Photography is a hard slog. It takes years to see any real progress in either the quality of your work, or the amount of money you make. It’s really easy to get lost in the day to day grind and forget why you started shooting images in the first place. Am I selling it to anyone yet? Thought not. But hang on…
Enter The Personal Project. Let’s talk straight though, I’m not talking about all of those test shoots you need to be producing weekly for your commercial portfolio like I do over at www.scottchoucino.com/news. Oh no, I mean what you create every time you pick up a camera and use it just for the joy of taking photos. You know the moments; where you’re itching to set off for a couple of hours, just you, your camera and maybe your wallet. Everything else is a distraction. Those moments are personal, they’re for the love of photography and they’re what keep you on track.
When I started out I’d often spend the day ambling around a new city, exploring it through the lens of my camera. Although that’s no longer viable with my work schedule, that isn’t a reason to stop personal work. My current long term project is taking photographs from the top of high rise car parks! Handy given I can work this into my routine – the opportunity to indulge my love of city scapes literally comes to me. Zero effort. Whenever I’m off somewhere I pack my Bronica ETRsi, a few rolls of Ilford BW film and some Kodak Ektar, then all I have to do is make sure to park in a high rise. A few shots in each direction and I’m done. This often happens on a Wednesday when I go to Leicester Lo Fi where I immediately develop the film. Scanning happens back at Tin House Studios the next morning whilst drinking my coffee. Negative scanning puts me into a zen like state, always has done. Add a nice podcast in the background and I have the makings of a perfect start to the day.
The images below are from the first go I had at this project. I’ll continue to share more here each time I find myself in a new car park! I hope this little story of how I work personal projects into my life inspires you to do the same.
Make sure you check out my workshops page and my coaching page if you want to up your photography or photography business game. You can also view my commercial photography website over here at www.scottchoucino.com