Photography Project Planning

How I Plan My Long Term Photography Projects


As mentioned in last week’s post, I am going to use my time in South Africa, amongst other things, to plan for a couple of photography projects I want to execute when back in the USA.

Writing my Haiku and PicTales is most of the time done in a whim: I see an image I created, the basis for a story pops into my head, and with one or two writing sessions the job is usually completed. Also, these stories are in most cases based on existing images and not planned upfront.

Similarly, the short Essays I have published have been created with the words emerging after seeing how the images came together.

The projects I have in mind for future execution, however, are of a different nature. Starting from a clearly defined concept I want to create specific images that convey a story, communicate a message.

To achieve this requires planning.

What is the story I want to share or message I want to communicate? What is the best medium to achieve my goals? How to share?

In my day job, I am very process driven, using checklists to achieve consistency in the execution of my projects. And I apply the same approach to my photography projects.

I, therefore, developed a photo project planning document that I use to define the scope and execution elements of each project.

project-planning-checklist.png

You can download this checklist for free (really free; I don’t even ask for your email address, but I, of course, will appreciate if you subscribe to the blog!)

The sections of this checklist are:

Project:

The project name (can be a working title)

Vision / Purpose of this project:

What do I want to achieve and communicate with this project? What is it about? What is the message I want to share with my viewers? Is it about something I want to create awareness of, or is it something specific I want the viewer to see?

How does this project fit into my general photographic vision?

Every project needs to fit into my general vision: The role of a photographer is not to show what we all can see, but what we are unable to see. This question helps me to understand how this project fits and helps to build a consistent portfolio.

How am I going to share/publish this project?

In this section, I can indicate how I want to publish this project. Only on the web site, or also in print. And if in print how: as a zine, a high-quality book, gallery prints? If in print, I can indicate details about size, paper quality, and book specifics (e.g. hardcover or softcover).

Research

In this part of the checklist, I am becoming more specific about the execution of the project. Will I work with digital images, film images, or maybe both; locations for taking pictures; checking if I need permission to take pictures in those locations; how to get there; what camera and/or film to use?

This section also helps me to define what type of pictures will best achieve the vision and convey the message I want to communicate with this project. This is really the "deep thinking" part of the project plan.

Plan

The next section of the checklist focuses on practical planning, necessary to get to execution. Do I have everything in place and arranged that I need to for actually being able to create the images I defined in the previous sections? Where the Research section helps me to define what is needed, the Plan section ensures I have everything covered.

Execute

This part of the checklist provides a status overview of the activities needed to complete the project. From having the pictures taken to selecting the final images. It is a simple action tracker to ensure no stage has been skipped.

Share

The final section of the checklist is also a tracker to ensure that I am taking care of all the actions I defined for this project with regard to sharing the images.

This really helps me to focus on what I want to accomplish and how to accomplish this.

Every plan, of course, is only effective when executed, or as the old saying goes “plan your work, and work your plan”. While I can use the upcoming months to prepare and refine plans for several photo projects, the real work will start with execution.