PRINT & SHARE
Challenge yourself to stay professionally creative at home by conducting a daily photo program
Stay creative by running a 365 project
None of us can venture far to indulge our photography habits at present, so staying creatively motivated may be proving difficult. However, there is some good to be found in nearly every situation, and time spent at home, with very few scheduled constraints on our time, can provide the artistic impetus we need to improve our photographic technique.
Many photo projects can seem overly basic for more experienced shooters, but even working professionals can benefit from setting creative challenges. A popular approach is the 365 project. This requires a photographer to make an image every day of the year, which may seem easy at first but in practice often proves extremely difficult. The concept of a 365 is to push yourself creatively, discovering new ways of making mundane scenes or objects photogenic. Consider this as practice for working in changeable or less-than-ideal shooting environments as part of your professional life, which is a common occurrence. Here are some tips to get you started on this project.
VARY YOUR STYLE
As a professional you will likely try to marry your photographic style with your business brand, and trying new ways of shooting familiar subjects is a great opportunity to gauge the success of each, through viewer reaction. An online project is like a virtual world, allowing you to test styles on people who aren’t paying clients. Altering your creative approach from day to day will also keep the project fresh and interesting for you as the photographer. Try something you may not normally consider to develop your preferred shooting and editing signature.
PICK A THEME
Select a focus for your project. This will define the content of your images for the next year, so pick wisely! As a professional photographer, choose a theme that is relevant to your area of business, as this will enable you to use the project to subtly advertise your services and demonstrate your expertise. This doesn’t mean you can’t try something new for originality, but try and ensure that the project can also add value to your business.
MAKE A PLAN
Before you start out on a 365 project, make a rough plan of how you will shoot, edit, and upload your images to your preferred hosting platform. You can leave subject selection to the day of the shoot, but having a process will ensure you don’t miss any days.
PROMOTE YOUR PROJECT
In the current climate there may not be a tremendous amount of source content for your blog – jobs you’re undertaking, trips you’ve been on, etc. – so a project is a great event to update followers about and help you stay engaged with them. As well as posting the images from each shoot, post behind-the-scenes shots to shout about your work on social media.
CREATE AN END PRODUCT
A possible strategy is to state early on that you will create a product with your images once your project is over. This could be a photobook, online gallery dedicated to the display of project images, or even a calendar, with one image per day. Getting creative with the destination of your images will encourage your followers to keep up with the progress of your project, as there will be a collectable element to each entry.
Take the time to respond to comments on your images or regarding your project
Take the time to respond to comments on your images or regarding your project. Encourage your viewers to make suggestions about future content, make requests, ask for tips about how you created your images, and to show enthusiasm for checking back in anticipation of future posts.