Project A - Z


Strange where motivation comes from! While a friend of mine did a 'Project - 365' which meant one photo a day for a whole year, I thought why not start small, with one picture a day for 26 days starting with 26 alphabets of the English language!! This project was long pending. I was not getting right/appropriate words which matched the photos. I started anyways.

Around 4 months back I bought my camera. Started clicking and posting on FB. As is the case with every novice photographer, I too started seeing lines and angles everywhere. There was not one thing that was not clickable. The world became more beautiful and colorful. I became more attentive. Anything under the sun was a prospective subject for me. I took numerous photographs in a short span. I was lucky that a few of them were nice and interesting also.

Excess of anything is bad. Guess I forgot to apply that formula on my photography. This was a good example of the law of diminishing marginal utility. A time came when I just didn’t want to click anymore. The motivation dropped and the world was a dull place to be in. I was scared – scared about my passion, about the short life it had. How could something so loving go away just like that?

It was then that I sought the refuge of my friends who were pursuing photography themselves. Many suggestions came. One of them was to take a break and not look at the God’s creation as mere subject which could be turned into a photograph. Yet another was to rather enjoy the beauty of nature than just capture it.

However, there was one revelation that came from all the sides. The real skill in photography is being able to take an everyday common scene and click it in an innovative way such that it makes a good photograph. This takes time and experience. And as with any learning process, sheer grit and mechanical persistence forms an interim part of it which pulls from the initial stage of fascination till the time one truly internalize it. Probably I was trying to take a great shot every time I picked the camera. This was something impossible. Further, I was now expecting more praises and ‘Likes’. Initially it was more about the enjoyment that the process gave. There was no anticipation of appreciation rather only joy of photography. After appreciation, things changed which could have created the current situation. I couldn’t agree more.

Further, what was the point in taking pictures when one didn’t want to, or feel like? The moment a picture was taken just for the sake of it, it won’t be a good shot.

For a few days I stopped thinking about photography. I wanted ‘it’ to come a little more naturally instead of me forcing it on myself. On and off I kept clicking and storing. Then an idea came from a link from Digital Photography School (http://www.digital-photography-school.com/). It shared a few projects which could be pursued. It included the Project A – Z, however in a different style. It was simple and easy. I thought why not make it a little more interesting and peppy and decided to match a picture with a word starting with each alphabet. I went back to the archive that I had created and tried to find the correct fit. Save a few, rest felt like a forced fit. I decided not to do that, instead wait for the right one. It didn’t happen for a really long time. I grew impatient. After a point, I shared this dilemma with a friend whose vocabulary and philosophical thought process is at an altogether different level. As I kept sharing my pictures with him, he kept giving description for the same. So all of you who think that the descriptions are apt; it’s because of that one friend.

Once the Project A – Z started, there was a constant fight to get the next description before the following day. Further, there was this decision to be taken as to how much post-processing is to be used. While it does make the picture prettier, it’s not original: ethical dilemma. I took a call and decided to make the pictures prettier. The rationale was that unless the original photo is good enough, the processed one is not going to be appreciated.

It was strangely happy and satisfying to see the ‘Like’s and comments. I read each and every comment. I looked the same photo everytime someone liked it. While I was happy with my work, the appreciation made the feeling brilliant. Sincere thanks to all those who liked the pictures and conveyed the same. This project has given inspiration enough to dare start pestering all of you once again with a new project. But for a little while you may live in peace with less of botheration from my side. Till the next project, it’s adios from my side.

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