Project 1 :Photo a day for a year, week 1.

Sun, 23 Jan 2011 17:06:53 +0000

Wow, this is going to take a lot of commitment! Think about setting out to take a picture everyday! Week 1 the theme was bicycles. I have decided to use a compact camera for this project, my weapon of choice being a Lumix LX3. It’s bit of a cheat because it has many of the functions of a dslr including RAW. My friend Roy is also doing this project and we are taking turns to set a subject each alternate week. I’m waiting with anticipation for next weeks subject of which I’ll be informed tomorrow morning!

The images can’t all be masterpieces but the project forces you to think about a set subject and experiment with different angles, composition, techniques and processing techniques to try and make the images interesting. It also teaches you to try and think laterally and not literally. Hopefully I’ll get better at this as I go along.

This is my first weeks effort:-

17 January. The office bike. This wire bicycle has been in my office for ages. It’s a start!

18 January. The unwanted yellow rocket. I quite liked the natural light from the single window.

19 January. Blistering heat.

20 January. I loved the warm sunlight and the patterns coming through the curtain in the afternoon sun. The result wasn’t that great though.

21 January. Here I have experimented with an overhead angle to try and create an unusual composition.

22 January . Bling. Here I have used an off camera flash, the result is harsh and direct but I like the result.

23 January. The ghost in the mech. I used a 2 second exposure here and moved the camera in toward the subject while the wheel spun.(my compact can’t zoom and expose at the same time!) I like the movement it shows and the feeling of precisely functioning machine parts.

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Everybody needs a little inspiration sometimes.

Tue, 18 Jan 2011 16:50:24 +0000

Like a torrid love affair, I have always had an on/off relationship with photography. Sometimes the inspiration just isn’t there.

I get a few monthly photomags and the publishers send me emailed news letters. The one that arrived this week had a fantastic article on 32 inspirational photo projects.

I plan to do all of these projects over the year of 2011, hopefully it will help to keep me inspired and encourage me to be creative. After all, doing something really creative is right up there with some of the most rewarding things in life.

I plan to to a blog post with pictures on each of the 32 projects set by photoradar. Project 1 will in itself have a weekly update of 7 pictures every week.

“Project 1: 365 / one photo a day It doesn’t matter when you start, but there’s no better way to force yourself to think about composition, location and the limitations of your camera by taking a photo every day. Be creative with themed weeks, or months.”

This teaches you to really see. Somedays it’s going to be really hard to find something photoworthy but I’m going to try! I have started this project on the 17 th January 2011 and plan to finish it on 16 January 2012. Each week will have a theme and at the end of each week, I will post the 7 pictures of that week. The 5 week days i will use a compact digital and the weekends a DSLR. The “theme” applies to weekdays and the weekends it’s open subject.

For any other keen photographers out there, here is the link:-

http://www.photoradar.com/news/story/32-photo-projects-for-2011

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Project 1 :Photo a day for a year, week 1.

Everybody needs a little inspiration sometimes.