365 Project: Magic in the mundane

For years I'd heard of a 365 project. I knew creatives of all walks of life, artists, designers, and photographers, used it to grow and develop their skills. In all honesty, the thought of taking a photo a day terrified me! How could someone find the time (or energy) to take a photo a day for a year? I once read a blog by a photographer going on six years of the project; that's 2,190 photos!

If you know me at all, I'm a non-committal person, and when I finally decide to commit to something, I stick to my word and don't know the meaning of quitting. After 2020, the year of the dumpster-fire, we were forced to re-prioritize things. The things that became the most important were family, home, love, time, health, and gratitude. What better way to honor 2020 than starting a massive project forcing me to focus on the “magic in the mundane"?

So you may be wondering why now and what could I possibly have to photograph over 365 days? I'll focus on my family, getting myself in the photos, and becoming an even stronger photographer. Photography started as a hobby because I wanted to capture pictures of my kids as they grew up. I didn't want to miss out on anything! Now I want to do the same for other families; I aim to do that in the coming year.

Goals

1. Improve on my photography.

I've mentioned many times before that photography is a journey and never a destination. There's no finish line because you're always (albeit unaware) improving on your art. Improvement takes practice and consistency.

2. Focus on what’s important.

Over the last year, I've found reasons not to pull out my camera. There was a voice saying, “You're not ready," “It's too much work," “Nothing is interesting to photograph"; this went against the reason I started photography, to capture our lives over the years.

3. Force myself to get creative and work with limitations.

When you take a photo every day, things can get a bit monotonous. To keep things interesting, you must get creative. Maybe creativity means trying a new lens, a different angle, different subject matters, or some new editing styles. Typically, this also means photographing with limitations like using a single lens, working in a constraining time frame or location, handling difficult lighting situations, and managing unpredictable circumstances.