How to Start and Complete a 365 Photo Project

The 365 Project is the most popular program in the world to help you improve your photography skills. Sure, this photography project requires a commitment to everyday life for an entire year. But think about what you’ll achieve when you take at least one photo every day for a full year.

Every photographer who uses their camera daily will learn new skills and improve their creativity. All you need to do is have a plan and stay motivated. Many photographers like to think that a new camera will help them improve. They lust after a new lens or a new camera bag, thinking it will make them better photographers. Taking at least one photograph daily for a year will set you apart from other photographers.

The 365 photography project is not a new idea. This photo project has been around for many years. Many photographers have made this practice part of their daily lives. When they remain inspired and motivated, their photography skills improve throughout the year.

To do a 365 photo project that lasts a whole year may seem too much. But it isn’t so much when you stop to think about it. How many photos did you take in the past year? Probably a lot more than 365. Taking pictures for a project takes some planning and dedication. Every week, you need new ideas about what to photograph. This is beyond the comfort zone of many people. Being beyond your comfort zone is great for your creativity, especially as part of a community.

How To Start a 365 Project and Get the Most from It?

To work through an entire year taking daily photos and not be a part of a photography community will challenge your motivation and creativity. Engaging in our 365 Days of Photography Course, you will learn something new every day. Watching the short lessons teaches a new skill every day. Every day, there are also challenges to go with the teaching that provides great inspiration for putting these skills into practice. You’ll also be part of a photography community that enjoys posting daily pictures. You can even make new friends who also love photography.

Following a course of teaching is the best way to enjoy a project. It is so much fun to be part of a photography community that’s taking a course together and sharing their pictures. Having regular teaching and easy-to-follow lessons that include lots of good tips will help you progress as a photographer. Week in and week out, as you work through a 365 photo project course, you’ll capture some of the best photographs you have ever taken.

This photo project course helps you remain creative, as inspiration can be hard to maintain when working on a 365 project on your own. Having regular lessons to work through, you can accomplish so much more. If you are only focused on taking a photo a day, you will still improve your skills. But not as much as when you complete a lesson every day and learn something new every day.

Why Should You Participate in the 365 Photography Project?

Participating in the 365 photo project is the most certain way to learn to make better images with your camera. You will have fun doing it and find great support from others who are inspired to take part too. Taking part in the project will become a regular part of your life and affect more than your photography. Photographers often say they learn more about daily life just because they take a photo each day during a complete year.

You will learn more about your camera, light, composition, and every main aspect of photography. If you start the 365 photo project at the start of a new year or at any other time, you will find that it is a lot of fun to complete taking one photo every day.

You will gain a better understanding of how to use your camera. You’ll find that your camera becomes easier to use and therefore it’s more enjoyable to take pictures. The more you practice anything, the better you become. So often, photographers rely on the camera’s automatic settings to capture images. This only gets you so far. 

As you practice taking photos during a 365 photo project, you’ll become so much more familiar with your camera. You’ll find you’ll be using it as a professional photographer in no time at all. So many photographers only use their cameras occasionally. So when they do pick up their camera to capture a photo, it is confusing, and they lose inspiration. 

Practice taking a photo every day and learning something new about photography, and you’ll love the images you are taking. You’ll also learn to love your camera the more you use it. 

What is a 365 Project in Photography?

A 365 project is based on the idea of taking at least one photograph every day of the year so your photography will improve. Taking one picture per day of whatever you like will help you become more skillful. You can do this in many different ways. You can decide to carry your camera everywhere you go and take at least one photo per day. You can also be more organized and develop a plan by working through a course.

You can join online communities and find lists of topics and things to take photos of. These are not always helpful because they can include things that you may not have access to. The best idea is to use this information as inspiration and develop your own ideas about what you want to make images of. You can also take our course, which provides you with lots of inspiration and direction for your photography.

The most important aspect of a 365 project is regularly taking photos. If you only pick up your camera once a week or once a month, your progress will be slow. You’ll have to think more about what settings to use and have less concentration on what you are taking pictures of.

Why It’s Important to Remain Regular?

The key to completing a 365 project most successfully is to remain as regular as possible with your photography. The more frequently you take photos, like every day, the better you will become, especially when you pair everyday camera use and taking photos with learning a little each day.

The simple act of picking up your camera, turning it on, and taking photos every single day will help you improve in so many ways. Even if you remain within your comfort zone and don’t push yourself creatively, your photography skills will get better. But when you do learn more each day and focus on being creative, you’ll be amazed at how much changes your perception of photography and what you can do with it.

Learning to use a camera can be complicated. A camera is no longer the simple tool it was when I first started taking photos. My first camera was more complicated to use, even though it was so basic. I used it regularly and discovered that in no time at all, I managed to set my exposures well and get most of my photos in focus. I practiced a lot. 

With modern cameras, there’s not often the motivation to learn to manually control the camera. Camera companies include all kinds of technology to make taking pictures easier. But easy is often boring. To make the most of photography, you need to understand how to control your camera. When you engage in a 365 project, you’ll discover more about your camera than you can now imagine.

How a Good Plan Will Help You Successfully Complete a 365 Project?

When you embark on a 365 project with no plan, you are most likely to fail. Having a plan, even a rough outline, can help you. Take time, in the beginning, to map out your project. This is one crucial step to take at the beginning of your project.

Having a particular topic or concept to focus on opens up the opportunity for you to become an expert on it. You can create a meaningful body of photographs to exhibit, compile them into a book, or hang them on your living room wall.

Once you have a solid plan in place, it will be easier to stick to it and make the project more fun. If you join a group of friends who are also interested in a 365 project, you can make your plan together. You’ll be able to share tips on how to make it more interesting and achievable when you work together in a community.

A plan does not need to include what you will take photos of on each day of your project. You can break it down into months and weeks to make it more manageable. Take your time, search online for photography ideas, and start a list. 

Starting a 365 project without a plan is not a great idea. Many photographers start out taking pictures of whatever they find attractive. When something catches their eye, they take a photo. An ongoing practice of photography in this manner will never amount to much. A random selection of subjects will result in a collection of unrelated photographs. These will be of no particular interest to anyone. Making a start with even a basic outline of your project will mean you are more likely to complete your project. It will make the whole project much more user-friendly.

Within your project plan, organize when you will take your photos. When you prioritize your photography, you will be more likely to succeed. Take time to think of what time of the day you can make a habit of taking at least one photo per day. For some people, this might be during a lunch break or in the evening. Other people will find it more convenient to take their photographs in the morning before breakfast.

What To Photograph for Your Project?

No matter how long you’ve been enjoying photography, choosing what to photograph can be challenging if you are not yet engaged in a project. The best way I can help you make a choice is by encouraging you to start writing a list. 

Write Down Every Idea

Simply begin a list of things you enjoy. Write down anything and everything that comes to mind, regardless of whether you think it will be suitable to photograph or not. The initial stage of this list writing exercise is to create a broad-ranging draft of ideas that you will whittle down. You want a lot of ideas written down. If your list only has three or four items, this exercise will likely be fruitless.

Don’t pressure yourself to build your list too quickly. Give yourself time to think about it and let it grow over a few days or a week. Spend time each day specifically thinking about what you enjoy, and add these to your list at least once a day. Write down every idea that comes to mind.

Edit Your Ideas List

Not everything you’ve added to your list will be practical. But, once you have a good account of things you are interested in, you will begin to form other ideas based on this list.

Once you’re confident you have brainstormed enough, study your list. Look for similar topics or concepts. Think about how they relate to each other and why you have added them. What makes you curious about these things?

Now, begin to think practically about what you can take photos of. As you study your list, begin to cross items off that are not practical. Ask yourself these questions:

1. Is it visually appealing?
2. Is it something I have access to so I can photograph it often?
3. Do I know enough about this topic, or can I do more research and learn more?
4. Will it hold my curiosity for as long as my project will last?
5. Will other people be interested in looking at the photos I take?

As you consider the items on your list, put a line through that topic if you answer no to any of these questions. Your photography project ideas must be practical to be most effective.

Once you have narrowed down your selection in this manner, it’s time to get more specific.

How broad are the photography project ideas on your list? Do you have any huge topics like ‘flowers’ or ‘cars’? You need to be more specific. Narrow ‘flowers’ down to something like ‘flowers in the local botanical gardens. Don’t aim to photograph all cars, but refine your ideas to something like ‘modified cars’, ‘red cars’, or ‘cars from the 1960s’. Keep in mind the five questions about how practical your topics are when you are editing them in this way.

Is it Visually Appealing?

Do you like what you see? Is it something that will look good in a series of photographs? 

During your project, you’ll want to exercise a variety of photography techniques. This will help you build a more diverse portfolio of images. Think about the style of photography you enjoy and whether this will suit your topics. 

Consider different ways you’ll be able to compose your subject. How many different composition rules can you apply? How does natural light affect your subject? Will you need to add a flash or use a reflector? Will this be possible?

Is your subject more suited to being photographed in color or black and white? You don’t need to decide this before starting your project, but it is worth thinking about it during the list editing stage.

Any item on your list that is not visually appealing can be crossed off.

Can You Access Your Topic?

You need to be able to photograph your chosen topic often. How often depends on a few variables. Like how many photos you want for your final portfolio. How long you will it take to complete your photography project. Most importantly, you need easy access to what you want to photograph for your project. 

The easier it is to get to your subject, the more likely you are to spend time photographing it. Don’t choose to take pictures of icebergs or palm trees unless you have them in your neighborhood. 

Any subject that’s too difficult to access can be crossed off your list.

What Do I Know About It?

Do you have sufficient knowledge about the subject you want to photograph for your project? If not, can you learn more about it?

The more you know about what you are photographing while undertaking a project, the stronger your images can be. Having a good amount of knowledge provides you with a greater understanding. 

As wonderful as the internet is as a research tool, don’t make it your only source of information. Read books. Talk to people. Diversify your information gathering.

We often photograph Thai models in traditional costumes for our workshops. This is not for a photo project per se, but because we’ve done this often, it’s good to know more about what we are photographing. This way, we can also enhance our teaching. 

I often ask my wife, who is Thai, to explain the meanings of the costumes and the stories behind them. Some are decorative, while others have stories with a deep traditional meaning behind them. Knowing even a little about these stories can help us create more interesting photos of them.

As we have produced the 365 Project and had some of these same models help us shoot it, we have also built deeper friendships with them. This also leads to more natural photos that are more relational as they have gotten to know us better.

If you realize you don’t know enough about a topic you want to photograph, can you learn more? This can be as easy as searching the internet or buying a book. If your subject is very obscure and you don’t know much about it, you might want to delete it from your list.

Am I Curious Enough About the Topic?

You have to sustain your interest and better yet, have it grow more intense over the time you are working on your photography project.

Your interest in your subject must be genuine. If it’s not and you lose your passion before completing your project, you’ll not end up with a great series of photos. Take time to consider how much you truly enjoy your subject and whether this enjoyment will continue to grow.

As you engage in your project, you may find you get more attached to it and more enthusiastic about it. As you begin to take your photos and study more about your subject, you may well find you can’t get enough of it.

Consider the level of passion you have for each topic left on your list. If you don’t think you’ll last the distance and be able to build a strong body of photos of it, cross these items off your list.

Will Other People Be Interested In My Photos?

Now that you only have items on your list that you know you are passionate about, you have to consider what others will think of them. Will other people be interested in what you love to photograph?

I often teach people that a good subject does not always make a good photo. A good photographer does. What you chose as the subject for your project should be interesting to others. 

People are drawn to pay attention to something they are interested in even before they see your photos of it. The greater the number of people who have an interest in your subject, the more people you’ll have looking at your pictures.

If you have any subjects left on your list that you think might be too obscure to hold anyone’s interest, cross them off.

Who Is Your Target Audience?

Deciding early on who you would most like your target audience to be can help guide you while you work on your project. Having in mind who will view the photos can help you make choices as you are taking them.

You might only want to show them to your partner and immediate family. Maybe you’ll share them all on social media, a website, or with your photographer friends. Or you could aim to have a gallery show. The most important thing is that you have an audience for your photos.

Please don’t work hard on a project only to hide the amazing photos away deep on a hard drive where no one else will get to enjoy them. Showing your photos to others is a great way to continue developing as a photographer.

Make Photography a Good Habit and Stick with it Daily

It takes dedication to form a new habit. But once you do, it becomes easy to maintain, especially when it’s fun. You need to be dedicated and try hard. If you don’t, you are not going to succeed. Once the habit of shooting daily is formed, you’ll find it is also quite difficult to stop.

Think of things you can do that will help you begin to build your new habit. Don’t make it too big a deal or hard, or you might give up. Having a regular time and place to take the photos for your 365 project will help you form a stronger habit than if you don’t. However, this may not be so suitable for every person. Take your time and think about how you can best fit taking some photos every day into your current regular schedule.

If you don’t have regularity about your schedule, now is the time to start with your project being front and center of it.

You can always plan a 365 project to replace a bad habit you want to break. If you’re a smoker, you can plan to take photos every time you usually stop to have a smoke.

Take Your Camera Everywhere You Go

The best way to manage a 365 photography project is to take your camera everywhere you go. I don’t mean to take your phone everywhere. Most of us do that already. To practically engage in a 365 project, you need to use your camera as often as possible. Don’t rely on your phone. This can be seen as cheating unless you are only interested in completing a 365 project using a phone.

Taking your camera with you everywhere needs to be a conscious choice. You need to make it part of the habit you build. You can’t take a photo unless you have your camera with you, so why not make it a habit?

At first, you might find it does not fit your lifestyle to have your camera with you all of the time. But, as you become more used to taking it places, you’ll miss not having it when you sometimes forget.

Conclusion

Engaging in a project will certainly help you improve your photography skills. You will see more development in your photos than if you go out and buy a new camera or lens. 

Take time to plan. Think of what you want to learn and the types of things you want to photograph. You can also enroll in our 365 Photography Course. This will teach you all about photography and help keep you on track to take one photo a day for a whole year.