My Project 52 for 2012

I decided to do a Project 52  this year.  I'm not very good at following through with commitments so I probably won't even make it through the first month, but I'm willing to give it a try.  I decided to use composition as my theme to match last year's project so I can practice what I learned.

If you'd like to start your own Project 52, I posted the topics on the page labeled 2012 Project-12-52-365.  It's set up so you do a Project 52 to take a picture a week, a Project 12 for a picture a month, or a Project 365 and take a picture a day using the monthly or weekly theme .  If you don't get started the first week in January, you can still start at the beginning by following the numbered columns or jump in at the middle of the year by using the date columns.

I will try to post a lesson about the weekly or monthly theme regularly because the purpose of this project is to improve photography skills.  We can take a picture a day, but if we don't learn something about the correct techniques, a fat lot of good all those pictures will do us.

You can think up your own theme if you like.  Some people use the same subject for every picture.  Shoes, pets, themselves, a garden.  If you want other ideas, just Google "Project 52" or "Project 365".  Here are some sites I found:

Project 52.org

DIgital Photography School:

• 365 Grateful – A Photography Project that Could Change Your Life 
• The Importance of Personal Projects
• 11 Tips to Succeed with a Photo365 Project

Photojojo!

• Project 365: How to Take a Photo a Day and See Your Life in a Whole New Way
• Sweet Photo Project Ideas for the New Year!

You can do this project even if you don't have a camera.  Check out my Project Photography Composition page.

Project 52

I’m reading and researching most of the time when I'm not at work.  Sometimes it’s important stuff.  Sometimes it’s insignificant, but important stuff.  Sometimes it’s just weird.  Usually, it starts as one or the other, but then I get sidetracked and by the time I’m finished, I can’t remember where I started.

I was researching something the other day when I came across the phrase “Project 52” a couple of times, so when I finished the original research I Googled “Photography Project 52”.   This is what I learned.

Project 365, as it relates to photography, is a yearlong project to take one picture a day for a year.  That doesn’t sound so hard, does it?  At least not for someone who likes taking photographs.  But you know how it is, life gets in the way of living and you miss a day or two here and then a week or two and then you forget about it altogether and you’re nowhere close to half way through the project.  Project 52 is a yearlong project to take one picture a week for 52 weeks.  So of course, Project 12 would be one picture a month for 12 months.  Sometimes you can’t even keep up with Project 12.

Let's borrow a phrase from journalism and consider the What, Who, When, Where, Why, and How of a photography Project 52:

What:

• A photography Project 52 is a commitment to take at least 1 photograph a week, usually following a specific theme or topic
• Project 365 photographers commit to taking a photograph a day
• For those with a fear of commitment, there's Project 12, one picture a month

Who:

• Me
• You
• Any amateur photographer wanting to improve photographic skills.

When:

• Every month, week, or day
• Next year, starting January 1
• Anytime you want to start

Where:

• Where ever you are
• Indoors or outdoors

Why:

• to improve your photography skills,
• to help you be more creative,
• to provide a challenge,
• to have fun

How:

• Using any camera you have
• How ever you want

Aperature, Shutter Speed, and ISO tutorial

There is an excellent video tutorial on Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO at the bottom of an article on Basic Composition for Photography at Photography.com.  The young man's physical appearance is not one that would spark the confidence of an old lady like me, but I try to be open minded about such things so I watched it.  In my opinion, despite the way he does his hair and the casual clothes he wears for a presentation, Evan's tutorial is one of the best I've seen or read on these topics and if you're confused about any of these 3 fundamental photography elements, just watch this short video from Evan and http://photoextremist.com/.