Have you ever considered a photographic project and do not know where to start? When a person has been "trapped" in the photographic ocean for some time , after the initial fear, the first lessons and the first frustrations and begins to feel comfortable with his camera, he begins to bite the bug of making his own project. If you are one of these people who has already been bitten, be it the bug or the carabiner , you are interested in staying, because today I am going to tell you the steps you must take to carry out your first photographic project. Before launching to tell you how to carry out your first photographic project, I think I have to make a small paragraph to explain what it is and how to differentiate it from a series. A photographic project is a set of images that have a beginning and an end, that deal with a specific subject. In the images will influence the personality, the culture and the way of understanding the world of the person who carries out the project, in this case you. It must have a narrative and aesthetic coherence, and each image must fulfill an objective within it. A photographic project implies effort, patience and dedication. How is it different from a series? Well, in the complexity, in the preparation, in the message ... A series is simply a set of photographs with the same theme. You can use photographs that you had three years ago and those you take within four, for example. It occurs to you to make a series of streetlights, because you collect your photos or every time you go out with your camera you dedicate yourself to photographing them. A project requires much more, planning, methodology, timing ... But do not be overwhelmed that I tell you and you will see that it is very easy to understand
- When
- The idea
- Documentation and research
- Project and planning script
- Equipment
- Resources
- Capture the idea
- Selection and edition
- Shows
1. WHEN
When you feel you need to tell something, share something. It's not about making a project because yes, but because you need to carry it out. Also to put it on as a practical exercise with the intention of improving your technique. To tinker, simply start with a photographic series, that is, you choose a subject and make several photographs of the same theme following more or less an aesthetic and format coherence. A project requires involvement, time and effort, so you must be clear that you want to do it so as not to throw in the towel at the first exchange.2. THE IDEA
Maybe the idea of ??the project already rounds you for a while because you're thinking about a specific topic. If so, it is because that topic motivates you enough. If you have to start from scratch, the first and most important thing is that you find a topic not only that motivates you, but with which you want or need to be involved, that is something that touches your heart, that you want to defend, share or denounce, about All if it is a social project. But whatever the subject, you have to move inside so you don't get discouraged. For the first project I recommend that you start with something you have on hand. If you intend to photograph the way of life of the tribes of North Africa when you live in Spain and do not have a euro to travel, then you will hardly achieve your purpose. Better start by photographing the life of your neighborhood or the urban tribes of your city When it comes to practice, there are several well-known projects, such as 365 days, or 52 weeks. Above all the first requires a lot of dedication. If it's your moment and he calls you ... go ahead! If not, here are some other ideas . And if you feel you need to tell something but you don't know what, it might help you to think about your favorite books, songs and / or movies, it is very likely that you will find a recurring theme among them. Ask around You can make a project about anything that comes to mind and motivate you!3. DOCUMENTATION AND RESEARCH
You will not get rid of this part. A good photographic project requires that you investigate about it, that you deepen the subject, that you document yourself and know everything (or almost) everything related to it. To be able to tell it you must know it well, it is also the only way to be honest, if you talk (even through your camera) about a subject, you will have to stick as closely as possible to your reality, unless your photographic project is a fantasy project that you will find between your imagination and your favorite editing program. In that case you will have to think if the project is for you or you want to share it and that arouses interest. If you are looking for the latter, before moving on, think about whether there really will be an audience to address. If the subject is very close to you, such as a self-portrait a day, then you do not have to investigate much, however, if you want to show "A day in the circus life" or "Customs of the people X", to put two examples, yes you should investigate a little.4. PROJECT SCRIPT AND PLANNING
You already have the idea, what is the theme of your project and what you want to tell. Now it's time to script it, that is, put a title to the project and organize the ideas, define how you are going to tell it, more or less in how many photographs, if the end is for an exhibition or a book (these details will mark the way of doing the work ), what is the purpose of each photo or work together. It can help you to make some sketches, it is not necessary that you draw very well, simply that it serves you to establish in advance what and how you want to photograph it. For example, if you want to photograph a day in the life of a singer, it would be nice to first spend a day with her, learn about her habits and then define what scenes and how you want to tell "her day."5. TEAM
You already have the idea, the script of what you want to tell and the plan of how you are going to execute it. With this information, you must decide what equipment you need apart from your camera: lenses, lighting, tripod, and so on. If you lack some material for what you need to transmit and your economy allows it, take the opportunity to acquire it. If this is not the case, you can try the rental, loan or readjust your plan and think about how you can carry it out with the equipment you have. The last thing you should do is realize all this at the moment of shooting a photo. You must have planned it beforehand. Remember that it is not an isolated photo with which you have ample room for improvisation, that image is part of a whole, a piece of the puzzle that must fit perfectly with the rest, otherwise it will be incomplete or worse, with a misplaced piece6. RESOURCES
Depending on how ambitious your project is, it is likely that you will have to use certain resources such as models, dare, transport ... This is not something that should stop you, however, for a first experience, I recommend that you simplify to the maximum . Once you get stressed, you know what is going and find your own mistakes to correct them, you can set more complex goals. Step by step the roads are better built7. CAPTURE THE IDEA
Now comes the most exciting part of the project, the one that excites us the most as photography lovers we are. Shoot, capture the idea you have in mind and that you have captured on paper. Surely it is the one you enjoy most, especially if you have done the previous planning work. Otherwise, setbacks can hold the party8. SELECTION AND EDITION
This part is usually quite tedious which does not mean that it is less important. In fact, a bad selection can turn what would be a brilliant project into a job that goes unnoticed. It is very important to select the images that best tell the idea, that have a unit, a continuity. Imagine a novel, very well written, fluent, with wonderful descriptions and a prose that engages and, however, that together makes no sense. The images of the project must follow a narrative thread, at the same time as they must have enough strength and history on their own. All must fit perfectly, if anyone does not finish and tempts you because you especially like it, do not risk it. And, if you have doubts, you can always ask for an external opinion. Sometimes we are so immersed that it is difficult for us to see objectively. As for the edition , since all the images are part of a set, better than the edits at the same time to be as homogeneous as possible.9. SAMPLE
And after all this effort, it's time to show your work! Maybe the project was born with a clear idea of ??how it was going to be shown, or maybe it's something you've been deciding along the way. If you have not already done so, think about how it will look more and where. If you want to edit a book, publish them in an online gallery or set up an exhibition, for example. In the latter case you also have to think about what support and size you want to print them to show them. You can also a video with him, as this man did with his daily self-portraits between 1987-2010:Exposition
