Project 365: Capture your best year yet

In April (of last year) I decided to challenge myself. I had noticed that photos of my home and every day life were seriously lacking. To be fair, I was taking a lot of photos for work so the last thing I wanted to do when I got home was to bust out my DSLR. But, I also missed having great photos of my son and personal life. That’s when I knew I had to make a change.

Normally people like to make change at the beginning of a new week, month or year. But when I decided to make a change, to start a Project 365, it was the end of April and on a Friday no less. It doesn’t matter when you start to make any change in your life. What matters is that you want to make it.

What is a Project 365?

Project 365 is a commitment to taking a photo every day over the course of 1 year. You can do it with your iPhone or Android device, DSLR camera or a combination of both. It doesn’t matter which tool you use, but choose the method that will help you be most successful.

Helpful tips and tools

One tool that has helped me is an app called Collect. This app allows you to add your daily photo to a calendar, and that image is displayed on its corresponding day. At the end of the month, you have have this amazing spread of photos to look back on. This has been so motivating to me because I love the looks of having that whole calendar filled with images from the month. But if you miss a day, that’s ok. Remember that having 300 photos at the end of the project is always better than none.

Another way to ensure success is to set a reminder every day. I have one set on my phone that goes off at 9AM every morning that reminds me that I need to take a photo for the day. Now that I’m over two thirds of the way through this project, it has really become a habit for me. But those first few weeks, it was nice to have that reminder set so that I wouldn’t forget.

Social media is another fantastic tool to keep yourself motivated, especially around day 80 or so when it can become a bit of a grind. There are several sites that provide excellent prompts and communities to share your daily photos. I love posting my images to both Instagram and Flickr and getting feedback on my work from fellow photographers. Plus I love getting to see the images that they have produced as well.

The point of a Project 365 is to have fun and gain some experience along the way. It’s said that in order to get better at something that you should do it every day. And I have to say that I can see a difference over the last 253 days in my photography. I love having the freedom to experiment with lighting and different angles. Not to mention that if you complete all 366 days (it’s a leap year don’t forget), you’ll have 366 photos from the year. It doesn’t matter if you start today, tomorrow or 4 months from now. But if you want to see improvement in your photography this year, then you should seriously consider challenging yourself to complete a Project 365. You won’t regret it!