Focus on a personal photography project

If you feel like you haven’t seen many articles from me, you’d be correct. I’ve finally decided to focus on a personal photography project.

To be honest, this has been in my head for about four years. Many of you are likely similar to me in the fact that you tend to have several projects going on at any one time. Website updates or creation, submitting images online to sell, contacting design firms and commercial art agencies, and the list goes on. With that comes anything that might be a distraction or excuse to NOT work on it — well for me anyway.

Personal photography projects help us focus

I’m done not working on my own work. Personal photography projects can help us refocus, get us back on track with our own work and veer us away from the distractions that surround us. While writing articles is part of my work, it is still a turn off the path of my own personal projects and photography.

I happen to be someone who is constantly looking for something to distract me from what I really should be focused on. Trust me, it doesn’t take much.

So, as I’m working on this project I thought I’d share some of the process and hopefully it’ll help you move forward on your own personal projects.

Some steps you can apply to any personal project

Come up with ideas

Coming up with ideas seems like the easy part. I have a never-ending list of ideas. Ideas wake me up at night and keep me awake. Do yourself a favor, write them down or record them somewhere. It doesn’t matter how silly or unobtainable they seem, keep track of them. They may not come to fruition right away, but they never go away and this way you’ll be ready to tackle whatever it is when it comes up again.

Research what you need to

Thankfully, we have access to so much information (too much so I think) that we can get help easily. Do you need to figure out how to self-publish a book? How about finding out what you need to do to start leading local photo tours and all that comes with that? Do you want to create a series of images and exhibit them at a gallery?

No matter what the project is, look up what you can and make the phone calls you need. Talk to others who have done similar projects. All of this research will help your project come together more quickly and go much more smoothly.

Just start your personal project

This can be the hardest step. Start. Now. Do one little thing that gets your project going. Once you start you’ll get excited about it. When you’re excited about it you’ll want to work on it and you’ll (I’ll) stop looking for distractions.

Then just keep going. One little step at a time. Edit an image. Write the text that goes with an image. Create a mock-up book cover. Write your artist bio. Commit yourself to working on your project every single day. Even if you do something you think is so minor, it’s still progress.

Hold yourself accountable

Not good with accountability to yourself? Find a way.

Ask a friend, fellow photographer, coach or mentor to be an accountability partner. Have a plan for yourself to share with others either publicly or privately, so you are accountable to them and yourself for having to make progress they can see.

Write about your project. Post updates on social media, your blog, or you know, even write an article about it.

Ask for help

Make sure whoever you are telling about your project knows it’s ok to nudge you once in a while. Ask them to check in with you every so often to ask how your project is going.

If you are feeling you’ve hit a wall, reach out to someone and ask for some help to just talk you through whatever it is that has you stuck.

What are you waiting for?

OK, get going. Start.

Then share your project, the progress or when it’s finished. Tell us about it in the comments or share more about it in the Photofocus Community. These things are always easier when we share.