My very first ever photo in my 365 Project was of a pack of bacon. I've grown so much since then! Still, I'm starting Year 10 with my first love. Haha! Obviously, CJ loves bacon too. He even made a baconpod, or tripod, using bacon. 😁🥓
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This year, I won't be sticking to any specific theme. However, I've set some goals, like improving my studio lighting, prints, and advanced Photoshop skills (Quick secret: I added the hearts on CJ's eyes in Photoshop. I'm getting a bit better). So you may see photos showcasing what I'm working on here & there.
I've also decided that this year will be my final year shooting every day. Don't worry, I'll still be posting afterward in some way. Plus, it's a leap year so you got me for an extra day. 😉
@stray_shooter - I really needed to hear that, Ron. Part of me wants to keep shooting every day because this has been a part of my life for pretty much all of my 20s. But, I've accomplished and learned much of what I wanted through shooting every day and then some. So it's nice to be reminded that there's less pressure and even better photos in some cases as I'll be free to zero in on specific improvements.
But that's for next year. Gonna still enjoy making all 366 of these photos this year. Thanks for the helpful insight!
A nice reminder to set photography goals, I hope mine become as clear as yours after my first year. Until then I hope to provide one picture a day to reflect my activities and learn more techniques.
Embrace the gaps I say, takes a while to appreciate an empty square or more in the month though!! Looking forwards to learning from you, and CJ (and maybe more paperclips??) over the year
Great idea to feature the bacon as you did in your first photo. Glad to hear CJ will continue to be making appearances. I'm just starting to learn PS so I'll be interested to see the results of your more advanced techniques.
@sandradavies - That's the great thing about this project, Sandra. You learn every day and improve and you might not even realize that you're improving until you look back at your start!
@30pics4jackiesdiamond - Haha that's a great way to look at it. "Embrace the gaps." I'll keep that in mind. Thanks! I'm looking forward to learning more too. And yep! the Paperclip Family will be returning sometime this year. I have a few goals I want to accomplish with them too. :)
@nickspicsnz - Thanks, Nick!! I can be sentimental like that, even about bacon. That's awesome you're learning PS too. I'm curious if there's any specific way that you're learning it. I took a basic class that I finished in a week, lol, and now I'm learning through Youtube videos.
@cjphoto I'm doing a Diploma in Photography through a polytechnic in NZ. We have to do a lot of our own research online but it's structured and guided which is good, otherwise I'd probably be floundering and researching randomly, or not even doing it at all because I wouldn't know where to start. The Diploma will take about two years to complete. We're about a third of the way through and so far it's taken us from the basics through to layers/masking and medium level editing, plus some photographic design. The paper we just started last week is auteur studies so we research some influential photographers (they tell us who) and we have to produce photos to replicate their techniques/style. The current auteurs are Blossfeldt and Weston so we'll need to learn some PS techniques to be able to recreate their style of photo. The teaching for the Diploma is through Camera Raw and PS rather than Lightroom, although students can use Lightroom if that's what they know and prefer. (I understand Camera Raw and Lightroom are quite similar apart from the cataloguing system.) We're lucky in NZ because we can do this Diploma quite cheaply as the teaching element is free otherwise the cost would be prohibitive (i.e. approx $900 for NZ citizens compared to $12,000(!) for international students).
@nickspicsnz - Actually thank you so much for the detailed answer, Nick! How awesome that you have a structured course that you can take quite cheaply. I truly wish you all the best on the course and looking forward to seeing more of the results in your images, which you already do a phenomenal job at! Interesting that you all are tasked with researching influential photographers and attempting to replicate their techniques/style. That actually gave me an idea for myself. There are some toy photographers I admire on Youtube and they sometimes showcase their methods. Maybe one month, I'll try to replicate all their techniques and see what I learn. Thanks for the insight, Nick!
My first two years were basically a photo a day- my third year- a photo a day most of the time. By the fourth year I just posted whatever and I've been doing that from that point on. I liked the challenge of a photo a day but you can't maintain that forever-well, I can't maintain that forever. I do know of some people on here that have been doing that for years. Very admirable! I think "your project, your rules" really says it best- do what works for you and have fun with it. Great way to start year #10!
@olivetreeann - Thank you very much Ann! It's great to hear everybody's story about how they make this project their own and don't have to get bogged down with posting everyday eventually. While I do love shooting every day, I'm now making more creative images which take much more time to setup and edit. No way I can keep doing this every day. Plus being able to take my time with some of these photos would be more enjoyable. Thanks for the encouragement! :)
Funny connection to the beginning! Good luck learning Photoshop. I've aspired to learn PS for the last few years and my aspirations have remained that -- and haven't moved to actualization of the goal. Some day. Meanwhile, I appreciate that you let us know what you did in photoshop in your photos so I can see the possibilities (and excellent execution!),
@jyokota - Thank you very much Junko!! I'm having a lot of learning, frustrations, and fun with Photoshop. Haha. I highly recommend PHLearn on Youtube as they have a really nice 30 days of Photoshop series, teaching a few of the basics. I'm happy my efforts are proving insightful. :)
Oh and these backgrounds, I got them from my local Dollar Store. They're 22x28 poster board, which could also be bought from Amazon. This board was actually Neon Pink, but I changed the Hue of it in Lightroom to make it look softer.
February 25th, 2020
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Love those ❤👀
But that's for next year. Gonna still enjoy making all 366 of these photos this year. Thanks for the helpful insight!
Oh and these backgrounds, I got them from my local Dollar Store. They're 22x28 poster board, which could also be bought from Amazon. This board was actually Neon Pink, but I changed the Hue of it in Lightroom to make it look softer.