The Best Way to Grow as a Photographer | Digital Photography Students
The best way to improve your photography skills is to take photos every day.
It’s as simple as that. Of course having a goal in mind or learning more about your settings and how to control your exposure will help, but studying these things and not putting them to practice is kind of useless.
This is one reason I love the one-day digital photography workshop. You can take in the information and put it to practice right away. If you are local to Central Massachusetts, find out more here about when you can join me for my next workshop! Once you’ve got the skill down, the goal is then to maintain or improve upon it. So here, I am going to share with you a list of some project ideas to keep the creative juices flowing!
Each project has a loose set of guidelines and the frequency of your shooting may vary. Part of a photography project also includes narrowing down your images to decide which one best portrays what you were aiming for. For instance, if you take one photo each week, you may shoot multiple days that week and choose your favorite image to add to your project collection. If you choose a monthly photo, you may take a handful of images over the course of the month with the same end goal in mind. Shooting 1 photo every day may produce an equal number of mediocre images as it does photos you are really proud of, but daily shooting also results in cultivating the habit of looking for a moment and reaching for your camera to capture that moment. All of these projects can be completed on your own terms and are even more fun & motivating when you have a friend to complete them with!
365 : One photo a day for a year
P52 : One photo each week for a year
A Monthly Themed Project : Take a photo on the same day every month with a common theme. For example, a self portrait on the 5th of every month.
A Photo Scavenger Hunt : Such as, something that starts with each letter of the alphabet or things that occur in varying numbered clusters (1, 2, 3, etc..)
A Day in the Life : One photo every hour throughout the course of your day.
Truth be told, the only project of these I have ever completed was a 365 when I first began my photography journey! I followed prompts with a group of other photographers and we cheered each other on which kept me motivated to stick with it when my inspiration was lacking. For me, anything less than a daily shooting goal gets pushed to the side and forgotten about very easily. That said, I will continue to attempt projects because they often produce some of my favorite images!
After you take all the pictures what will you do with them? I shared mine on my instagram throughout the process. It was fun to look back after a period of time and watch how my photography changed over time. You may also choose to put your images together in one spot like a printed album for your home or an online album like Flickr or Google Photos. Looking back on your collection once the project is completed can be both fulfilling and telling in how your photography skills have strengthened in the process. You may also be motivated to continue or to find a new project to tackle!
And just for fun, here’s a little before & after, an image taken about 4 months into my 365 project and my most recent photo of my girls!
