I finished my project. I have learned a lot of things during this process.
#1 - I can’t really do this the way I would like to without spending a lot of money on software.
#2 - I’m not as happy with my finished product as I had hoped to be.
One of the things I tend to do as a photographer is envision my finished photograph before I start shooting it so I can have a goal during the process. I had envisioned what I wanted this project to be, and my result is not entirely what I had hoped for. The good news is that during this process, I was shown some other similar ideas being done elsewhere, and I do want to try some variations on this theme that should produce more of the result I was looking for here.
The other good news is that I enjoyed this process. I’m not actually finished with this book, because I do intend to publish it as a printed hard copy. But as far as the SoFoBoMo project is concerned, this one is a wrap.
By the time this project comes around again next year, I’ll have a lot more knowledge about the design workup and what its going to take to do that part of it without breaking my bank :)
I’ll post the finished product soon….
Here we go! My SoFoBoMo book project is underway as of today. I actually started working on the project this afternoon and some during the evening. As shown above, I made my front cover design, which is quite simple. Simple will suit the theme of this book very well since photographic impact is not my objective. Hopefully there will be some interesting photos in the book, but fine art photography is not my objective. Hopefully this idea will start to come together as the photos are made.
I also wrote the introduction for the book tonight… Here is that part:
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I N T R O D U C T I O N
Photography is an intriguing hobby. There are so many scopes of interest within the craft that it’s difficult to classify photographers into categories of subject and style. As dedicated photographers, we will examine many subjects and themes as we explore our interests and search for our personal direction. Over time, we find the subjects that inspire us the most and generally dedicate more time and effort to them.
Once we really understand our personal interests in photography, we begin to collect equipment and accessories required for the pursuit. We may spend thousands of dollars on cameras and lenses. A suitable tripod rig may cost in excess of $500. As we all know, equipment and supplies required for the pursuit of hobbies and professional interests are always relatively expensive. In the digital photography age, we are on a constant quest for more megapixels, faster lenses, advanced image processing software, and anything else that makes us feel better about what we are doing. After all the new and shiny toys are in our possession, we still lack one important item, and that is the knowledge of which direction and when to point the camera. The most expensive gear in the world won’t give us that critical bit of information. We are left on our own. We must learn to see through the lens. We must learn what constitutes a great photographic image. The two very basic elements that seem to define great are what and when. There are many additional concepts for consideration, but my personal belief is that if the what and when are not solid, nothing else really matters. Since our idea of photography has been around since the mid-1800s, it is becoming increasingly more difficult to find unique subject material. A lot of photographers tend to duplicate images they have seen before rather than to explore new ground. Exploring new ground often becomes difficult when a particular scene or subject has been photographed by many photographers over long periods of time.
During the short time I have been involved in the hobby of photography, my personal interests have jumped around quite a bit, but I believe I’m starting to settle in to some interesting subject material. I have spent a great deal of time learning technical and aesthetic issues through duplicating existing images and techniques. I’m comfortable with my knowledge of how the camera works and how images are created. I have photographed landscapes, still life, water splashes, and a lot of other stereotypical subjects. Each of these subjects can appear as a new image by photographing them at different times, from different perspectives, and in different light. What doesn’t change much between all those images is the underlying theme. What you see in the image doesn’t really change.
People, on the other hand, are in a constant state of change. You can photograph the same person time after time and get completely different images. Inanimate subjects only have a limited ability to emote. Most of my favorite photographs throughout the history of photography involve people in one way or another. Most of them are people who are not famous and have no real legacy beyond the moment in time in which they were captured by a photographer. Most of them are photojournalistic in their storytelling abilities. Most of them stir my emotions in ways that transcend the actual subject.
One of the more fascinating aspects of these various people photographs that I love so much is that the actual capture of the images was not dependent upon specialized camera equipment, lighting, composition, or technique. Their primary strength is the decisive moment… being in the right place at the right time… being ready to go with the camera. Sometimes, the simple snapshots are interesting in the same way, which brings me to the purpose of this project.
SoFoBoMo
The Solo Photo Book Month project was introduced by Paul Butzi in his blog on January 18th, 2008. After reading through the idea, I decided to participate. The idea behind the project is to create 35 images and publish them electronically or in book format in a 31-day period. The ultimate publish would be a printed book, which my project will include, but the required publish, if not a printed book, is a PDF file for sharing online. The project has no specific theme other than 35 images, 31 days, and a published product. The 35 images must be created within the 31-day period, and that 31-day period must start no earlier than April 1, 2008 and no later than May 31, 2008. I have chosen a specific theme for my project called Tell The World. I toyed with a similar idea once before, but was unable to complete it due to time restraints and other commitments. I’m resurrecting the idea for the SoFoBoMo project. The idea behind this project is rather simple. I find people who are willing to participate and give them a white board with a dry erase marker. I’ll be asking each participant the following question:
What short statement would you make if you knew the entire world was listening?
Each participant will write their statement on the white board with the dry erase marker and then pose for an impromptu photograph holding their sign.
John M. Setzler, Jr. – April 1, 2008
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I have also written up my model release and information sheet that I’ll be giving participants. Even though there isn’t much to actually see yet, I have done a good bit of work on this today…
I updated the blogroll on the right to include everyone I know about who is participating in this project. If you aren’t there and should be, please let me know. I’ll be happy to add you to the list…
I’m ready for this project to begin. I know my topic and I know what my book is going to look like when it’s finished. I’m not stressed in any way about the images. Most photographers stress over the quality of the ‘art’ in their images. My project won’t depend as much on that artistic quality. My images will all be black and white and made to look like polaroid instant prints in the book and on this website. In reality, my project is more of a social experiment than a photography project. Each person who participates in my project will get a chance to “tell the world” something that is on their mind. The image is simply a medium in which their thought will be relayed.
As a full time student, I have some serious time constraints, so I can’t let myself get involved in a project that will take too much time to complete within the confines of the 30-day limitation. I’m still not 100% solid on when I’m planning to start my project. It’s going to be sometime during the first two weeks of April, but starting on April 1 will put finishing right in the middle of my semester exams at school, so I’m not sure how I’ll handle this yet. I would really like to start on April 1, but we’ll just have to wait and see how things go. If I started on April 1st, I would really need to get all of my photos made by April 15th or so in order to give myself some cushion on the finishing time…
A friend showed me this site last night…
This is some really neat stuff that follows along the same idea that I hope to promote in my SoFoBoMo project that will start in April. These images aren’t nearly as much about the photograph itself as the message being conveyed by the image. Browsing through these photos is giving me some good ideas for approaches that I want to take in this project…
The topic for my SoFoBoMo project is “Tell the World.” This theme is a resurrection of a previous idea that I worked on last year, but did not complete. I started a project called “Signs of the Times” which got canceled due to time constraints. I still love the idea though, and I plan to execute the idea in a slightly different way for this book project.
So, what is it?
I purchased a small dry-erase board and marker to use in this project. The board is 11×17″ in size, and I’ll be using a black dry-erase marker as well. The object of this theme is to find participants who are willing to answer one question:
What statement would you make if you knew the entire world was listening?
The participants will write their statement on the dry-erase board and be photographed holding the board. It’s as simple as that. No serious concerns about lighting, composition, and all the other details of photography. These image are about the thoughts more than the images. If I find a notion to make a second book after this project is complete, I’ll pursue an image-based artistic theme. I think this idea will be quite entertaining on its own.
Greetings to anyone who may read this blog…
I decided to create this separate blog space to highlight my adventures in the SoFoBoMo project. What exactly is SoFoBoMo?
SoFoBoMo is a project brainchild of Paul Butzi. The simple reality of the project is that participants will create a photo book during the course of a one-month period, from start to finish. This post in Butzi’s blog sums up the entire idea rather nicely. Creating a book is something I have wanted to do for quite some time, but have never mustered the dedication to make it happen. I think this particular project will motivate me to create my first one, and then possibly provide the interest to pursue it further after this one is complete.
We have one month to complete the entire project. We can choose a day to start the project between April 1 and May 31, so I’m choosing April 15th to start mine. April 15th works out nicely with my school schedule. I’ll be having semester exams around the end of April and the first of May, so I don’t want to be finishing this project while I’m in the middle of my exam schedule. As you can see from the top of this blog, my theme is called “Tell the World.” I have chosen this idea because it’s a project I started in the past and never completed it. I’ll be starting it over from scratch for the SoFoBoMo project, but I’ll actually be finishing this time. Stay tuned for more information…
John M. Setzler, Jr.