12 Creative Photography Project Ideas to Get you Motivated

I don’t know why this article on DPS is headed 12 Projects but it seems that all blog posts these days limit their advice to an arbitrary number. Anyway that is not the point, I agree with the basic premise of this article wholeheartedly. When I teach people who are beyond just getting to grips with their cameras I always recommend working to projects. This is one way of ensuring you have a reason to pick up your camera and go and shoot. It doesn’t rely upon serendipity of finding something interesting you already have something you are interested in. You have defined your project. For this reason I find the picture a day/week a bit unhelpful. I think deciding on a project which could be a specific place or idea or activity is always more productive and I see this in the results my students bring to my Intermediate Photography Course A great example of this is the work by one student, Darren Bicknell who embarked on a project to explore liquid and light, his results and progression was excellent as can be seen by these pictures

light and liquid

Light & Liquid 2

so this article makes a number of good points about projects you can set for yourself and ways to keep your creative juices flowing.

As with anything in life, it’s important to make a plan. This is a big step towards being successful. There are a number of projects you could attempt-

#1 – The 52-week project,  #2 – 365-day day projects,  #3 – One consistent theme

# 4 – Limited yourself to 24 photos,  #5 – A musical song or album, #6 -Use only one lens

Go here to see the rest of the suggestions in this article on DPS

Here are some more of Darren’s wonderful pictures

Liquid & Light 3

Liquid & Light 4

Liquid & Light 5

Liquid & Light 7

Liquid & Light 8

All images ©Darren Bicknell

Marina Cano Wildlife Photographer

There are many superb wildlife photographers, their work a testament to their skills, patience, understanding and determination. We can wonder at their ability to capture that most elusive of animals, to be there when that special moment happens, we think how lucky they are. In reality the most impressive wild life photographs come not from luck but from exceedingly hard work and hours spent in the most uncomfortable locations. Some photographers specialise in certain animal groups, some in specific locations and some have that thing which sets them apart, style. A photographer who has their own style is memorable. Think of all the great photographers you know and I am sure you could recognise one of their pictures even if you had never seen it before through it’s style. Marina Cano is one of them, she has style. You will have seen her pictures before, they are widely distributed, here is her website in case you need a reminder.

In her own words:

I’m a  Spanish wildlife photographer, based in Cantabria,  Northern Spain. I’ve been taking pictures since I was a teenager, started with my father’s camera. My work has been published around the world and have won international awards. In 2009 I’ve published my first book, Cabárceno, with the pictures I’ve took for three years in the largest park of wildlife in Europe, with the same name. In December 2012 I published my second book: Drama & Intimacy, a carefully selection from the pictures I took in South Africa, Kenya, England and Cabarceno. I’ve also made exhibitions in Cape Town, London, Spain, La Habana, I’m currently exhibiting in Korea. My talks took me to different places like Finland, Cuba, South Africa, Israel, Mexico, Spain, United Kingdom. In 2015 I’ve been finalist of the most prestigious Nature Photography Contest in the world: Wildlife Photographer of the Year.

So as a little Easter gift here are some of her pictures to put a smile on your face

Marina gives talks, has exhibitions, books and guided safari tours all accessible from her website

I hope you enjoyed these

 

Best monitor for photo editing: 10 top models tested and rated

Many people just buy the biggest monitor they can afford without considering it’s purpose. A screen that is good for watching movies or playing games or reading text might not be the best for graphics work, for photography and photo editing. In class we are constantly recommending calibrating monitors, we explain how a monitor which isn’t calibrated is showing you it’s version of your pictures, not how they actually are. A step beyond, One Step Beyond would be Madness of course, would be to buy a photo editing specific monitor. Digital Camera World has tested a few and here are their recommendations

What is the best monitor for photo editing? Colour-accurate monitors offer true-to-life reproduction of photographic images, but price and performance varies. We’ve tested 10 of the top models available to see which monitor is best for photography.

Choosing a monitor for photo editing can be a daunting proposition, especially if you need it to be better at one particular task than at any other.

In this roundup we want to find the best monitors for photo editing, so we’re looking for great colour reproduction and vibrant, bright displays.

This depends on the technology used – newer ‘IPS’ LCD panels have better colour reproduction than their older ‘TN’ counterparts, so this is worth looking out for in the specifications. All the panels here are IPS LED backlit displays.

The viewing angles are also far better with IPS screens, so if you ever sit at your computer and show someone else photos they are a must.

Screen size is important too – make sure your display is physically big enough for the work you want to do (we recommend 24-inch as a minimum now and that’s the smallest here).

Also, while most of the monitors here are height-adjustable, not all displays have the same level of fine-tuning, so do watch out for that.

When buying a high-end display, it’s important to make sure your computer’s graphics hardware is up to the task of displaying the high resolutions some monitors are now capable of.

You’ll need to research the capabilities of your own machine to do that. If you’re going to be connecting up a laptop, especially, make sure it has a good level of graphics capability.

If you are thinking about buying a monitor here is a list of things to consider

10 things to look for in a monitor for photo editing

1. Screen size is measured diagonally in inches, while resolution measures the number of pixels that make up the display. But a bigger monitor doesn’t necessarily mean greater resolution; the 24-inch Eizo has a higher resolution than the 27-inch NEC, for example.
2. A more useful measure of the ‘crispness’ of a display is pixel density, measured in pixels per inch (ppi). The NEC is 82ppi, the Eizo 94ppi, while Samsung and Dell weigh in at 109ppi.
3. Monitors increasingly offer more than just a simple display for your computer, with built-in speakers, USB hubs, card readers and multiple  inputs, such as HDMI, for use with a variety of devices.
4. While true-to-life colour reproduction is very important in image editing, you may need to compromise to get all the features you want within budget.
5. LED backlighting allows thinner displays, while IPS (or Samsung’s PLS) allows for greater viewing angles.
6. We’d always recommend using a digital interface like DVI or HDMI, but it depends on what your computer has. Do you want to plug in multiple devices? Make sure your new monitor has the same input as your computer has output!
7. Several of these displays enable you to swivel the monitor from side to side and turn the screen 90 degrees into portrait mode.
8. Most monitors are now capable of Full HD resolution (1920×1080) but more and more can do higher resolutions – many here are capable of 2560×1440, for example.
9. With so many devices plugged into our computers these days, a USB hub really is something you’ll wonder how you lived without.
10. So many monitors – including several of these – are just plain ugly. Also see what people are saying about the button controls and menu system. Ensure it is usable.

Go here for the reviews and recommendations

Here are some articles we have offered previously

Best monitor calibrator for photographers: 6 top models tested and rated

How To Choose the Best Monitor for Photography