100 Days 100 Photos Day 1

in

It’s very easy to stay in our comfort zone pretending everything is ok, even when things aren’t going exactly how we want them to go.

Are you living your life that way?

I felt like I hadn’t really challenged myself in a while, and I realised that if I don’t make some changes in my life now, my future won’t be as bright as I want it to be.
I decided it’s time to step out of my comfort zone and have another go at something I attempted last year, a personal project I called 100 days 100 photos. Last year everything was going great until around day 80, then I moved from London, UK, to Sacramento, US, and because the circumstances weren't perfect (I didn't have a computer to edit) I wasn't able to carry on posting daily, I finished the project a month later than expected. 

I want to use this project as a way to motivate myself to be more resourceful and sharpen my skills, not only my skills as a photographer and retoucher, but also my time management, communication, writing and other skills which I know will benefit me in the long run. It will also help me improve my lighting skills since every photo will be taken using off camera flash.

Starting today I will post 1 portrait/fashion photo, every single day, it will go up here on the blog before I post it anywhere else, and some photos will only be posted here, the last post will be on 8th October.

I invite you to join me on this journey and follow this project, I hope you like the photos and feel free to leave comments. Check the blog daily for new photos.

Here is the first photo

Model: Hanna
Camera: Canon EOS 6D
Lens: Canon 85mm 1.8
EXIF: 1/640  f/2.8  ISO200
Lighting: Godox V850 II + Godox 95cm octabox on camera left

Light diagram

What makes your work yours?

So, what makes your photography work yours? “I own the raw file” or “it has my logo on it” aren’t the answers I am looking for. I’m talking about something that enable others to know that photo was taken by you as soon as they look at it.

Nowadays everyone and their fucking dog owns a camera or a smartphone with a decent camera, and with so many presets available online it isn’t difficult to create eye appealing photographs. We are constantly bombarded with photos on social networks, so what are you doing to make your photos stand out?

Some people aren’t worried about standing out, they are content with just creating nice enough photos to get some likes, but for us working photographers it is important to make our photos look professional so our potential clients can see our worth.

Do you have a particular style that makes your work stand out from the rest? It can be the angles you use, lighting, retouching, the colours you use across your images, the feel and mood of your photos, no matter what it is, it’s essential to have something that only you can produce so you can be known for it. On Instagram so many photos look the same, taken from the same angle, with the same lens, same background, same models looking bored. How are you going to stand out if your photos look just like everyone else’s!? The market for presets and actions is huge right now because people are becoming lazy and don’t want to learn how to create stuff, they would rather buy it already made, like that quote says “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”, so stop buying fish and learn how to fish!

When you have your own style it is guaranteed that not everyone will like it, and you will even be criticized for it, but the style that makes your work yours is the thing that will bring you paying clients and other people who appreciate your work, because they love what you do.
So here is my challenge for you, I know I still have a way to go in terms of establish a recognizeble style for myself, but I would like you to join me on this journey so you can also create your own, take a hard look at your portfolio and notice if there is something that is consistent across most of your images. Ask some friends to take a look at your photos and ask what they see. If you don’t think you have a particular style yet I urge you to come up with one that you love, and create images using it regularly. Standing out as a photographer in this busy world full of photos isn’t something that happens over night, but if others have done it that means you can do it too, it will take hard work, consistency, patience, and creativity, but if you create what you love and own a style, soon enough you will attract the right people.

Improving your photography skills

I know we all wish there was that one magic tutorial which would take our photography to the next level. And we also get frustrated when we try a technique for the first time and it doesn’t go as planned. It would be great if things were simple, wouldn’t it? But then everyone would be a great photographer. Improving your photography skills requires patience, curiosity, commitment, and persistence. 

I may not be the best photographer out there, but I’m better than I was yesterday, and definitely not as good as I will be tomorrow. I set goals for myself and I work towards them every single day. Some days I make great progress, others not so much, but as long as I keep going I know I will get where I want to be, that is when patience comes into play. You may not see changes in your work overnight, it can take days, weeks, or months. The easiest way to feel unmotivated is to compare your progress with others, so don’t do it. You do not know their circumstances, you can’t see what is happening in the background, and how many hours they are putting into learning and practicing to achieve their results. Don’t focus on things you have no control over, act on the things you can control, be patient and keep working, the results will come.

Be curious, look what other photographers around the world are doing and get inspired. Searching for this type of inspiration will help with your creativity. It will also show you that the possibilities are endless. Look up tutorials or articles and find out how they do it. A little bit of curiosity goes a long way.

How committed are you to improving your skills? When I first started I made myself watch or read at least one tutorial every single day, I know that sounds extreme but when you are on a mission you do what you gotta do. It wasn’t always easy, some days I didn’t have the motivation to do it, but I still did it and felt great after I finished. Soon this daily action became a habit and the struggle turned into curiosity, my knowledge grew and my photography benefited  each day.

I learned theory, but knowledge alone doesn’t create results, so I had to do photoshoots to put all those new things into practice and create photos just like I saw in the tutorial. In my head I knew how everything would work, light position, camera settings, but everything seems easier in theory, even with all the knowledge i wasn’t able to get it right, that is where persistence plays a big part. You have to practice, practice and practice more, you have to make mistakes and learn from them. The more you practice the more mistakes you will make and the more you will learn. Don’t be discouraged, be persistent and keep trying, eventually you will get it.

All these things take time. Being a great photographer does not happen overnight. It takes years, but we know that nothing worthwhile comes easy, and remember, small progress is better than no progress.

Now I challenge you to watch at least 3 tutorials every week and organise at least 2 photoshoots per month so you can put what you learn into practice.