Struggling with 365....

specialman

specialman

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Pat MacInnes
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Is anyone else at the point early in their 365 where they're struggling to keep the ball rolling?

I've got to the point where I've had to call it a day on my initial idea of shooting lost and found objects (hence the title "(Lost &) Found") and have decided to evolve it into a record of my year, something I initially didn't want to do because it's too open a brief. However, what with work and a baby, I'm at the point where shooting specific things just can't be done with the 30 minutes or so I can muster on a night when I get home. In a way, I feel like a bit of a divvy for getting involved in something for myself that I can't fully see through. Anyone else in this position?

Also, does the medium through which you promote yours put you under too much pressure? I'm doing mine through flickr so it's obviously going to be one of a gazillion 365s on there but to me, the widest possible audience is always going to help, even if ultimately, the thoughts of some random people who all subscribe to the same photo sharing site don't really add up to much...


It's a strange position to be in because I now love my photography more than ever, especially my personal work.....

Anyway, ranty-type thing over..... :)
 
I think that the reason I'm not having too much trouble, is because I didn't have a specific brief, other than try to incorperate the weekly 52 theme each week.

I do sometimes take a few days off and make up for it, but that's health reasons TBH, - lately I've been doing alot of macro, which is fun, something that I was really bad at a month ago and slowly starting to get to grips with now.

It sounds to me that all you need to do is change your brief - stop being so hard on yourself ;)
 
Don't worry - I'm struggling a bit with my 365 as well. I decided to do a self portrait 365 but some days I get so stuck for ideas and don't always have the time. I am at University, doing my Final Major Project at the moment so I'm pretty busy (not quite the same as having a baby and work to deal with though :))

One thing that might help is if you get a bit of spare time, write down a list of ideas for photos so if you get stuck one day, you have a pre-prepared list to help you out. Not things that will take ages to do, just things that won't take long to set up and photograph so you aren't under pressure to think of ideas on the spot if you are stuck for time. Besides, the simplest of photographs can look effective, they don't have to be complicated :)

Also, changing it in to a record of your year sounds like a great idea, as when you look back over the photos you've taken it will probably mean a lot more to you than 'lost and found objects' :)

I post my 365 shots on Flickr as well, and in a way I guess it does put me under a bit of pressure, but personally I like it because it makes me go out and take a photograph for the day even if I really don't want to.
 
seems like a lot of people struggle with these after a couple of weeks in fact the only really succesful one ive seen is that of Marcel's from here and the last shot was just a cracking idea :lol:
 
It's amazing how much commitment a 365 takes - I've not managed it yet either! - rest assured, you're not the only one in this position.

You've only got half an hour or so a day so why not tailor it to that, open up the brief a bit and make it more fun for you - photo a day of the baby for instance would show a huge change over a year.
 
im now 4 days behind on my 365 and the past few weeks i have left it for 3 days then caught up and let it fall behind again, properly losing inspiration to keep doing it.

i post mine on here + another forum im on and they are on flickr and my facebook, dont think i have many followers on here so doesnt bother me not posting but have a few people on the other site following it but still doesnt quite motivate me to do it lol.
 
Yeah I'm finding it harder too. Originally, it was going to be a different bird a day...but soon didn't work. :(
 
Well, had my rethink, diched the strict parameters and have started afresh with this...

4322646035_970223b087.jpg


I'm still about three days behind but I'm sure I'll make it up somehow... :)
 
just don't give it up is all I can say. I'm in my 150's for my 365 now and I'm doing word association every day, i do completely agree doing specific things is difficult, but it makes your brain work hard and makes you try and think of things to do, and that why i set off on the journey anyway. If i can get this far, i'm sure anyone can if they really wanted it.

Vi x
 
From someone who's just finished a 365...

Unless you have masses of time on your hands every day, or your work involves a camera, keep the theme as open as you can. My 365 included Digital Shots, Film shots, Rescued Photo's and Negatives, retouch projects and Cameraphone snaps - in fact I joked that the only shots it didn't include were X-Rays and Speed Camera shots.

Somedays you will have more inspiration than you can cope with - make a list of all the ones you think of, but don't shoot, as you will have dry days where you can't think of a single idea.

Come up with some form of project that you can keep returning to - about 2 months in, I built a light-box for macro/tabletop type shots. Not only did this allow me to shoot record photo's of my camera gear for insurance purposes, it gave me something I could shoot of an evening.

Check the Competitions, Challenges and Inspiration section on here, one of the monthly comp. titles last month (Movie Titles) saw me shoot something like 8-9 daily photos, late in the year, where I'd run out of small items around the house to put through the light-box :)

Try and do something with the 365 other than just shoot it - from maybe april last year, I'd already decided that I was going to turn it into a photobook. Just thinking that I might have a blank space on some of the pages gave me an additional kick up the harris that I needed. I also published the shots in a flickr collection
 - having a few contacts on there who I knew were checking in regularly, and posting feedback was a big boost to the motivation.

And above all, don't beat yourself up if you do get behind - after all, it's supposed to be a pleasant activity, not torture. In the entire year, I missed one day - there's a small thumbnail in my photobook with FAIL somewhere. That picture makes me smile as much if not more than so of the best shots in the book!
 
OP - I opted for an open 365, well... its the final 365 days before I get married so oviously wedding things will go in there but I am simply just treating it like any other 365, some of it is documenty, some is fictional and most of its crap.

I'm up to day 74, its tough when you have a job to keep and work stupid shifts and those weeks really do show.

Struggle through your tough week with meaningless fictional shots and your inspiration will soon flow again... Take for instance tonight's shot - I was watching "Hustle" on BBC1 and they kept splitting a card deck. I got my cards out and just took a random shot.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gazedd/4323075841/

=]
 
I am doing a theme a week, the themes are pretty open so don't restrict too much, but still make me think about what I am taking....

As above if you have lots of ideas in a day, write some down and keep for future.

Roo
 
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