Photography Exercises

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Permalink Reply by Jessy Taylor on January 15, 2010 at 1:01pm

I go to the Old Town section of the city and pick a topic, COLORS, SHOES, TYPE, something/anything and take pictures of all of the ___________ that I can find.

Once I did it on COLORS and ended up making a photo book that went from Red to Violet, like a rainbow.

Also doing the 365 Project helps me pick my camera up daily, and I told myself for this project that I am not going to get all fancy with it because then I stress, that it would just be random fun pictures.

I also go to bookstores and ask to take people pictures. The people in the bookstore cafes normally are pretty open to this.

Permalink Reply by Lisa Morford on January 15, 2010 at 3:47pm

That first idea is brilliant. I love the thought of picking something to focus on--how extremely cool! Awww thank you for sharing the idea.

I was thinking of doing a 365 Project but the second day into the New Year I decided it was making me feel pressured, and that I wanted to enjoy myself with photography and not feel like it's a chore. But, I still want to try one sometime, and maybe I won't even start it on January 1st! Good luck with yours! And thanks so much for the input. :)

Permalink Reply by Lisa Morford on January 15, 2010 at 3:49pm

That's really cool! Good luck with your challenge!

Permalink Reply by Grant David Anderson II on June 28, 2011 at 4:41pm

A lot of photographers shoot thousands of images without focusing on a specific topic, then they edit those thousands down to hundreds, those hundreds down to 20 and then think of a name and an artist statement for their "series".

 

Because of this I made a conscious effort to think of a project in advance and shoot within it's boundaries. This is very similar to Jessy's suggestion, but adds a layer of conceptualization. (That way when you get the whole project done you can still put it up in a gallery or print up a book without ridicule.)

 

For Example: I did a shoot in our downtown region with the following limitations. I used a fixed length 28mm lens, shot in black and white on manual, and went back there at least once a week for several months. Geographically, I limited myself to one stretch of street about eight blocks long and strove to capture a visual portrait of that region. Anything interesting and unique that piqued my interest on that street was fair game, signs, people, events.

 

Another great source of inspiration is plagiarism. Find a photographer whose process intrigues you and try to emulate it, odds are you won't be able to duplicate it completely, but the resulting images will point you in another creative direction.

 

Hope that helps,

Grant

Permalink Reply by Naomi Anselmo on November 3, 2011 at 11:14pm

A lot of times I go out or wake up with a color scheme in mind, and sorta look around for things that will fit in that scheme :)

Permalink Reply by Anide on December 1, 2011 at 9:10pm

I love the idea of 365 project. I usually go onto flickr and seeing everyone's amaing photos makes me want to just run outside and take pictures. 

Permalink Reply by Perge Miller on March 21, 2012 at 12:28am

Hi Lisa,

There will always be a day that you feel like "crap" if you know what I mean. That is when a good time to just ride around and draw something through a photograph which explains how you feel, how you want your day to be.

This photograph I am about to share was taken when I had such a cloudy mind, that I want to clear it.. so I went somewhere open, bright and relaxing. You have to have "Balance". And God knows what else you can find in one place. (Puerto Galera,Philippines, 2007)

Also, You probably know by now that being inclined with the camera takes you to different level of creativity which you will never loose no matter what. Look around you, maybe a simple jar full of jelly beans with a simple backdrop or put in a grassy area with a little touch of post processing will definitely kick that Photographer's block out.

Another trick to kick off a good session with yourself with those fully charge batteries, empty SD cards is to try to re create a picture that you are so obsessed on. :) In this way, you get to shake the idleness of your creativity.

In terms of books you can utilize.. I have these books which I think are a must'ves if you truly want to learn photography and its technicalities. I have been doing Photography for like 4  yrs now and these books are my favorite above everything.

I hope this helps, and if you need some ideas to do, don't hesitate to message me! Oh, believe you me, I have lotsa for ya! (wink*)

Perge

http://www.cathythay.blogspot.com

Imagery by Cathy Photography