Project 365: Featured Images

Pretty Forum Community Project 365 for Photographers

Photo Credit: Krista Specht

Wow! Can you believe we are slowly approaching the end of February? Time is really flying this year and one of the beautiful things about a 365 project is that it forces us to slow down and capture a moment that can be cherished forever! We have all committed to take on this project and our group is meant to encourage you along the way as well as keep you accountable to sticking with it! So let me offer you some words of encouragement.

If you’re anything like me you’ve hit some speed bumps in your project over the last few weeks that might be discouraging. My bumps have been falling behind on editing and sharing my photos. So far I am still doing pretty good at shooting daily but it’s the uploading and post processing that I am slacking in. And once I fall behind, I usually get so overwhelmed I want to quit!

Maybe you’ve have fallen behind too and are ready to throw in the towel? Maybe you feel like you have bit off more than you can chew? Well let me tell you friends, as someone who just edited a week’s worth of my photos to upload to my 365 album right before I wrote this post, let me be the first to tell you to hang in there!!

So if you are feeling discouraged this week and need a little motivation to keep going here are my encouraging words to you:

Throw perfectionism out the window!! I have never met a photographer that didn’t struggle with perfectionism! But did you know that this perfectionism can be setting you up for failure? So if you’ve missed a few days and want to quit because you feel like you’ve failed and can’t catch up. Or if you have been putting too much pressure on yourself to make every one of your 356 photos award winning pieces of art, this little nugget is for you! In the words of my friend Elsa, “Let it go!” Stop being so hard on yourself! This is YOUR project! If it turns out to only be a 300 project instead of a 365, that’s amazing! It’s better than 0! Lower your expectations and take it one day at a time!

There are no rules! You can’t fail at something when there are no rules! So like I mentioned above this is YOUR project! If you miss a few days one week, that’s ok! If all of your pics are from your iPhone, that’s great! If you need to take a break, go for it! If you want to you post a picture one day that is from another day, I won’t tell on you! If there is any rule I would plead with you to keep it’s to NOT GIVE UP!

Remind yourself of your goals! Why did you take on this project in the first place? Was it to improve your photography skills by practicing consistent shooting? Was it to get better at documenting your life so that you have a year of memories to look back on and treasure? Don’t lose sight of those goals! The rewards of this project far outweigh the small sacrifices it takes to complete it!

If you are too far behind, forget trying to catch up and just start from today! Most people quit when they get too far behind so instead of the overwhelming task of trying to find photos for the days you’ve missed, simply start from today! Who doesn’t love fresh starts?!

You’re not alone! Remember we are all here to push one another to press on towards the goal of completing this project! Let us challenge you and cheer you on!

Today is a new day friends so pick up your camera and shoot! Keep sharing in our Project 365 thread in the Pretty Forum for a chance to be featured in our future posts! Can’t wait to see what you all capture this week! Here are some of our favorite shots from the past couple of weeks:

Pretty Forum Project 365 for photographers