On New Years Day 2015, I started an enormous project. Photographing my 2 small kids every day for one month. I remember when I started, I was inspired by seeing the amazing 31 day projects of some of my photography idols. Probably my biggest inspiration was the amazing Kristen Cook. So, on New Years Day 2015, I decided to take my camera out and start.
After I completed the 31 day project, I was on a roll so I decided to keep going! I’m still going more than 2 and a half years on
Tips for starting A Photo A Day Project of Your Children
Start small. Committing to a huge project like the 365 day project can seem overwhelming. If you start with a 30 day project and take it one day at a time, it can seem less daunting to get started.
The light doesn’t have to be perfect. A wonderful benefit of doing the project has been the huge improvement in my ability to shoot in less than perfect conditions. Years ago I would only shoot in “good” light… Forcing myself to take the shot regardless has been a game-changer for me.
Embrace the mess! If you have small children (or even big kids!) in the house, you’ll know how hard it is to keep your house neat and tidy. I found this quite paralysing initially – I wanted to take beautiful photos of my children, but I wanted my house to look perfect before I did. The day that I decided to let go of my need for “perfection” was a huge turning point for me. Capturing real life, and just how my children are now is more important to me.
Always have a camera with you. Even if it’s just the camera on your iPhone. I used to always take my big SLR with me which is rather heavy and large. This year, my wonderful hubby bought me a small Lumix camera which takes great photos and allows me to shoot manually (I always prefer to select my own shutter speed, aperture and ISO). Whilst the images from my small camera aren’t as high quality as my Nikon SLR, it’s great to be able to have a small portable camera on hand.
Look for the little moments. Every day, despite the chaos of everyday life, I try to look for special little moments. Some times you really need to be creative to capture something beautiful. Try all sorts of different angles, get close in a focus on the details, shoot wide and take in the surroundings.
KEEP YOUR MEMORIES SAFE FOR THE FUTURE
After I download my images and select one from each day to do a black and white conversion on, I back up my images. I name each file with a number that represents the day of the year and place it in a year folder. At the end of each year, I put together a small album of images from the year and have it printed. Each album sits on a shelf in my home and every now and then I love flicking through and reminiscing.
More than anything, I am so very pleased that I started this project back when my eldest was 3 and my youngest was only a few months old. Looking back over all our adventures together, and the little snippets that pass so quickly before our eyes in the hum-drum of daily life is just priceless. So just pick up your camera and get clicking!
Amy xx