Jul 6, 2010

365 Reasons To Love Photography

Life passes by so quickly and sometimes it's hard to remember what happened yesterday, much less a year ago. When I started Project 365 on January 1st of this year, I began a new journey of taking notice of the things in my life that bring me joy on a daily basis. Whether it was my family, a good book, the beauty in nature, or a well cooked meal, my picture of the day became my reminder that life is good! Capturing one photo every day, has not only given me a visual history of my life and a great way to remember the year, but it has also made me a better photographer in the process!


Project 365:  Why and How [by PhotoJoJo.com]

WHY DO IT?
"Taking a photo a day is a big undertaking with big payoffs. Here are just a few reasons why you should consider doing it:

•Imagine being able to look back at any day of your year and recall what you did, who you met, what you learned… (Often we find it hard to remember what we did just yesterday or even last night, let alone a whole year ago!)

•Your year-long photo album will be an amazing way to document your travels and accomplishments, your haircuts and relationships. Time moves surprisingly fast.

•Taking a photo a day will make you a better photographer. Using your camera every day will help you learn its limits. You will get better at composing your shots, you’ll start to care about lighting, and you’ll become more creative with your photography when you’re forced to come up with something new every single day.

HOW TO DO IT!
1.Bring Your Camera Everywhere.

Yes, everywhere. Get in the habit. Grocery stores, restaurants, parties, work, and school.  Going to a movie theatre? Snap a pic of the flick with your phone–there are photo-ops everywhere. If you have one of those tiny tiny cameras, you have no excuse not to have it in your pocket all the time. And if you don’t? Camera phones are a great substitute.   

2.Make Posting Easy

You can install blog software like Movable Type or WordPress on your own site and create an entry for each photo, but for true ease of use, try a photo sharing site. Flickr will let you post a week’s worth of photos in 2 minutes flat, and fotolog and Photoblog.com are geared toward a photo-a-day workflow.   Making it fast and easy means you’re much more likely to do it.

3.Vary Your Themes

Try to capture the day’s events in a single photo. Perform photographic experiments. Take a photo of someone new you meet, something you ate for the first time, or something you just learned how to do. Take a photo of something that made you smile. And don’t forget to take a photo of yourself at least once a month so you can remember how you’ve changed, too.

4.  Tell a Story

Use your blog entry, or your photo description, to explain what’s going on in each day’s photograph. How good did that dinner taste? What made you want to take a photo of that stranger? It’ll help you remember down the road, and it gives friends following along a better appreciation of why you took the photo you did. You don’t need to write a lot, just enough to add some color.

5.  Don’t Stop, No Matter What

This is perhaps the most important tip of all. You will get tired of taking a photo every single day. Some days, you will consider giving up. Don’t. The end result is worth the effort. Remind yourself why you wanted to do it in first place.  There will be times you’ll think there’s nothing interesting left to take a photo of, and times you’ll think you didn’t do anything exciting enough to take a photo of. There’s always a great photo to be made.  Get out of the house and take a walk. Or stay inside and look around. Take a photo of something important to you. Take a photo of the inside of your house so you can see how your taste has changed over the years. Take a photo of anything, just don’t stop.   (HINT:  It helps if you’ve told your friends about the project and asked them to follow along. Their encouragement will keep you going!)

6.Post early, post often

Plan on going through and posting your photos at least once a week so you don’t get backlogged and feel overwhelmed. Ideally, post every day or two. Again, spend the time up front to make sure it’s quick and easy to post. It’ll make all the difference."
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Jul 1, 2010

Learning From A Pro

What is O.C.F. and What Do I Need to Get Started by Ali Hohn


O.C.F:  "What is it? It's using some sort of external light source (speedlite/studio light) outside with you and the sun. You can shoot at pretty much anytime of the day whereas with natural light it's more limiting. I typically use an Alien Bee 1600 light powered by Alien Bees Vagabond and my beauty dish. It took me a while to actually understand how to do Off Camera Flash but you can almost use those same techniques in the studio as well. There are a few more things you change when you are outside. But....Off Camera Flash has changed my life and also my editing time. I don't do very much to my photos anymore. They look incredible straight out of the camera.  Once you get your exposures correctly with O.C.F. it will become a breeze to shoot (other than lugging gear around), but personally, I absolutely love shooting this way!"


Would you like to take your photography to the next level? Don't miss out on Ali's Workshops!More information on O.C.F. photography can be found on her website [http://www.rockthatocf.com/]. She also has an O.C.F. Field Guide and an Online Book to help get you started!

"Just 2 days after buying Ali Hohn's Book on OFF CAMERA FLASH I can see the value in my purchase!" ~Leaha Bourgeois

Ali's One Day Workshop Schedule:
Salt Lake City, Utah September 23-24
Peoria, Illinois October 1-3
California October 22-24
Austin, Texas November 5-7
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Give Us Your Best Shot!: O.C.F.

Our first ever Photo Challenge:  Which one is YOUR favorite?? 
We asked Ali Hohn to have some of her best students share their O.C.F. Masterpieces with us, and we were not disappointed!  Submissions are still being accepted until July 7th.  Everyone is welcome to join in on this Photo Challege even if you are not a student!  If you would like to be featured this month, all you need to do is share your talent with us!  [send to bryceandcindy@hotmail.com]. All submissions will be published here, along with your photography website!! What a great way to network and share your work!  Stay tuned for more fabulous shots! 

Challenge Rules:
1.  Image must be O.C.F.
2.  Please send us your name and web address
3.  Photo's will be resized to approximately 600 x 800 pixels and 300 dpi

 













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