I'm still relatively new here (I'm a 1st January-er!) and I was wondering what approach you guys (especially you old hands) take to your project?
For myself, I have a big year looming for me (finishing uni, possibly moving to a new town, getting a job, graduating!) and would like a way to document it and later look back at what I was getting up to, but obviously a lot of you use it as a great way to push your photography skills every day in a different way.
Do you think it's possible to mix learning new photography skills with capturing the everyday situations? I'd be interested to find out what approach you guys tend to take to your project!
Lately, there definitely seems to be two camps on 365; more so than when I first started. There are those that want to improve their technical skills, and those that want to document their lives day-to-day.
I'm one of those people that fall between the two, I guess. I want to create a photo daily that makes me happy but that's pretty much it. If I learn something along the way, fabulous. If not, I'm not going to lose sleep over it. This is a hobby that I do for fun.
I really like the idea that's been passed around lately of tagging your photos for critique. I can see that as being very useful.
YES it's possible to do both!! Find a unique and artistic and interesting way to represent what you did each day. Then, you'll get better photographically, and also you'll have a record of your year. I don't get why it's gotta be one way or the other. I think it can be both.
For instance, I have an entire album dedicated to my son. All pics of Jackson, each of things he was doing each day. May seem boring to some, but I'm going to look back at his second year and see all the little changes he was making. And I shoot them in a way that will help me photographically, and that they are artsy.
Here they are if you'd like to see... http://365project.org/amyhughes/jaxman
But really, push yourself to take great photos of what you do each day...then its the best of both worlds.
@amyhughes that sounds great, as well as having a record of what you've done, you've presented it in the best way possible :) i'm gonna try to do that!
I have a bit if a weird approach to be honest.. I am sort of documenting my daily life.. but through the eyes of a rubber duck. I hate talking about myself.. so my duck Greg does it for me. Therefore, if I do something that I think is particularly cool I can say that he did it and I don't feel bad about it.
Although I try to improve my technical skills, it is quite hard to get a good photo on a phone camera (I do have a better camera but I would lose it if I took it everywhere with me) so I am trying to incorporate a variety of different types of photos into my project.
Some (I hope) will be good photos, some may not be so good but they show what I did that day, others may be fun, or set up to be funny.. as long as I have a mixture in there I am happy.
Also, what I am trying (and hopefully going to succeed with sometime soon) is using weird lighting.. at the moment my favourite is my car headlights, as shown in my latest photo.. and also the photo from 14th January.
I try to do both.
I want to record my daily life but also improve on my technique, composition and post-processing.
As I'm also a 1st January-er I'm not even three weeks in, but I really intend to take a picture every day and will try not to use fillers. That will force me to take pics under all possible circumstances. I hope this will improve my skills!
I do both. Sometimes I'll go out on a shoot with the intention of a) improving my skills, and b) to capture something wonderful (I hope). Sometimes though I might go somewhere or do something just as part of my everyday life that I think might have a great photo opportunity, so I take my camera along too and that's my photo of the day. Sometimes I might go along to an event or something purely because I want to take photos, and I end up having a good time, so I've both taken my photo and documented my day's activities.
For me, the main reason I started this project was to get better; invariably, in part I have documented my year, and that makes me happy too.
@grimbo I usually work photography three days a week minimum so the rest of the time I hope to use new techniques that require me to break my usual habits.
I've been keeping an eye out for a good chance to try some hyperfocal stuff. Freelensing can be pretty cool too, though it feels terrifying the first time because you're really aware the lens isn't attached to the camera any more. Fun for weird tilt shift effects and super macros.
Like many others, I do both. I am trying hard to get better at my photography skills, but I always enjoy catching some things about the day. Lately, I have been setting up situations to photograph just because it's winter and the daily life is quite mundane. However, my creative shots get abandoned if the kids and I get silly or something fun happens.
The neat thing about this project is that it is yours and you can do it however you want. At the end of the year, you will find 365 photos that you probably wouldn't have taken. Good luck and have fun!
I still have a LOT to learn, but Im here mainly to clean up my act of taking photos and not doing anything with them other than sticking them in an album and putting the book on a shelf.
I also enjoy the community spirit here.. the feedback, the laughter from the comments and the friendships that form. now I sound like a lonely old stalker.
Im using this year for me to show myself that a year ago I could hardly walk (bad back, had surgery in feb 10) and a year later Im climbing mountains..so yes to documenting my year.. yes to improving and yes to stalking!!
I dont think you can publish 365 original shots and not learn something from the experience. I like to push my creativity with photography so that the image I take expresses the way that I feel at the time, whether that is a manipulated shot or just a point and shoot, I think the thing to remember is that it is your project so it should in the long run give you pleasure, as long as it does that you cant go far wrong.
A friend of mine put out New Year's Day that it wasn't to late to start a 365 project. Having not heard of it I checked out the site. I thought, oh that sounds cool. I took a really bad first couple of pictures with my phone. Then I dived into the site, looked around and am now thinking of photos almost every waking moment. I love it. I've always wanted to improve my skills, with my camera, and post processing and this has really pushed me to do so. I also like taking a pic everyday that sums up some part of my day. I like the themes and trying to think of interesting things to do for those if I can fit it in. My project has morphed into something I never considered, but I'm so glad it has turned out that way.
My project is purely a year of my life but I don't think you can take a daily photo and check out this site for hours without learning something. By the end of the year I'm hoping the photos of my day/life will be more skilled than those I took in the beginning.
My photos are my every day life... I just use the chance to improve my skills. All my models are my own children, animals or friends who are sucker enough to let me use them lol
These all sound really good! So far I have been trying to capture the stuff that goes on every day in the best way I can, but as I'm quite a clumsy person I don't always like taking my DSLR everywhere! This means that quite a few of my shots end up coming off my iPhone and aren't as great as they can be... However if I'm around at home or going somewhere that I know will have great shots to take I will always be armed with my DSLR to get it the best I can!
Kate Marsden made some good points. I think that in recording your daily life in pictures you are by default becoming a better photographer. Every picture you take is another step to becoming a better photographer. I have found myself thinking differently and getting shots out of practically nothing. I am sure that by day 365 most people will have a handful of fantastic pictures they can be very proud of. Something they may not have had if it was not for this site.
I am finding that every day I think of new things for my project. I recently made a very very long list of places I could put a rubber duck.. and I add to that all the time. Mostly with things I wouldn't have thought of in the first few days. And every day I do crazier and crazier things to get my photos! I hope my followers appreciate what I go through to take photos of a rubber duck :P
For example, I never ever thought it would be a good idea to use car headlights as the only lighting.. but I have done that twice now and am very likely to do it again!
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I'm one of those people that fall between the two, I guess. I want to create a photo daily that makes me happy but that's pretty much it. If I learn something along the way, fabulous. If not, I'm not going to lose sleep over it. This is a hobby that I do for fun.
I really like the idea that's been passed around lately of tagging your photos for critique. I can see that as being very useful.
For instance, I have an entire album dedicated to my son. All pics of Jackson, each of things he was doing each day. May seem boring to some, but I'm going to look back at his second year and see all the little changes he was making. And I shoot them in a way that will help me photographically, and that they are artsy.
Here they are if you'd like to see... http://365project.org/amyhughes/jaxman
But really, push yourself to take great photos of what you do each day...then its the best of both worlds.
http://365project.org/debmayne/profile
Its something I try to keep in mind at all times.
@debmayne
Although I try to improve my technical skills, it is quite hard to get a good photo on a phone camera (I do have a better camera but I would lose it if I took it everywhere with me) so I am trying to incorporate a variety of different types of photos into my project.
Some (I hope) will be good photos, some may not be so good but they show what I did that day, others may be fun, or set up to be funny.. as long as I have a mixture in there I am happy.
Also, what I am trying (and hopefully going to succeed with sometime soon) is using weird lighting.. at the moment my favourite is my car headlights, as shown in my latest photo.. and also the photo from 14th January.
Hope that helps you a little bit :)
I want to record my daily life but also improve on my technique, composition and post-processing.
As I'm also a 1st January-er I'm not even three weeks in, but I really intend to take a picture every day and will try not to use fillers. That will force me to take pics under all possible circumstances. I hope this will improve my skills!
For me, the main reason I started this project was to get better; invariably, in part I have documented my year, and that makes me happy too.
I've been keeping an eye out for a good chance to try some hyperfocal stuff. Freelensing can be pretty cool too, though it feels terrifying the first time because you're really aware the lens isn't attached to the camera any more. Fun for weird tilt shift effects and super macros.
The neat thing about this project is that it is yours and you can do it however you want. At the end of the year, you will find 365 photos that you probably wouldn't have taken. Good luck and have fun!
I also enjoy the community spirit here.. the feedback, the laughter from the comments and the friendships that form. now I sound like a lonely old stalker.
Im using this year for me to show myself that a year ago I could hardly walk (bad back, had surgery in feb 10) and a year later Im climbing mountains..so yes to documenting my year.. yes to improving and yes to stalking!!
I am finding that every day I think of new things for my project. I recently made a very very long list of places I could put a rubber duck.. and I add to that all the time. Mostly with things I wouldn't have thought of in the first few days. And every day I do crazier and crazier things to get my photos! I hope my followers appreciate what I go through to take photos of a rubber duck :P
For example, I never ever thought it would be a good idea to use car headlights as the only lighting.. but I have done that twice now and am very likely to do it again!