Hello again! Are you all fired up to get started with photography projects for this year? Every year one of my goals is to improve my photography, and it is one goal I hit every time. I think this is so because the sure way to get better at taking photos is to just take photos, lots of them.
The last few years we have seen an upsurgence in the daily photo project, known as Project 365 (this year 365 +1). The premise is simple: take a photo every day for 365 days. The reality is less simple, at least for me, as I have yet to successfully complete a Project 365! But I know many people who have, including my friend and WCS team mate Paula. You can see the fantastic photo book she made from 2010 here.
If you want to try a Project 365 this year, a great resource is the website Capture Your 365 where Katrina Kennedy and her team will help you to reach your Project 365 goals. The site provides support through a forum, blog and gallery. On the blog you can find posts related to not just photography but also journaling and scrapbooking. Every month, Katrina posts a checklist of photo ideas for daily photos. You can find the January 2012 list here.
If Project 365 sounds daunting, there are other options. WCS team mates Lisa and Monika are running their Project 52 for the second time this year. That's just one photo a week folks! Even I can manage that!
I also came across another weekly project called Focus 52 from Two Scoopz Design.
This one is not limited to photos only, it can be any weekly project. There's a Flickr group for uploading your weekly submissions, as well as weekly prompts for inspiration and a blog post for linking up your projects.
Another option is to do monthly photo projects at sporadic times during the year. Last year I came across a bunch of these, and my most successful attempt was taking a photo every day in June. Via Pinterest I found three separate 30 Day Photo Challenge Lists, and used them to inspire a daily photo for that month. You can see the lists here, here and here. I did a quick search on Pinterest and found a bunch more! You can see these even if you're not registered there.
Big Picture Classes runs a series of Photo Classes with Tracey Clarke of Shutter Sisters for capturing the seasons. Right now you can take the self-paced Picture Winter Class. A couple years back I did the first class she ran, Picture Spring and it was a great experience.
Finally, Karen Walrond of Chookoolonks is running a photography gratitude project this year. This one is a paid subscription, where you receive a monthly newsletter with inspiration, creative prompts and shooting tips for developing a gratitude practice through photography. Karen will be donating 40% of your fee to Kiva, so it's also a way of doing good!
Of course you can always come up with your own approach to a photo project for the year. A family photo once a week, or once a month, a photo on the same date each month, or a 365 self-portrait project are some examples. The key is practice, practice, practice.
Are you doing, or do you know of any other photo projects that I haven't mentioned? Please share in the comments!
Tomorrow we'll talk about scrapbooking all the photos you are going to be taking.
Until then
