Is A Daily Photo Challenge Right For You?
PHOTO CHALLENGE | Continue practicing taking a photo a day, one week, one month, or one year at a time. Do what feels right and works best for you, but also knowing that you can grow and challenge yourself to be a stronger and better photographer.
Photography is already a commitment on so many levels. A daily challenge really tests the limits of your commitment to the art, as well as how you prioritize it. This is not a project to take on for everyone, but if you are looking to develop a skill, document your day, and transform yourself as a photographer. Not only are you learning to challenge yourself by picking up your camera every single day, rain or shine, in sickness and health, you are also learning more every day and honing in your style, skill, and capabilities.
Photography is an art, not unlike learning an instrument, and on of the best ways to get better is with deliberate daily practice. If you want to improve your technique, if you want to find your voice, if you want to explore different styles, you need to practice and practice and practice. The more you shoot, the more shooting becomes intuitive. You are given the opportunity to push yourself, focus on micro skills that you didn’t have time to dedicate to before. For example, you can teach yourself how to shoot in Kelvin, you can practice toggling focus points, you can practice different exposure techniques.
The same thing goes for post-processing your photos. When each image stands alone from the day before, it opens up so many opportunities to be creative with your edit. You don’t have to stick to a certain style. Let the image lead you. Take it where you want to go with it. The only person you are answering to is you. And in those little experiments, over time, you will notice a pattern emerge in your processing and a consistent portfolio will develop and your skillset does.
Staying motivated can be the hardest part of taking on a daily photo project. Even when the days are cold and dark, your schedule is busy, or your mood is just not into it, you have to keep shooting. Here are some tips along the way that have helped me in previous 365 projects:
Share your photos everyday. On your social, in our group, with a family or friend, have someone and somewhere to share your photos and to be cheered on.
Involve your family, but don’t overdo it. If you always photograph your immediate family and they start to despise seeing you pick up your camera, try turning your camera toward other scenes and moments around you – the flowers on your kitchen table, a side table of treasures or books, the light that streams into your home in the quiet of the morning. There is a story to be told within all of these elements of your life as well, so when you are feeling stuck, try opening your eyes a bit more to them. Look for details you might not have seen or captured otherwise.
Take your camera with you everywhere. You will find the greatest success with shooting every day if you keep your camera within arm’s reach whenever possible. Keep it on your kitchen counter, in your camera bag that’s by the front door and ready to go. Keep it on the table in the evening. Even if most of your day is spent racing around town and running errands, look for an opportunity to stop and smell the roses, capture the weather, street photography, a beautiful impromptu park walk, or anything that catches your attention and you can stop to snap a quick, mindful photo.
Lastly, the best camera is the one you have with you. There are going to be times when it’s not practical to bring your DSLR along. Or maybe the moment worth capturing that day happens when you are in town or on the way home from work without your camera with you. It’s the moment that matters most, capture it however you can. When you use your phone, just be sure to import it into your editing software so that it becomes part of your project with the rest of your photos, you can still edit it like you would the rest of your photos.