project33 [#1]

Birthday Cake

As an amateur with no particular niche and not much time I struggle to keep a “raison d’être” for my photography.

I tried to set myself a series of challenges last year which ultimately failed due to a combination of too many rules and too much self-pressure to make each image better than the last. But I still feel I need a challenge to work towards and give me a sense of direction.

Welcome to #project33. Essentially it’s a 365 challenge to document a year in my life and to get me thinking about photography in different ways, but most importantly without the pressure of having to take a photo each and every day.

The aim is to create 365 images over the next year.  Each day an image will be posted to Instagram (follow @stuart.sowerby), and each month I’ll put a selection of my favourites here.  I’ll also periodically update the master album with higher quality versions.

Real Life and motivation allowing, the image will be taken each day.  In reality there will be a mix of daily captures and others taken recently, either with the challenge in mind or as part of another series.

As with any challenge like this, expect the quality to vary; although I always try my best to create a compelling shot this won’t always happen, but I hope over the year to see a refinement in my composition, find interest in the seemingly uninteresting, and maybe even see my own style finally emerge.

Here’s a few from my first month, all images taken with the Fujifilm X100F and, with the exception of the Milky Way, all processed using the in-camera converter and Snapseed:

3. A Light Path
5. Brown and Grey
10. A normal British summer
12. Sideways Spinnaker
13. Gunwharf
14. Arachnid Dreams
25. Play Frame
28. Milkyway over Emsworth