong here, the Tate's book buyer, he can probably hook you up! :P You'd need to spin it as a post-modern statement on the ubiquitous materialistic nature of capitalism and how no matter what fancy ways you dress it up it's always the same underneath! Y'know, something nice and pretentious ;)
I think I'm going to have to make a nice big collage out of them.. or a scrap book or something, as well as taking over the Tate with rubber ducks..
Also, I am actually in love with your 31st December photo. How did you make that so awesome? = O
Collage would be rad ;)
Well, my final photo as never been in love before, so just you be careful with him! No idea why the streaks from the lamp post appeared, something my wide angle lens does, and the rest was just... a lot of messing with contrasts and other nerdery :p Glad you love it though!
All your editing looks really good.. Do you use photoshop?
I will be very careful with him.. O: ) don't worry! It is really cool.. And I am a big fan of nerdery!
Hrm a crackberry... I'm fresh out of ideas :(
No photardshop here, it always confused the hell out of me, I use its photographer-friendly little brother Lightroom, and I'd literally be lost without it! It's the secret to my "success"
Actually, I do use photoshop's retarded next door neighbour sometimes though, Paint Shop Pro, for if I want to do stuff like this or even this
Ah what the hell, no-one else will read this anyways. He's going to be looking in a mirror.. At his reflection.. But looking back at him is..... A REAL duck!
O: D because that is how he sees himself. Obviously.
I have some other really good ideas, but unfortunately they are going to have to wait until the summer, which is rubbish. And I'm actually not telling anyone what they are :P suffice it to say that because I am a sailor and a music teacher.. Which means: duck and boats.. And duck and some awesome musical instruments. Again, they will blow your mind O: P
Dammit I knew exactly what I was going to take today.. got up specially early for it.. and then it was grey and foggy and rainy so I couldn't get that shot after all. Stupid English weather.
and LOL at katie re no one reading this hehehe, you'll probably see 10 shots of a similar thing now :-// i have a cool idea for the blue theme, but not sharing and not posting until the last day, mainly 'cause i don't want to see anyone else do it better hahahahahaha ;))
Dammit. At least I can prove I thought of it first, cause it's on this forum.. I'll have to get a move on and make that one then!! :(