3 posts from January 2009

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Project 365: Mile 2 - The Work Begins

Jan 22, 2009
2 comments

If this is your first year long picture-a-day project you might just have noticed that the task seemed to get much more difficult over the last few days. What's going on?

Remembering that project365 is a distance race not a sprint let's return to my favorite project365-as-a-marathon analogy. When you run a marathon there is so much preparation and effort in just getting to the start-line that, by the time you are warmed up and are hanging out in a that huge crowd waiting for the gun to fire it feels like a rock concert audience waiting for the band to come on – there is so much anticipation and nervous energy. When the race starts and that crowd first starts to jog and then gradually gains momentum you are running on pure adrenaline. For the first couple of miles you are at the heart of a huge crowd with spectators cheering the sight of thousands of people in motion, cameras capturing the event for local TV news and papers and you are just swept along, literally, in the moment. It can take a couple of miles for the pack to start to spread out and for you to find some space at which point the magnitude of what lies ahead can be daunting – you can go from feeling in the middle of the best party ever to feeling very alone in no time flat.

For the first mile or two you just run on the energy of the crowd but once that passes it's time to do the real work of the race; you're not really going to feel that camaraderie and adrenaline until the last couple of miles and, in this moment, the end of the race is a distant dream. It's time to find your space and your pace, to start listening to your body, tune out discomfort and concentrate on those things that will let you achieve your goals. Personally, I start to try to ignore the runners around me; if I get caught up in a group going to fast I will hit the wall – if I hang out with people going too slow I will get frustrated. I either look down at my feet and the ground for a mile or so or look over the heads of the other runners. I start to get a little chant, rhythm or song going in my head to run along to and I concentrate on form. At this point you are on your own.

Very similar things happen in the typical project365 group. January 1^st the gun is fired and we're off! Many of us having been waiting for a long time for the project to begin and we're full of creative energy and good intentions. The first few days you can't wait to take and post your shots. You go to your project365 communities on Flickr and everyone is firing on all cylinders, posting amazing work and it's just too easy. Your fellow project365ers spend surplus energy commenting on tens of pictures everyday and participating in discussions and sub-projects; each image you post gets more views, comments and favorites than you are used to – perhaps a picture or two hits 'explore' – now we're motoring!

Bay to Breakers: Superman

But, around day 20 you look around and the pack is spreading and thinning. A few participants have already fallen by the wayside, many are finding it hard to fit their picture-a-day into their busy lives. The free time of the holidays is gone – we're back to work with nothing interesting to shoot, certainly nothing explore-worthy. Your average views-per-image are half what they were last week so no one would notice if we just quit. What's the point of going on? It would be so easy to just stop; what are you going to do?

Like a marathon, it's time to do the work. You have to stop worrying about the others around you and get back to basics. Find a pace that works for you this means finding times that best work for you for making pictures and posting them. Make it as easy as possible for you to succeed – that means taking a camera everywhere so that there are no missed opportunities or excuses for not taking a shot. That means having a regular time for processing images and posting them – maybe over coffee when you first get up, during a coffee break at work or last thing before you go to bed, just make it a routine.

Oracle Fun Run

Pace means just plodding on forward one step at a time relentlessly. If you're running this race so your friends can see you, forget it. It's Sunday morning and they're all still in bed. Your fellow runners aren't really paying much attention to you, they have their own demons to wrestle with over the next 20-something miles. You have to run this race for you – to find out what you are capable of. Post your daily picture even if you are not totally happy with it, even if it is not half as good as the one you posted yesterday, or your buddy posted yesterday, even if it will get only 2 views and have no chance of hitting Explore. Just post picture after picture, relentlessly.

So get on pace, check your form, forget about the rest of the pack and do the work. You know you can make it to the end of this if you want to enough and you are relentless.

PS - Project 365 is not exactly the same as a New Year's resolution but they share a lot of the same characteristics. Ceratainly this post I read today seems to apply: Do You Make These 7 Mistakes When Trying to Keep Your New Year’s Resolution?

"So after the initial enthusiasm wanes it may not feel as that much fun anymore. It’s sort of enthusiasm backlash. This is the homeostasis kicking in within your mind (no matter if the goal/habit etc. is actually very positive for you). It’s a resistance to change to keep the system (you) stable. If you are simply aware of this being what it is - rather than a signal to give up - you can persevere, be patient and keep going more easily."

Photography and Equipment - Just Get Over It

Jan 8, 2009
6 comments

I still love photography but I'm so over equipment.

I'm a software engineer who is into photgraphy so I am apparently the go-to guy when you want to know what camera or lens you should buy. People are always calling me up or asking me what camera would be right for them and, mug that I am, I will spend globs of time with them helping them work out what is in their budget and fulfils their needs.

C7070

No one ever calls me up to talk about the exhibit they've just seen, book they would recommend or new photographer they've just discovered. Yet, when I meet many photography enthusiasts and they recognise my passion for the subject they want to talk about cameras:

"What do you shoot with?"
"Are you Canon or Nikon?"
"Have you tried the latest version of PS?"
"What printer did you use to make these prints?"

These conversations are a waste of time. What does it matter what I shoot with when I intend my work to speak for itself? What does it matter what printer, paper, or ink-set I used - what do you think of the content of the print?

Just for the record I shoot whichever of three compacts we have lying around the house, falls to hand. If I have the room in my bag but I want to travel light I use one camera and lens set - if I'm willing to make fewer compromises and will put up with the extra weight I use a different body and set of lenses. The specifics don't matter. I keep up with technical subjects and equipment so that my new images will be the best they can be but I resent having to spend my time that way. I'd much rather pour through an monograph than an instructional book. I'd much rather watch "The Impassioned Eye" than a DVD about how to achieve specific lighting effects. I rather listen to a podcast that interviews a photographer about his art than an interview with a camera manufacturer about this Photokina season's new releases.

Don't get me wrong, craft is important. You should be able to operate your camera blindfolded. You should know the physics of exposure so well that it is intuative. But just because something is important doesn't make it interesting.

I Am Camera

Scales are important to a musician but when I pay good money to attend a performance they better be playing something other than scales.

So what is the point of this rant?

If you already have a camera that can make a good enough file stop reading magazines that are just trying to make you want to buy new equipment; instead visit a gallery or museum and get inspired. I have a decent camera but I refuse to buy into the idea that I need to buy something twice as expensive again to be taken seriously. There is no camera in the world that will make me a better photographer; I can only achieve that through applying myself to my work.
Avoid conversations about gear; seak out conversations about art and artists.
Spend as little time in PhotoShop as you can get away with. Avoid 'playing' with an image in PhotoShop. Instead look at the original file, previsualize what you would like the resulting file to look like, and work out the shortest route from one to the other.
Stop studying lighting plans, HDR tutorials and ways to make your digital images look like they came out of a Lomo. Instead, study the history of photography, its movements, key players and iconic images.
Don't be ashamed of shooting digital when everyone tells you that the 'real art' is made using film (or visa versa). It is a pissing match that has no point or end.

To conclude; photography has as much and as little to do with cameras as painting has to do with brushes and paint. They are tools - a means to an end not an end in themselves.

Begining a Photography 365 Project

Jan 3, 2009
6 comments

So you have enlisted in project365 - how hard can it be? All you have to do is pick up your camera once a day. How long does it take to make a picture? 1/125 of a second on average? That's only 1/10800000th of your day. This should be easy.

365!

I hate the gym but I do love to run. I've been running with the same group for more than ten years now. We meet at the same place in the gym at work 2 to 5 times a week (depending upon your level of commitment), and we go for a leisurely 5 to 8 miles. We've noticed how the changing rooms become over-populated at the beginning of January, bursting at the seams with paunchy executives and sedentary engineers full of New Years resolutions. A few of them who ran track two or more decades ago at High School, ask to tag along with us and we always welcome them, however, I don't bother learning their names until they make it through to April. By this time the gym changing room occupancy is back to normal levels and our running group will be back to the same old faithful until bikini season begins to loom all too large.

SF Half Marathon: Ready to Start

It is much the same dynamic in the 365 Flickr groups; around the 20th of December my typical Project 365 shot was getting about 12 views and a couple of comments from old friends. When January 1st rolls around and a slew of people got their new cameras for Christmas flood the project groups. My first picture of the New Year and the new 365 project got nearly 100 views in a day and 12 comments and it wasn't nearly as interesting as my shot from the 20th of December. Some of the comments are from people I've never heard of but they're full of enthusiasm for their new endeavor. If they're still around at the beginning of March I'll start to learn their names.

I'm guessing 75% of people who start project365 never finish. Me? I'm too stubborn to quit. I'm also afraid that if I stop forcing myself to take a picture a day then I'll stop taking pictures altogether. As long as I'm picking up a camera at least once a day I can call myself a photographer; an amateur one but a photographer nonetheless. There's no secret to completing project365, you just have to want to do it enough. You have to want to be a photographer enough. You have to love photography enough to make time for it everyday. Like running, if it's a chore you will find a reason or an excuse to quit. It can't be a chore but we know, in reality, it isn't a pleasure to have to do something everyday, therefore, to complete this project you will have to find the middle ground and make photography a habit.

I'm not an expert but I've done this for a couple of years so here's a couple of other things that I've learned:

8th: Nathan Yanko

Carry a camera with you everywhere even if it's just your cell phone. When inspiration strikes or you stumble across a photogenic subject your camera must be at hand. If you have to walk back to the house or your car to get it you will miss the opportunity. If you see something that might make a good subject but your not sure don't censor yourself; take out your camera and take the shot. It might not be 100% successful but it is easier going through the day knowing that you have at least one shot in the can even if it is not your best shot ever. It frees you up to be more adventurous and open to other opportunities that the day might present

It's a distance race not a sprint so pace yourself - don't spend all your enthusiasm, creative energy or ideas in the first month or two.

Some days it's easy, some days it's much harder. Embrace the easy days but don't be discouraged by the tough days.

Keep a list of ideas, techniques you want to try and subjects you want to photograph. On the days when ideas flow add to the list. On those days you find yourself stuck for inspiration use something from the list.

We've all had days where it's 11 o'clock and we realise that we haven't taken a shot all day. To alleviate the panic keep a separate eleventh hour list; a list of things you can shoot around your home in an emergency. I keep a cheap light box and a couple of strobes around for just such occurrences. I grab my macro lens and shoot some action figure, camera or guitar I have lying around. Perhaps you collect something you could shoot. Maybe you like to cook; shoot the raw ingredients in your kitchen or the dinner you just prepared. You might have a pet or a child or spouse that is a captive subject. Perhaps you're proud of your home decorating skills - you get the idea; there are a million subjects in your home - you just have to find them.

Start an ongoing project you can build on during the year - mine sound incredibly dull but when I've nothing better to do and my idea list is bare I shoot parked cars (www.flickr.com/photos/martintaylor/sets/72157604775579510/ ), arrows in the street ( www.flickr.com/photos/martintaylor/sets/72157600131444466/ ) and a boring, concrete bridge (www.flickr.com/photos/martintaylor/sets/72157594375665327/ ). Individually these images might not be the most exciting but collectively they build into something you might be proud off. Perhaps you could take a self-portrait once a week, or document your DIY projects, the restaurants you visit. Pick things that are easy, accessible and that you have an interest in.

PAD 2007 - 67: Arrow

Know that there will be days you don't want to shoot, days when everything you take seems like crap, days you just don't have the time or energy to produce your best quality work. It is impossible to produce great art every day - the point is to keep trying. Don't be too precious about your flickr stream - it's not a portfolio, it's a work book. Post even if you're not totally happy with the image - you learn as much from your failures as you do from your successes (probably more).

Lean on your friends, contacts and groups rather than suffer in silence - you are not the only one who finds it hard to make time to do this every day.

If you need a break, keep shooting but stop processing and posting and commenting on flickr everyday - when you feel up to it edit and post your pictures in a batch. Don't leave it more than 5-7 days though or the task will get to be too big and it will be easier to stop completely than to keep going.

Keep it fun, or at the very least, keep a sense of humor.

Your mileage my vary but these are the things that have helped me through the last couple of years of this project. If you're as pig-headed as me and you make it through to Spring I will do my best to learn your name. Be stubborn; don't stop shooting.