There comes a point in any long-term project when you “hit the wall” so to speak. The beginning of a project is often accompanied by a sense of enthusiasm, and then there is the feeling relief and excitement when you finally are able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. But it’s often in that that middle part when boredom sets in and that’s when the inspiration and motivation start to slip too.
That’s exactly where I was and how I was feeling when I wrote this post back in July of 2013 – halfway into in my first ever photo 365 project. But by changing things up and breaking the ridiculous, unnecessary, and self-imposed “rules” I had created for myself, it opened up the door to new ways of seeing my world.
In just about every project I’ve taken on – whether it’s photography, gardening, or something around the house – I’ve learned as much about myself as the thing I was setting out to learn more about. And in this case, the lesson was giving myself permission to explore and play and grow as a photographer. Which, when you think about, was the whole point of the project in the first place.
A photography 365 project is kind of like brushing your teeth. Like like any good habit that a person tries to maintain, it takes a certain amount of discipline in the beginning, but pretty soon it starts to feel like second nature. And on the off chance you forget about it, you might sit up in bed to go take picture of your kitchen sink. Or so I’ve been told.
Anyway, yesterday marked the halfway point in my very first photography 365 project. I decided to embark on this ‘take a photo everyday for a year’ journey for a couple of different reasons.
- I knew that a daily practice would be a great way for me to improve my photography skills.
- Because I am a scrapbooker, I knew it would be a great way to capture my family’s everyday, ordinary life.
And the truth is, it has been very beneficial in both of those aspects.
Anyway, because I am a bit of a homebody, I would say a large majority my 365 shots are taken at home. My kid, family, pets. Things around the house and my garden flowers. My ordinary life.
As much as I love all these things, I have to confess…there have been times during the past six months that I have been a little bored with taking the same kinds of photos over and over. Uninspired if you will. Kind of in a rut.
Well so one morning I was running through one of my nearby neighborhoods and I happened upon a trumpet vine that was in full, glorious bloom. I thought to myself, “Man that is so pretty! I should come back a take a picture of it!” And then I started thinking of how I might frame the shot, how I might treat it in post-processing. I started to get excited to see the final product in my 365 Flickr set. But then I thought, “Well you can’t put this in your 365 – it’s not your flower.”
Hello my name is Kelly and I am an overthinker.
I pondered this this inner dialogue the whole rest of the way home. I hadn’t even taken the photo yet mind you. But I knew I would love it. I could practically see it in my mind. And then it finally dawned on my that although this beautiful vine wasn’t technically in my yard, it was still in my figurative backyard. This neighborhood that I run through every Friday. My neck of the woods. And that seemed worthy of documentation.
So that’s what I did. I drove back to the trumpet vine with my dog and camera in tow. And I spent the next ten minutes or so in complete bliss snapping away.
I’ve been thinking about this, and by including it in my photo 365, I think what I have done is incorporate a sense of place…this is where I go…this is what I see. And since taking that photo, I have done this same thing a couple of other times around my neighborhood. Quite honestly it has made a big difference in my overall enjoyment of my 365 project and photography in general.
I have to tell you…this new way of thinking about things was just the beginning. Since my big ‘aha moment’, I have given myself permission to play and the freedom to explore and incorporate other types of photography into my 365 project.
So for instance, still life and food photography is something I’ve always admired in other photographers, but it’s just not something I have felt super comfortable with. I don’t know…for some reason it has just felt contrived and manipulated whenever I look at my own stuff. But what I’m starting to see is that so yeah, maybe my family doesn’t eat banana bread off the good china with the freshly cut loaf sitting just so in the background. But it the thing is…those are my dishes – the ones from our wedding registry. And it’s the banana bread recipe I make from the church cookbook that belonged to my mom.
And maybe in my ordinary life, I don’t have little vignettes set up in my house with vases of zinnias everywhere. But yet, zinnias are my favorite flower and remind me of my great-grandmother. And that little white chair…well it’s just made photography all kinds of fun.
And besides…doesn’t that tell a story? Isn’t that just as worthy of documenting?
I think the lesson here for me has been {gulp} that sometimes, {I can’t believe I am getting ready to say this} change is good. Really. It is. It is learning to see with new eyes. Learning to appreciate things anew. And by doing so, it makes the ordinary…well… not quite so ordinary.
Which when you think about it, isn’t that the whole purpose of a photo 365 project to start with?
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