Annual Photography Selection: Top Ten Striking Pictures Taken in the Year 2019
Every December, photographers have the opportunity to reflect on their work and plan for the future with a creative photography exercise. This process involves gathering, reviewing, and analysing your favourite photographs from the past year to identify trends, evaluate techniques, and set goals for the upcoming year.
Step 1: Gather and Review Past Work To begin, collect all your favourite photographs from the past year. These images should represent your photography style and skill. Take some time to review them, noting any immediate impressions or themes that stand out.
Step 2: Identify Themes and Trends Next, analyse each image more deeply. Consider the composition, lighting, subjects, colours, and overall mood. Identify recurring elements or styles that emerge across multiple photos. Organise your images into categories based on these identified themes or trends.
Step 3: Evaluate Your Techniques and Equipment Usage Assess the techniques you used in each image, such as long exposure, macro photography, or specific lens choices. Determine which techniques you enjoyed using the most and which ones you want to explore further. Note the equipment you used for each image, considering whether certain lenses or accessories became staples in your photography and whether you need to upgrade or expand your kit.
Step 4: Set Future Photography Goals Based on the themes and techniques you identified, set specific photography goals for the upcoming year. This could include mastering a new technique, exploring a different genre, or creating a photo series around a particular theme. Create an action plan for achieving these goals, which might involve taking online courses, attending workshops, purchasing new equipment, or scheduling regular photo shoots.
Step 5: Plan a Photo Series Choose a theme or subject for a photo series based on your favourite images and identified trends. Brainstorm at least ten different photo ideas for your series, considering different angles, lighting conditions, and compositions that will contribute to a cohesive narrative.
Step 6: Prepare and Execute Prepare all necessary equipment and create a shooting schedule. Ensure that your gear is in good condition, and consider any permits or permissions needed for your locations. Execute your plan by scheduling photo shoots and following through on your goals. Regularly review your progress and adjust your plan as needed.
Additional Tips for Creativity Sometimes, a change in perspective can significantly enhance your creativity. Consider changing your shooting location, using different lenses, or experimenting with unconventional angles. Look at the work of other photographers for inspiration, analyse what you like about their images, and incorporate those elements into your own photography.
The ten image portfolio can be treated as a portfolio building exercise if you've photographed a theme or project during 2019. This exercise encourages contemplation and thinking, which are important parts of the creative process. Consider what projects and goals you can set yourself in 2020, and how you can improve on your best photos from 2019 to move on to the next level. Reflect on whether your best images are colour or black and white, and whether you've bought and used any new lenses or other gear. Compare your best images from 2019 to your best photos from previous years to see an evolution in your work.
In the pursuit of refining your photography skills, you might find photography tutorials on lifestyle or home-and-garden subjects useful for exploring new techniques in black and white photography. After analysing your past work, consider incorporating post-processing techniques, such as desaturation, to emphasize patterns and textures in these thematic areas as you plan for the future.
