I’ve set up this Substack to document my Photo of the Day Project for 2024. Thank you for reading! I hope that this record of my learning will inspire you to create your own photography projects. Please feel free to leave a comment, suggestions, tips, explanations of your own experiences in executing these type of projects, or anything really!
Project Goal (s)
The primary goal of this project is to take one black-and-white photo every day for a year, using a medium format film camera. My camera for the project is my 1960s Rolleiflex 2.8 F, although that may change if I feel restricted as the project goes on. All film will be self-developed and my intention is to make a darkroom silver gelatin print for each day’s photo.
Since buying my Rolleiflex three years ago during the pandemic, I have taken a total of only two films with it, so it is long past time that I started using it and this project will provide a useful learning curve on using this type of TLR camera. My other intention is to become much more proficient at black-and-white film development, because at the moment my development is plagued with bubble marks, signs of insufficient agitation and other amateur errors.
I am also in the process of building a home darkroom so that I can make each day’s print. My goal is to use this project to become a proficient black-and-white darkroom printer too.
Rules
For the POTD photos I post digitally the only allowable edits are those that are easily achievable in the darkroom, ie contrast adjustments, exposure, dodging and burning. I will also post the original untouched photo.
I won’t post every day’s photo, but i won’t post just the ones I’m pleased with either; some I will post no matter how aesthetically bad or how bad are the technical faults exhibited if they provide learning points along the way (there’s going to be a LOT of bad photos!).
My Instagram will be where I post every photo.
It will take me a while to get up and running on the darkroom side so to start I will be posting scanned photos only.
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Great project, Patrick. Good work begins with a clear, tight brief.