Photography

Why I’m Doing a 365 Day Photograph Project

[mks_boxquote align=”left” width=”150″ arrow=”0″]“Photographing one thing every day will force me to think about the ‘here’ and ‘now’”[/mks_boxquote]This year I have set myself a target (I am apprehensive to use the word ‘resolution’) to carry out a 365-day photography project, with all the photographs being published on my Runaway Brit Facebook page. The aim is to take at least one photograph every day in 2014 and as far as possible, Internet connection and work commitments allowing, to publish the photograph on the same day. I will write a round-up post here at Runaway Brit each week.

I know that a project like this can be demanding. Life can get pretty busy at times and stopping to take a picture might not always be my highest priority. On top of that editing pictures takes time, and yes I do edit my pictures; especially the ones taken on the iPhone as the camera is not good enough to capture images as they really are. But there are many reasons why I want to do this project, which I will list below.

Improve My Photography

Photography has been an interest of mine for many years, but I’m still not very good at it. I’m getting better gradually, but I look at photographs daily that are just so damn good it makes me want to cry. I want to be that good. I am considering taking a photography course this year or, even better, going on a learning trip with an experienced photographer to pick up some tips; but I have recently learned a few things from reading various articles and websites, as well as by looking at the photos of some of my favourite travel bloggers. Mostly, I like to experiment. It’s a slow process, but I’m getting some good results.

I will be using my Sony Nex C3 plenty this year, but I have decided to use my iPhone for this project. Partly because it is more likely to be with me every day of the year, but also because I am interested to see what results you can get from a camera phone.

Getting close-up with a camera phone.
Getting close-up with a camera phone.

Appreciate The Small Things

I’m a teacher and my life is generally divided into short blocks of time ranging from 6-11 weeks long where life becomes so busy that I can barely think. Then I get holidays, long holidays, where I’m so relaxed I don’t want to think. All of a sudden another year has passed, and I can barely remember any of it. Photographing one thing every day will force me to think about the ‘here’ and ‘now’, instead of focusing on my next trip away.

I’m not always travelling and sometimes my life is ordinary and mundane, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t find something meaningful or beautiful amongst the gray. That’s what I’ll be looking out for each day!

Looking for colour on a gray day.
Looking for colour on a gray day.

Document 2014 in Pictures

I’m hoping that good things will happen in 2014, and by taking one photograph every day I can look back at the year and say, “Yes! That’s the day when…”. I want to remember every single day because the years are passing faster than I care to admit, and one day I’ll look back at 2014 as, hopefully, one of the best years of my life.

Make A Commitment to a Project For A Whole Year

This is most likely going to be my downfall. It is easy to get swept up in the promise of New Year’s Resolutions in January, but the reality of carrying out a task for a whole year is pretty hard. If I can stick to this for a year then I’ll be very proud of myself. And I’ll have some great pictures too!

My first 365-Day Round-Up will be published shortly, but you can follow my 365 Days Photo Project  on my Runaway Brit Facebook page in the meantime, and maybe give the page a ‘like’ too!

Have you ever taken part in a project like this? How did you get on? What kind of photographs would you like to see?

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