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Be your own beloved

Storytelling & Memory Keeping

2017 Project 365 – Preparations and Lessons Learnt

by Bronwyn Orsatti
written by Bronwyn Orsatti

Last time I attempted and successfully completedProject 365 was in 2010.  This was my first time in attempting it and I think I got alot out of it. I did it then as my youngest ‘Little Miss’ was only a few months old and I thought it would be fun to capture her first year. That year ended up being a very big year for us as a family .. including the death of my father, the death of our family cat (after a long battle with cancer) and the diagnosis for ‘Little Man’ with Autism and commencement of intensive ABA therapy.

I have since tried and been unsuccessful in attempting to complete Project 365. So I thought that before I started was to reflect on lessons learnt and to get together

Lessons learnt

  1. Don’t make it too hard for yourself – Last time I did it I put additional rules on myself. I wanted to get at least 1 photo of each of my kids a day plus another one if possible.
  2. Take part in challenges. This for me was one of the keys. Look for challenges that can inspire you and give you ideas of topics for photos.  I am still a fan of Fat Mum Slim and recommend also getting her app.
  3. Get involved with communities of people also doing Project 365. They exist in Instagram, Facebook and loads of other places. Get involved. Share your work and be inspired by others.
  4.  Get a photo light tent – trust me .. especially in winter you will find there are just some days when you need to take photos after dark and one of my go-to ideas when I am stuck is to take pictures of everyday items that you use (remember what you use today might not be the same thing … or even type of thing that you will in 12, 24 or 48 months).
  5. Use this as an opportunity to explore your photography. One of the things that I loved about the project was that I was taking so many more photos and just started to experiment more with the settings, light and composure.
  6. Do courses that inspire you to try new things. A couple I would recommend are
    1. Be Your own beloved – I did the Beloved Beginnings Course last year and really enjoyed it. I plan on revisiting that again this year and maybe doing another course. I love this course as to me it doesn’t feel narcissistic but it is more about exploring and feeling more comfortable in your own photos. I am sure that many of you are like me in that you take alot of photos but find that you are not in almost all of them. It is about taking self-portraits in the same way you would a loved one. Highly recommend.
    2. Ali Edwards – Well it is a well known fact I am a AE addict. I love her work and especially her courses.  Courses of hers I would recommend
      1. Lens of Joy. This course runs once a year. I did it in 2016 and really enjoyed it. This is a great course to take if you want to focus more of your photos from storytelling mindset.
      2. Storytelling with Project Life – Project Life can be a great way to share your pictures. I am planning on using either (or both) the Project Life App or Digital Project Life to record my P365 photos.
      3. 31 things (and 31 more things) – I bought this course when it was on sale last year but haven’t done it yet. These are self-paced workshop includes a collection of 31 prompts that invite you to document some”thing” about your life right now via a single photo and words. Some of the topics include: jewellery, conversation, technology, shoes, think, chores, and smell. I am sure that this will provide some great inspiration for days ahead.
      4. Story Kits (Monthly) – I am a subscriber of AE’s monthly kits. I find that each month I get alot of inspiration from the themes and I am sure that they will both help provide inspiration for photos and a great way to record them.
      5. Week in the Life/Day in the Life – There are courses that go with both of these or you can just do them on your own (and get inspiration from Ali’s blog.
  7. Don’t forget to also tell your story with some of the photos. Project 365 can be a fantastic resource for those of you that like memory keeping or scrapbooking or Project 52. Just remember that while pictures do tell 100o words .. this only multiplies when you have some written context surrounding them.
  8. Share your photos and build it into a schedule. If you get into the habit of sharing your work and turn it into a habit. This will make it easier to remember when you get busy during the year.
  9. BIG LESSONS – Forgive yourself if you miss a day or 2. The best thing about this project is it as a whole. There are going to be days you will miss but don’t use them as an excuse not to move forward.

Preparations

So to get myself ready I have

  1. My favourite camera – OMD-5
  2. Small Waterproof camera – Waterproof cameras are just great to have in your handbag. They are waterproof, dustproof, kids proof and extremely handy to just have in all situations
  3. Phone – I will be getting a new phone in the new year. I am either going to get a iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus. Not sure which just yet. Some of the apps I will use will include
    1. Instagram
    2. Project Life
    3. Prisma – my favourite photo effects app
    4. Letterglow – great for importing your own digital stamps
    5. Dropbox
  4. Adobe Photography Subscription – I use everyday Photoshop, Lightroom and Adobe Bridge (for my scrapbooking bits and PSD files)
  5. RADLab – This would have to be my favourite photo-effects set. I learnt about this during the AE Lens of Joy class.
  6. Challenge lists – Fat Mum Slim to start with.
  7. Last minute list (will post about later) … for those times when it is late at night and I don’t want to miss a day .. trust me you will have those days.
  8. Photo Light tent
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