FotoProject365 2010…a picture a day.

Imagine being able to look back at any day of your year and recall what you did, who you met, what you learned, what you saw…

I challenge you to take a picture a day (any picture) for an entire year (Beginning January 1st 2010), 365 days!  It will be fun, it will be hard, it will be amazing!  Visit the Original Fotografie Facebook Fan Page OR our FLICKR Group to join in!

FotoProject365 is a huge undertaking for any photographer whether you are an amateur or professional.  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.

The goal is not to try to win a pulitzer prize for every picture you take, as a matter of fact every picture you take will not be a great picture.  That is not the point.  The point is to capture an entire year of images…one per day.  A living time capsule.  Share your images with your family and friends…share your images with the world!

Here are some tips to help you:

Take Your Camera (or Camera Phone) Everywhere
Yes, everywhere. Get in the habit. The Gym, the pool, grocery stores, restaurants, your back yard, your kitchen, your bedroom, parties, work, school, EVERYWHERE!  Going to a movie theatre? Snap a pic of the flick with your iPhone–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.

Share Your Images Online
Sign up for a free Flickr account.  if you blog you can use Movable Type or WordPress on your own site and create an entry for each photo. For true ease of use you can also try a photo sharing site like fotolog and Photoblog.com which are geared toward a photo-a-day workflow. Making it fast and easy means you’re much more likely to do it.  If you skip a day, don’t get discouraged…just continue where you left off and keep it going!

Explain Your Photo
Use your blog entry, or your photo description, to explain what’s going on in each day’s photograph.  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.  Often the story behind the photo is what makes the image more interesting.

Variety
Don’t try to capture the day’s events in a single photo (like other PhotoProjects suggest you do) or try to win a pulitzer prize with every 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.

Persistence
This is perhaps the most important tip of all. It’s a fact, 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.  Set a calendar reminder, do what you have to do to finish your project.  If you do forget, don’t quit. just continue the next day.  It helps if you’ve told ALL your friends about the project and asked them to follow along, they will look forward to seeing your images. Their encouragement will keep you going!

Post Often
Trying to upload a photo a day to the internet may not work for everyones busy schedule so 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.

Visit the Original Fotografie Facebook Fan Page OR our FLICKR Group to join in!