studio

Bunny and Bun (9/365)

Stuck for ideas, I asked my 3 year old daughter what I should take a photograph of today. Initial suggestion was her pink wellies. Which we did. But we weren’t happy, as we both agreed there was something lacking.

So, we moved on to taking a loving couple shot of Bunny and Bun. (Just don’t tell my daughter that Bun is really Bun #2!!!!). You might also note a lack of originality in my daughter’s naming of her friends….Bunny, Bun, Cow, Duck, Bear…..

Tools of the Trade (5/365)

I work in IT and at times it seems I live on cake and espresso. Whilst consuming cake and coffee with one hand the other has my phone in it – usually applied to my ear. All very necessary and all very EVIL!

Home studio set up again. This was done with a Canon 40D tethered to a desktop PC and an off camera flash with soft box attached.

I was going to call this “Weapon of Choice” for some reason that escapes me now.

Kid's "Treasures" from the Beach (4/365)

My twin kids always collect “treasures” from the beach when they are there. The treasures also provide a handy prop for dad to play around with using his home studio set up.

This was done with a Canon 40D tethered to a desktop PC and an off camera flash with soft box attached. In this particular shot I was playing around with the depth of field. Cropped to 17 x 6

Great idea…

..but all of mine are , or at least they were in the last days of December 2010.  I thought I would do a 365 Project, where you take a new picture every day for a year.  I thought I had made things easy for my self by not picking a specialist subject.  But you know what?  Its a bit hard.

…but…

I did well, or so I thought, for the first week.  Then you have to go back to work (I know, bummer…) and with the limited time left in the day after work you try your best as ever to discharge your family duties.  Where does your hand crafted photo of the day come in all this?  Well, for me this week it really hasn’t.

Millhouses Park Sheffield (1/365)

The rot set in over a week ago though, pressed for time, I literally dusted off an old 35mm negative taken on Kodak Tri-X; scanned it in, cleaned it up and popped it on Flickr – my job was done, a tick in the box (or calendar).  My 365 Project integrity had taken a bash.

Then I made the mistake of taking 30mins out at the weekend to do a “quick” studio still life.  Well 30mins became 90mins…and my mum was here too, so I wasn’t looking after her.   I got a bit of grief…the photograph I made was good though!

A Drink and a Smoke (15/365)

…now what…

Well after that and the angst I caused, the home studio set up went out the window.  My enthusiasm waned.  The next day, it was an artsy mobile phone picture, well it was a picture I guess!  Monday I did nothing.  Tuesday, I photographed what was left of my cooked breakfast (called it “Remains of the Day” – getit?) on my phone, Wednesday I did nothing.  Thursday – I took a picture.  Friday…its not looking good.

…any thoughts?

Doing a 365 Project was meant to (for me at least)…

• Challenge me, by getting me out of the comfort zone of DML  (Doing Mostly Landscapes)
• Help Me Get better at things
• Make me think more about my photography

And it did!

For the first week.

Now is it a chore?

I feel guilty for not doing it.

In fact I feel pretty bad about not doing it, but is it causing me more trouble than it is worth?  Are the high minded (ambitious?) goals of getting better and being moved out of my comfort zone worth the grief?  Maybe, but may be not.

A New Hope

Perhaps I just need to re-evaluate what is a 365 project?  Is it a well taken photography every day?  Well perhaps I should strive for that idyll.  But, and it is a big but, perhaps I should just take pictures, pictures of the mundane (like my breakfast) right the way through the spectrum to the grand panoramic landscapes and the well lit studio shots.  I shouldn’t care whether that picture is taken on my XPAN, my Canon SLR, my Canon Powershot or indeed my mobile phone.  What SHOULD matter is that I am taking my picture, my way.  It’s not going to be a master piece every day, it might not get comments on Flickr (and hopefully never one of those stupid HTML badges).  However it will be a photograph a day and its the way I’m going to roll.

Welcome to my 361 Project.