Project: 90 Days – What I Learned

Much has changed in the last 90 days. Passions rediscovered, fears overcome (mostly) and objectives redefined along this journey I have shared. While I would have wished for a little more feedback and connection, I definitely appreciate those who took the time to look, rate and comment on the images.

At first, I was ready to call this project an absolute success. The result has been extremely positive for me. But, as I reflect on the last 3 months and what I set out to do, there has been one glaring failure. I don’t feel bad about it or let down. It was simply too much to expect in 90 days. I am talking about the main objective of the project, which was to develop a point of view, a vision, if you will, for my photography. I now realize to have failed in this after 90 days is no failure at all. Many photographers spend their lives developing and refining their vision. I recently read Within the Frame by David duChemin about this very thing and he spent 20 years finding his vision. 90 days. Please.

So knowing that I have more to do in that area, I would like to focus on the many things I have learned in the last 90 days.

Let the image you want to create, dictate whether you go portrait or landscape, not the way it will be displayed on the website. It sounds like a no-brainer, and maybe I’m the only one who gets stuck in this particular box, but I have found myself trying to fit my images in a landscape format because both my blogs are set up to optimally display landscape images. Not only does it limit my vision when I take the picture, it limits the intention of the image itself to not go beyond my website. Limits are to be avoided.

Crop, crop, crop. The way the 90 Days website was set up, the images were arbitrarily cropped to fit the homepage collage. Every so often, the cropped image on the homepage was more interesting than the full image. Sometimes this served the vision of the photo and sometime it didn’t. I learned to compose my shots closer to refine the story I wanted to tell with a more simple image, cutting away as much of the extraneous clutter as possible.

I’ve learned that I’m not as fearless as I need to be when it comes to taking people’s pictures. It took me almost 10 minutes of watching Henry Jones before I could actually step up and talk to him. I think there is a level of audacity that any successful photographer needs, especially if you’re not a landscape photographer.

If the image is not a winner before you get it in Lightroom or Photoshop, it’s not going to be a winner after. There’s nothing wrong with post-processing the image to refine it and bring out the best image from your original shot, but it’s a good idea to avoid what the industry terms “polishing a turd”. I did learn some new techniques for post-processing to bring out the image I had envisioned when I shot it.

The most important thing I have learned is that I would rather be out with my camera, taking pictures, than doing anything else. I have been a photographer for almost 10 years, but for the last five, it was something I did because it needed to be done. Don’t get me wrong, I had some great experiences along the way, but I never had my camera with unless I absolutely knew I needed it. All that has changed. I rarely leave the apartment without my camera and even my tripod.

This project has been life-changing for me in a major way. It has reminded me about a passion of mine and has inspired me to readjust the direction of my career to get me back on track to being a full-time photographer.

Finding Inspiration

Sometimes we have a vision, an idea we want to shoot. Sometimes they happen on the spot and sometimes they’ve been formulated over time. And sometimes it feels like we’re running on empty with no inspiration and no ideas.

That’s where I found myself a couple of months ago. Aside from an iPhone ‘doors’ series called NYC42 I shot mostly as a joke, I had not done any photography since I moved to New York over a year before. I needed something to kick-start my creativity and get back behind the camera. But, what to do? I was so used to doing shoots for magazines, I didn’t know what to shoot pictures of.

I decided on doing a 90 day photo project that would force me to carry my camera with me everywhere I went and take pictures every day. I set rules for myself. A new picture every day and no ‘banking’ photos to make it easier.

I am proud to say that I (mostly) stuck to my rules and am in the last 9 days of the project. The result has been dramatic for me. I no longer have to force myself to carry my camera, I grab it instinctually. My passion for photography has been reawakened. My desire to make it my main career has been renewed. This blog is a direct result of the 90-day project.

I would say my project was a complete success. If you are looking for something to get you going, maybe a 90-day project is right for you. Maybe 30 days would be more doable. If it gets you out there and shooting, it’s good practice. But there are other ways, too.

Sometimes inspiration doesn't just jump out at you and yell "take my picture you fool!" I've walked around looking for something to shoot and have found nothing that inspires me or been too overwhelmed with many different possibilities. In these moments I've wished for something to guide me in a specific direction.

For those times when you just need a little direction, there is Daily Shoot. I just discovered @dailyshoot while I was searching for other photographers on Twitter. After I took some time to further check the Twitter profile I realized there was a web site associated with the Twitter account. The site has the assignment of the day and then a gallery of photos posted by photographers participating in the exercise. All you have to do is upload your photo to any of the listed photo services and tweet it with the hashtag #ds238 (the number changes with each sequential assignment). The site then automatically adds your photo to the gallery.

The photo quality and interpretations of the assignment are both diverse and impressive. It is interesting and inspiring to see what other photographers are doing with the assignment.

Another suggestion I’ve read about (and started doing) is to get a film camera, one fixed lens with black & white film and just go out and shoot. No RAW file to correct and no Photoshop post processing to fall back on. You can also use a digital set to black & white but don’t tweek it in Photoshop afterwards.

The most effective exercises are the ones that take you out of your comfort zone. If you are used to shooting in a studio, go outside. If you are used to shooting landscapes, do some street photography. Get out of your routine and you may find some new ways of looking at things.

The Mad Hatter

Quite regularly, something happens to renew my love of living in New York. I don't dislike it most of the time, mind you, but sometimes I really love it.

Today was one of those days. I went to Highline Park today to shoot some brackets for a book project I am working on (more on that later). The clouds were rolling in with patches of sky in between. It makes for a more interesting picture when shooting for HDR. I was cursing the soft, textureless clouds in the New York sky but was determined to make the best of it.

I found a couple of good locations to shoot along the elevated park and shot four sets of brackets. I was nearing the end of the park and was getting ready to exit downstairs when I hear some bells. I went to investigate and saw this guy dressed in black with a top-hat playing a cello against a blue background. It's like I planned the shoot.

I asked him if I could shoot him and he said sure. He said his name was Rev. Aaron Jones. As soon as I pointed the camera at him he came alive. He played that cello like he was a rock star in Madison Square Garden. At first I worried that he was vamping it up too much but then I resisted my urge to control it and just started shooting.

It was in an enclosed area so there wasn't much light. I had my EF L 17-40mm lens which maxes out at 4.0. I went up to 400 ISO but on my Canon 20D I can't go any higher without getting significant noise. I decided to switch to my Zeiss 50mm at 2.8 with the exposure compensation at -1. I figured the Canon tends to make the exposures a little light and I needed enough shuuter speed. It was worth the risk of not being able to get the manual Zeiss lens in perfect focus.

As much as I love the blue background, I had to see how this one would turn out in B&W. Everything about the way this turned out was perfect. The light coming in from the side added some extra drama. I love color and I'm not sure what it is about B&W that makes people think a photograph is more artistic. Making a crappy photo B&W won't make it better, but a good photo might be better in B&W. What do you think?

The Rev. Aaron Jones started singing a song along with his minimalist cello playing. Once again, I think he performed as if one hundred eyes were on him. I just kept snapping pictures and enjoying the uninhibited performance as he ended with a flourish. I also posted one of the pictures on my Project: 90 Days site as my picture for today.

I haven't had a chance to go through the brackets I shot, yet. I was so excited about these shots I wanted to process them and post them. Stay tuned for the HDR images of the other Highline shots.

Tilt-Shift Fun

I recently had the opportunity to do a short lens swap with a fellow Canon owner. He got my EF L 17-40mm lens and I tried out his 90mm tilt/shift lens.

For those of you that have never used one, the shift function allows for adjusting perspective. It is especially useful for architecture as it is rarely feasible to have your camera perfectly level so perspective comes into play. Architecture usually requires wide-angle lenses which creates even more perspective distortion. By shifting the lens parallel to the camera perspective can be either removed or accentuated.

The tilt function tilts the lens from the camera plane resulting in the center plane in sharp focus while the top and bottom are blurred. The lens can also be rotated 90 degrees to give a sideways depth of field simulation. It is sometimes used to simulate a miniature scene. I did a Photoshop simulation of the tilt function for my Grand Central Station picture on my Project: 90 Days site.

I'm not really sure what the practicality of a 90mm tilt-shift lens is, especially on my 20D with the 1.6 crop factor. When I went out to shoot, I had to shoot everything from far away. I mostly used the tilt function because the shift works more effectively when the camera is on a tripod.

This image of the taxi cab was my favorite one from my little tilt/shift excursion. It's a little bit iconic with a personal twist thanks to the lens swap. It ended up as my photo of the day for my Project: 90 Days.

Project: 90 Days

Introducing my photo project. The premise is simple: post a photo a day for the next 90 days. However, like most things in this world, it’s not that simple. I have a purpose beyond sharing my photography. So I have set up rules for myself to facilitate my special purpose.

My Objective
The main objective of this 90-day challenge is for me to develop a point of view with my photography. I have been a photographer for over 10 years and have done pretty well, developing my own style. I’ve been published in local, national and even some international magazines doing fashion, food, portraits, architectural and artistic photography. So what do I mean about developing a point of view and why am I concerned about now? Good question. Almost all the photography I have done has been in a controlled setting. I’ve controlled the light in the studio or on location and I’ve controlled the subject being photographed.

I want to step out of that controlled environment and show a slice of life from my point of view. I live in New York City. There will be no shortage of people and things to photograph.

The Rules
There is only one real rule (the rest are merely guidelines): all the photos posted will be from the 90-day period. Ideally, I will take photos everyday and post the best one. I will not “bank” photos to use on a later date. Realistically, I may not be able to shoot an acceptable photo everyday and the photo posted on a certain day may not have been taken on that day, but certainly within a day or two of posting.

I will let this project take on a life of its own and evolve as my point of view evolves. I will try to stay away from too much scene or architectural photography, especially the typical iconic shots of NYC. My main subject will be people.

Much like an assassin, I will begin more by shooting people from a distance. Like Leon told Mathilda: “First you learn with the sniper rifle from long range. Then you can use a pistol. When you have mastered that, then you learn the knife.” The better you are, the closer you can get to your target.

That being said, I will detach myself from the outcome of this project. 90 photos in 90 days of whatever I want to photograph.

Please Participate
Your participation will make this project really mean something. There are many ways in which you can take part.

Rating At the very least, please rate the photos honestly on a scale of 1 to 10 stars. It’s anonymous so you don’t have to worry about offending me.

Comments I’d love to hear what you like about and image or what you don’t like. Feedback of this kind is very valuable as it would be easy for me to get stuck in my own point of view.

Sharing There are Facebook and Twitter sharing options. Please help me spread the word of this photo project.

I trust you enjoy my photographs and return often to check on my progress.

Thank you,
Don Crossland

doncrossland.com/90days