Like so many of my fellow contributors on Viewfinders, I too have been thinking about a new photography project for the new year. Unlike my fellow Viewfinders, I have given up on finding one at this time.
I used to be quite happy doing a random 365 with no restrictions other than shooting a photo a day. I completed four years like this, but the fifth year fell by the wayside in late 2014, more specifically on the day my contractions started. After the baby came I have been content with picking up a camera when the mood and the light strikes, but as life has started to settle again after the upheaval that is becoming a mother, I have begun to miss a more structured approach to photography. And while January might be the start of a new year, it is not the time for me to start a new project.
The thing is, there is no month in the year that I dislike more than January (with the possible exception of February). It is dark and cold, the holidays are over and yet summer is far away. November and December are equally dark, but it never seems that way because there is so much light, actual as well as psychological, associated with Christmas.
March and April have their charm, but tiny green buds and rays of sun are likely to be hidden in copious amounts of mud and shades of grey and brown. May and June – now we are talking! These months have bright greens and clear blues and the chance of fresh and new but still properly warm summer days. July and August are my favourite months, when the sun sets so late that you hardly notice the passage of time in the evening, the sea is warm and the wind rustles through the goldening crops. September and October are equally as beautiful in their way, with the leaves changing and the apples ripening, and I have found that the hint of sadness in the air from the knowledge that winter is returning can be conducive to creativity.
So what will be the best time for me to start a new project? That I do not know at this point, but I trust that I will know when the right moment is at hand.
Selections from my previous 365s to represent my photographic year. Can you tell which images belong to which months? Hold your cursor over the images to see.
~ Jenny G.
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I understand completely, Jenny. And my feelings about the months pretty much mirror yours. Perhaps that is why. I think these things can’t be forced, anyway. When they bubble up in their own sweet time, you know you have to take notice of them.
Jenny, it’s easy to get caught up in the “new year, new project” syndrome. I always want a project but usually jump in later, too. Usually there’s just some spark or something new that comes along to grab my interest, and away I go!
I can’t wait to see what your new project is, whenever it (and you) are ready. x