14 Original Photography Project Ideas

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If you’re struggling to think of ideas for a new photography project then you’re not alone, creative block is common with photographers and in fact, anyone dabbling in any form of art, but don’t worry because with a bit of inspiration we’ll get your creative juices flowing again.

project_ideas_1 14 Original Photography Project Ideas Photo Sharing & Inspiration

#1 The 365 Day Project

This project will keep you on your feet and shooting every day. You can choose a theme, such as colors, textures, or people, and then you shoot these every day for a year. Or just take photos of what inspires you then share it with the world! But if a year-long project seems a bit too much then you could try the 30-day project, which is basically the same but you only shoot for 30 days.

#2 Light Painting

Light painting is a fun technique in which you draw shapes with light trails by using a light source and long exposures to capture them. To do this, you need some kind of light source like a sparkler, flashlight, or glow stick. Then, place your camera on a tripod and set it to a long exposure or use the bulb setting. Next, simply move the light source around while taking the photo. Another way to do this is by choosing a subject such as a flower and shining a flashlight on it, lighting it up from different angles while using a long exposure.

Light-Painting 14 Original Photography Project Ideas Photo Sharing & Inspiration

#3 Self Portraits

This one is a cool idea in which you take a photo of yourself every day or throughout a day and you could try changing the location and including different subjects in your photo. But taking your DSLR around with you every day can be a pain, so another option is using your smartphone camera instead. One idea you could try for this project is documenting your day by including tasks you do during the day like working at a desk, and if you go out to lunch you could photograph yourself with your food, for example.

#4 A-Z Project

For this project, you simply shoot a subject for each letter of the alphabet — for example, ants, biscuits, cracks, Doritos, etc. Or another option to try out is photographing subjects in the shape of each letter; for example, a streetlight in the shape of a ‘T’ or for ‘O’ a ball.

#5 Shoot With Your Phone Only

Shooting photos with your phone makes the whole process less stressful and will help bring joy back into your photography. The benefit of using your phone is you probably carry it with you everywhere anyway and it’s much easier than carrying a bulky camera. But this will also benefit your photography skills because you can concentrate on composing your photos without having to mess around with all the settings on your camera.

#6 HDR

HDR is one of my favorite types of photography when it’s done well; but on the other hand, they can look pretty ugly if they’re over-processed. HDR is basically taking a few photos at different exposures and combining them into one photo. This captures a higher dynamic range of light which keeps details visible in both the shadows and the highlights but it can also give your photos a cool, surreal look. You’ll need some software to create these though such as Photomatix or Photoshop.

#7 Night Photography

Cities are fun locations to explore at night and to shoot lit-up buildings and any other architecture. For this, you’ll either need a tripod so you can use long exposures or a high ISO to speed up your shutter speed so you can hold the camera without any camera shake blur.

#8 Documentary

Documenting history or present events can make very compelling photos, and if you’re up for a bit of traveling or even a bit of risk then this might appeal to you. Here are a few things you could document:

  • War Zones
  • Protests
  • Social issues
  • Life events
  • World events

#9 Patterns

You can find patterns almost anywhere from a spider’s web to a close-up of a leaf, and you could even try making your own, for example, you could line up your shoes or some rocks into rows.

photographers-are-shooting 14 Original Photography Project Ideas Photo Sharing & Inspiration

#10 Find Inspiration Online

There are loads of websites you can use to see what other photographers are shooting, and for this, I’d recommend finding a photography social networking/community site such as flickr.com where you can upload your own work and get feedback and browse other photographers work. Other places you can search for inspiration are on free stock photos websites which have thousands of photos you can browse and even download to use for your projects if you like.

#11 Photo Album

Everyone loves looking at photo albums and they’re a good way to record memories; for example, you could shoot a holiday, an event, or just your family at different stages of life.

#12 Colors of the Rainbow

Set yourself a task to find subjects of every color of the rainbow; for example a red flower, an orange car, or some yellow shoes.

floiwer-up-close-photo 14 Original Photography Project Ideas Photo Sharing & Inspiration

#13 Mosaic

To create a mosaic with your photos you simply place lots of photos of different colors onto a canvas to form another picture with them. For example to create a picture of a blue eye you would place lots of blueish-looking photos onto the canvas to form the shape of an eye with some blackish-looking photos in the middle for the pupil.

#14 Optical Illusion

You’ve probably seen this done a lot but you can get very creative with it if you’re dedicated enough. One example of this is placing a person in the foreground, near enough to the camera so they appear to be as big as the subject in the background, for example, you could place a person near to the camera so they’re the same size as a building in the background.

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