on photographing every day

GandT

Photographing every single day has its ups and downs. On occasion, it is just plain tough. Today, I felt this hardship so much more than on other days, including the long winter months when all my free time seemed to be in the dark, like a cave woman!

Whilst I've accepted that most of my photos are taken with my phone's camera, today I felt quite disappointed about this whole project. The ultimate goal was to reconnect with my photographic eye, tell the story of my year in images and photograph more. All of this can be done – and successfully achieved – with a phone; it's not about the camera, it's about that eye (within reason, let's face it!). But…

Perhaps I wasn't fully honest with myself when I listed my goals for this project. Or perhaps I didn't know them then. Or perhaps I assumed the goals would be achieved in a different way without realising there were other options. But… going back to that but… I now know I expected to use my DSLR way more! I mean – WAY MORE!!

Do I think it's ok to use my iPhone? Yep, I most certainly do! Do I think the photos can tell the story of my year? Oh yeah! Am I happy with the results? For the most part, yep! And yet I want to be exploring new ideas with my DSLR. That's really what I want right now and maybe, just maybe, that is a completely different goal to photographing every day, but in my dream world the two walked hand-in-hand and we all lived happily ever after. 

I missed a perhaps before. Perhaps I haven't just realised this was what I want, but instead this is simply what I want now. Somehow, this realisation makes me feel better about this project again. Guess throwing it out there and letting the writing flow has more uses than the obvious, hey?

Interestingly, in spite of this having been the most difficult day of this project so far, today's photo wasn't the latest I've ever taken. There was a day I took the photo with 5 minutes to spare to midnight, almost as an afterthought, remembering on the right side of the clock that I was committed to photographing the everyday, every single day. So not the worst day, even if it felt like the hardest. 

Are you photographing every day? 
Do you have a daily project?
How's that working for you? Are you, or have you, faced a dip yet?

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2 Comments

  1. 11 May 2015 / 13:26

    I think you’re doing really well just to keep taking a photo every day! I don’t see that the camera you use makes a difference – not many people have time to do the whole DSLR thing on a daily basis. Just taking photos each day makes you practice composition, so it’s going to improve your photography without you even realising it.

  2. 12 May 2015 / 08:10

    All valid points, thanks for the reminder that it’s ok to do what you can 🙂
    I think some of it is this self-imposed pressure of doing what’s in your head, with total disregard for reality and other commitments. You’re absolutely right that I don’t have the time to do the ‘whole DSLR thing’ on a daily basis, it was really never an option for me considering the rest of my life… and that’s ok 🙂
    Thanks!!

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