Daily Documenting

[littlekiwi]

Asking this cause I'm interested to do some sort of daily documenting at some point whether that be just within my scrapping or as an actual project life kind of thing.

1) How do you get in the habit of a) taking everyday photos and b) documenting words about said photos or events?

2) For those of you who work, how do you document your work life?

3) Finally for those of you who primarily are on your own, how do you ensure that photos of you get included in your documenting?

[allyanne]

1. How to get in the habit: When I started daily documenting, smart phones weren't really a thing, so I had the habit of having a camera with me at all times, and I'd take photos of everything so I'd have options to choose from. I was also working on my photography skills at the time, so it was something I was actively thinking about. Now, I just always have my phone in my pocket, and I take daily photos without even thinking about it. Words about the photos are a little harder, but I do have a Word document at all times with a running weekly commentary, and I add to it as I need to. I also write things down in my planner so I remember what I was doing. A photo/daily journal challenge might be helpful to get into the habit?

2. I don't work outside the home now, but when I did, I just tried to take photos of things that struck me as funny, lovely, silly, or just representative of me and my life. The view from your desk, the route to take to get there, what you eat for lunch, your friends there, what you wear, your routine, etc.

3. I'm alone all day, as my guys are at work/school. I use the self-timer on my phone camera all the time when I'm out in my garden, and I also take a million selfies.

[HavaDrPepper]

Like allyanne, I started with having a camera with me at all times over 15 years ago. I still have a small camera that fits in my purse and it goes every where (Canon SX740) with me, even on vacation the beginning of the month. My hands aren't steady enough to use a phone camera.

I also honed my photography skills by shooting the mundane all those years ago. Heck, I'm still learning!

I've never been one that worried about the words on my layouts of daily life. The photos told the story by themselves whether it was something as simple as the gas price that day or a photo of the clock on my computer when I left work on an OT day.

I still take photos every day but don't document them in layouts except for 2 months of the year. In 2017 I started doing a "Document Your December" project that has a layout for every day of the month. Two years ago I started an "October Daily" project that I document the colors of autumn throughout the month in my part of Ohio. That one is interesting to look at the previous years compared to this year. Last year, there were enough leaves on the ground to start picking them up on the 13th. This year they just started falling on the 22nd. There are enough now for the first pick up by my neighbor (he is so sweet to do it for me).

My advice for someone that is interested in starting something like this is to start small, maybe something like one month just to get the habit started of taking photos. So many decided to start on January 1 and do a whole year but end up failing early in the year, quite likely because they get behind and think they'll never catch up.