Hello! Today I get to remind you about Katrina Kennedy’s Project 365. I went to her website and found some great information to share.  Not only does she give us a monthly list, she  chooses 4 camera features to focus on each week. This week it’s light, aperture, shutter speed, & point of view.

She starts by printing out her October list! or downloads it to her smartphone. There is no wrong way to use the list. Here are a few things she mentioned:

  • I love to have a printed hard copy. I like how tangible and real it becomes then. Perhaps that is indicative of my age, born into the paper culture. Maybe not. I look at it each morning and let it set my focus for the day.
  • I don’t necessarily seek out the prompt for my photo, but I let it guide my creativity. Consider the prompt PLAID. I honestly thought there was no plaid in my house. I know there is none in my wardrobe. In my plaid-less stupor, we left the house the morning of the prompt with PLAID, emblazoned across my thoughts. And then I began to see it. It popped up at me in the strangest of places. There was the woman with the plaid purse perched on the chair at Capitol Dog, our local spot for vegan hotdogs. I didn’t photograph it, but I thought about all of the ways I could.
  • There was the little boy who bounced out of the house with plaid shorts on. Once again, I didn’t photograph him or his shorts, but I thought about ways that I could. And then I came home. I’d taken many others shots throughout the day. And from those, one was destined to be my photo of the day. None are plaid, but they were inspired by plaid. Inspired because I set out into the world ready to see. Ready to scavenge something that I might not have otherwise been looking for!

You know how that happens. You buy a red car and you suddenly see them everywhere. Someone mentions a restaurant and then suddenly you see ads for it everywhere. That is how the prompt list works. Just gets you thinking and seeing so that suddenly everything around you has the potential to be your photo of the day on this day. And then as you type you’ll realize  you do have a plaid thing in your life. Every day your husband and your son put on button up short sleeved shirts. Friends call them, “Shea shirts,” because he wears them so often. And yep, they are plaid. I can see them hanging in the closet from where I sit at this very moment. Funny how inspiration can be right in front of you!

Diana made this comment:

I love things in print as well. I also really appreciate that you explained how you use the list. I hadn’t thought of simply looking for items in the prompt and then imagining how I would photograph them — that makes such sense, particularly since we can’t always simply take photographs of other people’s children or their articles of clothing, for instance. Now I don’t have to feel that I’ve “missed out” when there is another way to think of the prompt word.

I think this an intriguing idea. I don’t have a camera, but I can see photo opportunities. I can always use a “word” to think about during the day at my real job. I’m gonna do it, I’m gonna give it a try! Join me…. Katrina will even send you a daily inspiration e-mails. Get on her list. How could you use an idea list? What could you capture?

Hugs!