revjim.net

Despite the ever decreasing amounts of free time I have these days (it was bad even before the baby) I feel compelled to force myself to continue to create and explore. I think a forced schedule is the best way to accomplish this. While it doesn't produce outstanding results every day, forcing myself to produce something — anything — often leads to more creativity, more streamlining of work, and, in the end, better work and more of it.

My Self Portrait Project is a good example of how well this works. In that two week span, I produced an image almost every single day. At least half of them are among my most popular images. Of course the other half are pretty trite and uninspired. The two sort of go hand-in-hand.

Additionally, I spend a lot of time photographing landscapes. However, due to time constraints imposed by my day job, travel time (both by car and by foot), external cooperation from nature, a very narrow operating window, and the huge editing requirements, it's one of the most difficult types of photography for me to engage in right now. Right up there with a full-blown portrait session (the more difficult of the two depending on specifics, like the model's flexibility and travel distances). The point is, there are other forms of photography that are more casual and fit better into a packed lifestyle. They need some exploration.

So here are the tentative goals, subject for review in 2 or 3 weeks. Notice there's a difference between what I take and what I publish.

Self Portrait - 3 concepts per week; Publish 1 per week (personal)
These are very beneficial. Not only do they allow me to work without any assistance or requirements from any one or any thing other than myself, they allow me to try new concepts on a willing subject, and offer advantages in my personal life by improving my body image, forcing me to work alone, giving me time for reflection, and encouraging me to improve myself, physically.

Casual Baby Portrait - 3 photos per week; Publish 1 per week (personal)
For a photographer, I have WAY too few photographs of my own child. This is uncalled for. We do a porttrait session with her once a month and, at this point, that's plenty. There's no excuse for not taking more of her outside of the studio. However, if I were going to make one it would be that when I'm around her, I'm either holding her, driving, or she's sitting in her chair which makes for a boring backdrop after a while. This will encourage me to vary my interaction with her and to be more creative with my surroundings.

Other Portrait - 1 concept per week; Publish 1 every other week
This can be in the studio, a lit location photograph, or taken casually. Because it is concept driven, it should be pre-thought, even if that means only 5 minutes before. Generally speaking, each concept should produce 2-3 usable photos. However, due to the fact that this requires me to either approach strangers, steal photos of friends, or set up appointments each week, I'm being a bit lax here to see how much I can handle. Planned sessions with other people always add a layer of complexity because there are two schedules to mingle and if either person is late it can really throw things off.

Landscape - 1 outing per week (3-5 photos); Publish 1 per week
Despite being difficult to engage in, it's still a whole lot of fun. Considering evening walks with my family, sunrise shots with my dad, late night photography, weekend hiking, and the occasional solo outing, this should be doable.

Non-Landscape - 3 photos per week; Publish 1 per week
Not being 100% certain on how this will work, I'm being a bit lax here as well. Regardless of where I go or what I do, I should be able to manage taking 3 photographs a week. These can be the result of concepts or taken casually.

Stock / Advertising - 1 concept per week
There's a lot of money to be made in advertising photography and stock photography. Despite this, I very rarely venture into this realm. One concept per week will be my method of dipping my toes in and seeing how it goes. This can vary from a product shot to a photo meant to convey a particular feeling or message and may or may not include a human element.

Publish at least 5 photos per week while meeting all of the above requirements (1 self portrait, 1 casual baby portrait, 1/2 of an other portrait, 1 landscape, 1 non-landscape). The self-portrait and baby portrait may be published personally (depending on feel) and, therefore, not count towards the 5 photos. Additionally, categories can be combined. If I take a product shot in studio for baby soap that features a woman bathing Celeste it'd count as my Advertising shot, my Baby Portrait, my Other Portrait, and my Non-Landscape photo. I'll stick my foot in frame and make it a Self-Portrait too. Additionally, the photographs being published do not have to be those taken that week.

This may seem to be going in the opposite direction of what I need right now — a very clearly defined niche to claim as my own in order to gather more interest in my work, more free time, and a looser schedule. However, I think that forcing this work will allow me to get back into a place where photography becomes an extension of my life and part of the routine. Taking more photographs and making photographs easier to take will help me to develop that niche.

Your thoughts, comments, and offers of assistance are greatly appreciated. At the very least, wish me luck. I'll revisit this in a few weeks and make any needed adjustments.

Yes, I'm very clearly crazy. You knew that already.