5 posts tagged “pad”
I'm not going to let this Picture-a-Day-as-marathon metaphor die, much as you may want me to. I just muscled past the 3 mile marker and I am finally starting to feel like my limbs loosening up. I'm not stressing quite so much about each day's shot and am pretty happy with one or two. Some days are much harder than others but that is to be expected isn't it? Continued best wishes to anyone embarked on this kind of project.
Continuing my Picture-A-Day as a marathon metaphor, with today's image I have just completed mile two (the first month of pictures).
I'm still not going to pretend it's easy but I am starting to get into something of a stride. I'm letting go of the pressure to create a 'significant' image everyday. That's just too much stress. I don't think that I'm cheating, but if I am not in the mood to shoot, or it has got late, I am using the old fall-back of table top studio work and am shooting toys or my camera collection as a way to get through another PAD day and to keep to the project.
I've also found I'm pacing myself. Some lunchtimes I go for a walk and to bag that day's picture. If I find what I need in the first few minutes but later see something else visually interesting I may take a shot or two but I also mentally file away the location of the subject and the time of day and weather that will suit it best so that I can return on another, less target-rich day. Some of the images I have made are just blah but at least I made a picture that day. Of that, I am proud. I am also confident that with a bit of effort I can keep going a few more miles.
Escaping the metaphor and addressing real road races for a moment, I wish I was as confident about completing the actual half-marathon that I signed up for this coming Sunday. I haven't done nearly enough training miles to get a decent time so this race will just be a matter of survival for me and I will count anything under two hours a victory.
To anyone else competing in real or metaphorical races at the moment, good luck to you. The following are my PAD images for mile two (only 21 and a bit miles left to go!):
I'm trying to equate the Picture A Day (PAD) project I've embarked on with some other large project I've accomplished, like running a marathon. Actually, I've committed to running another one of those this year (it's been quite a while since my last one) but the race isn't until December so I have plenty of time to get injured before then.
A marathon is 26 and a bit miles (the bit can be the killer). This means that 1 marathon mile equates approximately to two weeks in PAD days. Wow - I've got a long way to go and I've only finished mile one! I wish I could say that it has been easy this far but that would be a lie. If a runner is hurting at mile one of a marathon then they are in a lot of trouble and a world of pain. Let's hope the marathon/photography metaphor isn't that accurate then.
On the plus side, I have managed to keep going this far without resorting to anything too desperate or cheating. I'm quite proud of some of the pictures although it is so much easier to do on those days when you've got nothing better to do than take pictures. On those days when you have to work, pickup groceries, exercise, empty the dish-washer, pay bills the end of the day can sneak up on you. Then it's a case of trying to find something close at hand that you can grab a shot of.
To anyone else trying a PAD project this year good luck. To anyone brave enough to admit they have resolutions for the New Year, particularly if they are photo related, all the very best to you too. Below, my first mile in pictures:
I've run with the same core group of people at work for more than a decade now. At least every Tuesday and Thursday we meet at the gym at work to do a few miles. During our time we've noticed a cycle; around Thanksgiving the gym starts to get quiet. By the week after Christmas the place is positively dead but come the first work day of January the line for the showers gets ridiculous; everyone on campus suddenly has a New Year's resolution to get fit and/or lose weight. For a few weeks the changing rooms will be packed but by mid-February everything will be back to normal.
Let's face it, New Year's resolutions rarely work but I do see something heroically optimistic in their failure; the belief that we can change ourselves for the better through sheer will-power. With this in mind I am embarking on a Picture a Day project for the New Year. I've noticed the Flickr and photoblogs are littered with these PAD projects at the moment, much like an overstuffed gym, as we enthusiast photographers resolve to learn more, stretch ourselves and to use our toys more frequently. I tried this back in October for a month on my photoblog and it is harder than it looks. This time I am allowing myself a little more latitude by hosting the project on Flickr. This allows me to keep my photoblog as it currently runs; if I want to post old pictures I do, and if I want to post different shots from the same outing over several days I can. The Flickr set will be more strict in that I will try to post a picture everyday from the previous 24 hours.
I wonder if I can make it past mid-February and the death of the majority of New Year's resolutions. Running has taught me that you have to make something an unconditional habit if you hope to succeed. If I don't turn up to the Thuesday group you can bet one of them will be calling me by mid-afternoon to either make sure I'm not injured or to call me a lazy bastard. Hopefully my conscience will play that roll in my photography although my wife is also a good task master for these kind of projects. Carrying a camera every day is already a habit - now I just have to make sure that I make time to use it.
What about you? Anyone else made any Photography related resolutions?
