Have you ever considered doing a photo project and don’t know where to start?When a person has some time “trapped” in the photographic ocean, after initial fear, early learnings and frustrations and begins to feel comfortable with his camera, he begins to be bitten for carrying out his own project. If you are one of those people who have already been bitten, whether it is the virus or the fly ?, you are interested in staying, because today I tell you the steps to follow to carry out your first photographic project.
Before I start telling you how to do your first photo project, I think I need to make a small paragraph to explain what it is and how to differentiate it from a series. A photographic project is a set of images that have a beginning and a final, it is a specific theme, the images will be influenced by the personality, culture and way of understanding the world of the person performing the project, in which case you must have a narrative and aesthetic coherence, and each image must fulfill a purpose within it. A photographic project involves effort, patience and dedication.
- How is it different from a series? Well.
- In complexity.
- In preparation.
- In the message?A series is simply a collection of photographs with the same theme.
- You can use photographs that you had three years ago and the ones you take in four years.
- For example.
- In mind make a series of streetlights.
- Because you collect your photos or every time you go out with your camera you are dedicated to photographing them.
- A project requires much more.
- Planning.
- Methodology.
- Timing?But don’t you get overwhelmed like I say and you’ll see it’s very easy to understand?.
When you feel that you need to say something share something, it is not about doing a project just because, but because you have to do it, use it also as a practical exercise to improve your technique, to play it is simply worth starting with a photographic series, that is to say, choosing a subject and take several photographs of the same subject more or less following a coherence and aesthetic format. A project requires commitment, time and effort, so you must be clear that you want to do it so as not to throw in the towel at the first change.
Maybe the idea of the project has already turned you around for some time because you’re thinking about a specific topic, if that’s the case it’s because it motivates you enough, if you have to start from scratch the first and most important thing is that you come up with a problem that not only motivates you, but with the one you want or need to get involved with , it’s something that touches your heart, that you want to defend, share or denounce, especially if it’s a social project. But whatever the point, you have to move inwards so you don’t get discouraged.
For the first project I recommend that you start with something that you have at hand, if you offer to photograph the way of life of the tribes of North Africa when you live in Spain and do not have a euro to travel, you will hardly reach your goal Is it better to start photographing the life of your neighborhood or the urban tribes of your city?
As far as practice is concerned, there are several well-known projects, such as 365 days or 52 weeks, especially the first one requires a lot of dedication. If it’s your time and he calls you? If not, here are some other ideas. And if you feel like you need to say something but don’t know what, maybe it will help you think about your favorite books, songs and/or movies, you’ll most likely find a recurring theme there. You can do a project on anything you can think of and motivate you!
You’re not going to get rid of that part. A good photographic project requires you to research it, immerse yourself in the subject, document yourself and know everything (or almost) everything about it. To be able to say it you have to be well known, it is also the only way to be honest, if you talk (even through your camera) about a subject, you will have to stick as much as possible to its reality, unless your photo project is a fantastic project that you worked between your imagination and your favorite editing program, in this case, You have to ask yourself if the project is for you or if you want to share it and generate interest. If you’re looking for the latter, before moving on, consider whether there’s really going to be an audience to target.
If the subject is very close to you, like a daily self-portrait, then you still don’t need to do much research. Now, if you want to show “A Day in the Life of the Circus” or “People’s Customs X,” to give two examples, yes, you should do some research.
You already have the idea, the theme of your project and what you mean, now is the time to script it, that is, to give a title to the project and organize the ideas, to define how you will tell it, more or less in how many photographs, if the objective is an exhibition or a book (these details will mark the way you do the work) , what is the purpose of each photo or work as a whole, this can help you make some sketches, you don’t need to draw very well, it just helps you set in advance what and how you want to photograph it. For example, if you want to photograph a day in a singer’s life, it would be nice if you first spent a day with her, know her habits and then define which scenes and how you want to count “her day”.
You can also preview the position of the sun at different times of the day in a certain location, poses you want your model to have or where you want to place the accessories you’ve prepared.
Planning is the most important thing in a project, leaving certain aspects randomly can ruin your work when you’re about to finish it, linking all the details of this phase of the project.
Another of the most important aspects, that is why I left it for the end, is timing, you must define how long this project will take you, be careful not to embark on projects too long in the early stages, ideally 1 -3 months because the energy ends up wasting and you fall apart. Gradually you will be able to plan more ambitious projects, there are those who embark on projects that last almost a lifetime!But like I said, it’s not recommended to start?
You already have the idea, the script of what you mean and the plan of how you’re going to execute it, with this information you’ll have to decide what equipment you need outside your camera: lenses, lighting, tripod, etc. you run out of material for what you need to transfer and your economy allows you to do so, take advantage to acquire it, otherwise you can try to rent, lend or adjust your plan and think about how you can do it with the teams you have the last thing you have to do is do all this from the moment you take the photo, you must have planned it in advance. Remember that this is not an isolated photo with which you have a wide margin of improvisation, this image is part of a whole, a piece of the puzzle that must fit perfectly with the rest, otherwise it will be incomplete or worse, with a place out of place. Piece?
Depending on the size of your project, are you likely to have to use certain resources such as mockups, accessories, transportation?This is not something that should slow you down, however, for a first experience I recommend simplifying so much Once you are there, you know what it is and you find your own mistakes to correct them, you can start setting more complex goals. Step by step, are the roads better built?
Now comes the most exciting part of the project, which most excites us as lovers of photography that we are. Take a picture, capture the idea in mind and put it on paper. This is probably the one you enjoy the most, especially if you did the previous planning work. Otherwise, can the setbacks spoil the party?
This part is usually quite tedious, which does not mean that it is less important, in fact, a poor selection can turn what would be a brilliant project into a work that goes unnoticed, it is very important to select the images that best tell the idea. , have unity, continuity Imagine a novel, very well written, current, with wonderful descriptions and prose that hook and yet make no sense The images of the project must follow a narrative thread, at the same time that they must have sufficient strength and history on their own. They must fit all together perfectly, if any of them don’t end up and tempt you because above all you love it don’t take any chances. And, if you have any questions, you can always ask for outside advice. Sometimes we are so immersed that we find it difficult to see objectively.
As for editing, since all images are part of a set, it is better to edit them at the same time to make them as homogeneous as possible.
And after all these efforts, it’s time to show your work!Maybe the project was born with a clear idea of how it was going to show, or maybe it’s something you decided along the way. If you haven’t already, think about how it will shine brighter and where. If you want to edit a book, publish it to an online gallery, or mount an exhibition, for example. In the latter case, you should also think about the media and the size you want to print to display them. You can also video with him, as this man did with his daily self-portraits between 1987-2010:
Do you dare? Surely it will be a great experience for you and in the blog we look forward to the results.
If you found it interesting, I invite you to share it on your favorite social networks, just as some of your contacts need this information to get started!Thank you and see you soon.