Five Photo Projects for the New Year

Five Photo Projects for the New Year

A New Year often means new resolutions. Whether we keep them or not – well, that’s another story!

But a New Year can also present a great opportunity to give your creative juices (and your camera) a kick start. If you’re really into your photography, then consider giving the following easy-to-do photo projects a go when the clock ticks over to 2011.

1. The 52 Project: Choose one theme, and take one photo a week based on that theme for the duration of 2011. Your theme can be subject-based (eg. “Family”), gear-based (eg. “Shoot only with a 50mm prime lens), or techniques based (eg. “Long exposures”). You could showcase your work on a blog (try www.wordpress.com or www.blogger.com), or on Flickr (www.flickr.com)
2. The 365 Project: For those who are more hardcore, try the 365 Project which requires that you take a photo a day, also on a particular theme. One of the more popular themes in the past has been self-portraiture – which can help chart the way you look across the year. Or you could go the extreme and do what US photographer, Noah Kalina, did — which was to take a self portrait a day (held at arms length) over 6 years! Check out his video compilation of 6 years’ worth of self portraits in Everyday.
3. The 1/1/11 Project: It only happens once every 100 years, so make the most of it. Take photos during the day that are thematically linked to the concept of 1. Alternatively, for the more die hard photographer, take a photograph at 1am on 1/1/11 and one at 1pm on 1/1/11.
4. The Unchanging View Project: If you are able, set up your camera to overlook a particular view — perhaps out your window and into your yard or your street. Nominate a specific time during the day and take a photo of that view at that time every day for the entire year. At the end of the year, review the images and look at how it changes with the seasons. If you have the skills, compile the images into a video as Noah Kalina had done.
5. The Break out of your Comfort Zone Project: Make a New Year’s Resolution to take photos that you would not normally take. If you find yourself photographing landscapes and inanimate objects because you’re a bit shy about photographing people, then set yourself a goal to take a number of portraits during the year. Start with family and friends, and then see if you dare progress to photographing people you don’t know. Variations on this could include the 100 Strangers Project, where you take photographs of 100 people whom you don’t already know. If you shoot digital, then give film a try (and start saving your pennies to pay for development costs — or learn to develop your own film). Or, if you’ve always been a bit of a lone ranger when it comes to photography, try joining a camera club, or if you prefer something a bit more informal and social, try PIP – the Photographers in Perth photo group on Flickr.

A New Year is a great opportunity to try new things. Go for it!