I started this project365 on 27-Aug-2010, with a rather dull picture of the Forth Road Bridge in the mist. My plan was to keep it going for a year, then at the end of the year (27-Aug-2011) I thought I would keep it going until the end of the calendar year. And from then onwards, it just seemed hard to stop.

In 2012 I pretty much abandoned the project, finding that training for a marathon left me very little time to do my running. But in 2013 I started afreash, and – at least up to this point – it is still going strong, without my having missed a day of posting a photograph online.

So how does it work?

I think it is fair to say that the nature of the project has changed. Initially I managed to find time to do some interesting photographic stuff, whereas now it has become more a daily diary than anything else. And that is a Bad Thing – I do feel that the project has lost some of its edge. On the other hand, it has helped me become able to find something worth photographing wherever I go. In many ways that has been a benefit of the project, in that I do look at the world just a little more closely than I used to.

I hesitate to claim to be good enough to offer any advice, but just in case any advide I can offer might be useful, here are my top ten tips for running a successful Project365.

10. Look Around

For me, this is what the 365 Project is all about. You are trying to show that in the midst of your daily routine, as you do the same thing time and again throughout your life, you can still find something new to photograph – or a different way to photograph something you have already shot.

So, to quote Georges: Open Your Eyes. Look at that barge on the canal, at the seagull flying overhead, at the dog playing in the river. See things and think about whether there is a photo there. You need to be ready all the time. Which leads us on to…

9. Have Your Camera With You Everywhere, All The Time

As the quality of phone cameras has improved, this has become a lot easier to do. But it is really important that you have a camera with you all the time. You need to be ready to snap a picture at short notice, without it being something that distracts too much from your day. You can edit the picture later – but you need to be able to be sure you can gte a sharp, well-exposed picture at a moment’s notice.

8. Keep A List Of Ideas

The hard thing about a 365 is that you need to get a picture every day. Now, that may seem obvious, but it doesn’t always work the way you expect. If you go out on Tuesday and get twenty first-class images, that is no help whatsoever for Wednesday.

So what I do is try to have some ideas at the back of my mind – locations or techniques that I know I can try out. Perhaps they will be useful for days when I can’t see anything to snap. Perhaps they will be large, time-consuming projects but I will know they are things I want to do. But at least they give me options for photographs to take.

7. Try To Vary What You Shoot

I fully admit I have no photographic “style”. You are not going to recognise that a picture is mine just by looking at it. And I don’t think that that worries me. I enjoy having a photostream that contains a whole variety of subjects, of colour tones, of locations, of formats.

So go on, try new things. Explore, play! I don’t think anybody wants to see 365 photos of my dog, or 365 selfies. So get out there and take some photographs you wouldn’t normally shoot. Maybe even try finding some photographs you like and try to recreate the style?

6. You Can Go Back To The Same Places

Having said that, don’t think that there is a blanket ban on going back to the same place and taking the same picture. Or another picture of the same person.

That scene with a lazily-flowing river and crops ready to be harvested will look very different after a torrential rainstorm or a heavy snowfall. Your niece who was playing in the sun will look different in the Christmas play.

So don’t be afraid of revisiting a subject, so long as there is something to make this photo different from the last one.

Or ten.

5. Try New Stuff – And Be Willing To Fail!

This has similarities to number seven, but it’s taking it further. Why not try something different? Pinhole photography? Water drop pictures?

Some kind of event happening nearby – go to it and take pictures! Maybe your local Parkrun would like to have photographs of the runners. A nearby organised football match (get written permission from the organisers first, though)? Maybe try street photography, or macros.

Sometimes the pictures will work well, sometimes they’ll be dreadful. That’s okay – I’ll get back to this in my #1 tip, but here’s a preview – sometimes things go wrong, and that’s okay! Just try it, and see if you manage to shoot anything you like.

4. Open Up Your Life – To Whatever Extent You Are Comfortable

Perhaps you will find yourself able to shoot a photo per day without giving anything away about your life. I certainly couldn’t do it – people who look back through my project365s will see my kids growing up, and indeed will see me growing up and going through trials and challenges.

Yet there are other things I am choosing not to publish. Things that happened in my life that I don’t believe to be the business of strangers. And that’s as it should be.

So, my advice is to choose what you are willing to share – to think about it before you do share it – and only then publish the photographs. But you are probably going to have to share something!

3. Invite Feedback

There is nothing more sterile than posting pictures and getting no feedback. So encourage your friends and contacts to look at the pictures you post, and to comment on them. You never know, they might even be able to help!

2. Shoot Early, Shoot Often

Imagine the scene. You are driving to work and you see something worth taking a photo of. But no, it’s not what you were planning, and there might be something better later. Maybe you have even got something planned for later in the day.

My advice is that you take the photograph, early though it be. Your plans for later might fall through. The weather might change. You might be delayed. Something might come up and you have to dash home.

Get the shot. If you don’t use it, save it as a B-Side. Or keep the idea in your ideas collection for another time. But having a decent picture in your back pocket does make the rest of the day feel easier.

1. Remember, They Don’t All Have To Be Masterpieces

And here’s the biggest thing. You are doing this project for you. It’s nobody else’s Project365, it’s your Project365. So if you have a day where you can’t be bothered and your photo of the day is of your big toe fungus, that’s fine.

You are going to shoot some great pictures during your 365. And you are going to post some junk. Some days you just don’t have the time to compose a masterpiece – just get something out there and move on. And anyway, how will you recognise the good stuff if you don’t have some rubbish to compare it with?

Conclusion

A Project365 is a great way to learn something about observation and about “seeing” a picture. But it can be hard work.

The way to get through a Project365 is to do it on your own terms, and because you want to. Don’t do it because you feel you “should” or because someone else is pressuring you into it. Do it because you want to do it. And good luck!