I have confession. I really don't like the way my Project 52 is turning out. I think it has something to do with coming off a year of 365 photos. With that huge quantity of images, it is easier to bury the stinkers but it is also easier to get a better picture of our year as a whole.
There is so much pressure on the one photo a week for a P-52 and I don't feel like the 7 photos I've taken so far really "go" together. They don't feel like a unified project. It might be because there are only 7 of them. Maybe half way through the year I'd start to feel differently. All I know is that by this time last year, I had a really solid project in the works and here I am at the end of February and I still feel like I'm floundering.
So, I'm changing my own rules. Because I can. It's my project, right? I'm going to fix what's broken. Here are my main complaints to address:
1. Every week I'm forced to choose ONE representative photo but I have TWO girls.
2. My 7 photos so far are not telling our story the way I want. There is so much missing inbetween each photo.
3. There's too much pressure on any one single image to be breathtakingly awesome. Frankly, I'm just not that good yet! I've found myself more disappointed in my photography in the last couple weeks and I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I'm judging myself on only one image at a time.
My solution is going to be to attempt some kind of half-way mark between a 365 and a 52. I'm going to keep to a weekly posting schedule but allow myself up to 3 images a week for sharing: 1 for each girl & 1 for a non-people/artsy type shot. I may not have all 3 every week. All 3 might be taken in one day or spread out during that time frame. I'm just easing up a bit on the 1 image per week but still keeping myself in check.
I really have learned a lot about selection and editing in the last 7 weeks by forcing myself to choose 1 photo a week. It might have been the perfect detox from last year's 365. But in the end, it just isn't satisfying what I want to get out of participating in this project. So I'm changing it up!
How about the rest of you? We're two months in, how do you feel about your project? Anything you want to change about how yours is going?
Renee says
I am not participating in the project… I had thought about it and like the idea of it, but I’m too hard on myself and I just know it would stress me out more than make me happy. But I have used your project to inspire me to get my camera out more often. I remember telling you that I barely have any photos of 2010. I’m happy to report that, seven weeks in, I have used my camera a lot more! So, thank you for your project and for sharing it with us! 🙂
Heidi Peters says
Tiffany- I LOVE that you’re breaking the rules! Your practice of changing the project is SO liberating and inspirational to me. THANK YOU for making it okay to not follow the rules!
Tricia says
I am so with you on changing the rules. I was stressing so much over using a collage (V-day one) for my 365 because I thought it was cheating in a way. It finally occured to me this is MY project and I can do whatever I want with it. So glad you are doing what works for you!