New Photography Project Ideas to try in 2024

Welcome to 2024!! Happy New Year. The new year always brings different resolutions and ideas to try. Photography tips for the new year would always be welcome, especially for beginners looking to start or further their photography career. These are not just for the professional photographer with a career in the industry, but even if you are just a photography enthusiast or hobbyist, we believe some of the new ideas and photography tutorials will help propel any photo project that you set yourself towards honing your photography skills.

There are a few factors to consider prior to getting into photography project ideas. The first being to obviously have the right equipment and that all starts with a great digital camera. That could be a great DSLR camera or even an Instant Camera or Film Camera. In addition, you will want your camera settings and presets to be set for the new photography project that you have in mind. We will highlight several pieces of equipment which are sure to meet you new years photography project ideas.

Photography Projects

Since we are starting the new year with a fresh slate of creative photography projects, you may feel a bit overwhelmed. Don’t, it’s okay to step out of your comfort zone and try new ideas. So as you prepare for your photoshoot, we can not discuss different photography ideas that may suit you or you just may want to try out.

• Start shooting in or converting your images to black and white. This is a unique way to photograph a subject or an object. Besides for the retro feel of a black and white photograph, it is important to note not to overset the contrast when shooting in black and white as this may alter the image making the black overly dark and the white overly light.

• Take your images during the Golden Hour. The golden hour is the period of time during the first hour of light after sunrise, and the last hour of light before sunset times when the color of the sky goes from red and orange to yellow. This can look especially cool when reflected off snow lines streets, trees and lawns.

• Get that great Bokeh effect by setting a close-up shot of your subject with a beautifully blurred background. This will allow the subject of your image to be highlighted with a great frame.

• Try doing some street photography. When shooting street photography use a long exposure which will create a sort of movement of your subject during the image capture. Adjusting your ISO depending on the street scene is also crucial to getting that great shot. Remember, if this is all new to you or for ease of use you can set ISO to auto and let the camera do the calculations for you. Also make certain to adjust for the natural light and ambient light that may enter your exposure.

• Test your hand at working the shutter speed on your camera. A quick shutter release will allow for less light to enter the image whereas a slower shutter speed allows for more natural and ambient light to enter the frame.

• Give your hand a whirl at abstract photography. Utilizing movement, color, texture and light to transform the world we see into an unexpected, often unrecognizable image. Abstract photography sort of adds a bit of DIY ideas for how you want your image focusing not on the subject or object per-se, but rather non physical aspects of your exposure.

• Try taking some cool self portraits or selfies. These could be focusing on new years resolutions like you working out or showing off your cooking for your new healthy diet. These are great to upload to your social media feed. This is great for the food photography as we mentioned, because let’s face it, who didn’t make a goal to to eat better this new year?

• How about learning more about portrait photography? If you are a beginner looking to pursue your career in photography, than you will need to know how to properly shoot portrait photographs. If you plan on becoming a wedding photographer for example, you will need to be proficient at portrait photography.

• Another cool avenue of photography ideas to explore this new year is double exposure photography. Double exposure combines two different exposures or images that are placed one above the next. The image overlaid is has less than full opacity. so some of the two combined images can be seen producing a single almost ghost-like image. You can use photoshop or other photo editing software like Adobe lightroom or lightsource to achieve this.

• Create a cool photo book that you can share with your family and friends showing off some of the amazing photography skills you have. This can be done with physical exposures like on a film camera or digitally with many apps available on your camera, smartphone (like an iPhone) or PC.

Photography Equipment

You can’t set your photography goals for the new year without the proper gear. Therefore, we have several recommendations of some fantastic cameras to choose from.

• Here is the Sony a7C Full Frame Mirrorless Alpha Camera Body + 28-60mm Lens Kit. This camera has some exceptional features for it’s price range.

  • This is the World’s smallest and lightest full-frame camera.

  • With a tremendous 24.2 MP back illuminated sensor for gorgeous images.

  • Ability to shoot in 4K HDR at 30 FPS and Full HD or 1080P at 120 FPS for great frame rate refresh.

  • 4D focus covering approximately 425 AF points of your shot. Improved human and animal tracking ability of the camera in autofocus mode.

  • A great side opening vari-angle LCD screen with fantastic rotation and tilt and brightness even for those sunny snowy reflective days.

  • Powered through connecting via USB-C is the the high-capacity NP-FZ100 battery. This battery provides enough power to capture up to 740 images without needing a charge. However as this is a lithium ion battery which will degrade in capacity over time, it is always recommended to have spare batteries. These can also be especially useful for extended Vlogging sessions.
    
    

• The Nikon Z9 Full Frame FX Flagship Mirrorless Camera 45.7MP 8K Video is a top of the line DSLR full frame mirrorless camera that is a must have for professional photographers.

  • As touted by Nikon, this camera features world’s best AF scene detection system and best in class 8K video recording.

  • Containing the XPEED 7. The most powerful Nikon processing engine ever. This processing engine is 10 times faster than the previous generation processor.

  • The Nikon Z9 can handle even the most complex AF and AE calculations at 120 cycles per second. This enables such features and like 120 fps still shooting 8K video recording and more.

  • Two memory card slots rated for the blazing CFexpress cards which will increase your read/write speeds exponentially.

  • Ability to shoot 8K video at 30 FPS and 4K at 30 FPS in HDR or 4K slow motion at 120 FPS, so your images and videos will pop with extreme color vibrancy, clarity and accuracy.

  • With exceptional recording time rated at 125 minutes for 8K HDR shooting, you can rest assured that your long photography sessions will be recorded fully.

  • In an 2022 firmware upgrade, Nikon gave the Z9 the ability to shoot capturing 45.7 effective megapixels, so your exposures will be super clear with jaw dropping quality.

  • This is a top notch camera that professional photographers will absolutely love and is a great tool for some photography projects.
    
    

    

     

• The Fujifilm Instax Mini 12 Instant Camera, is a great film camera providing that retro look and feel.

  • The Fujifilm Instax Mini 12 line provides instant cameras or film cameras. These come with the retro look of a Polaroid. This vintage camera has a really unique peak design coupled with some great features.

  • Shooting selfies with your friends and family can be an enjoyable experience. The Fujifilm Instax Mini 12 is a great camera for this purpose.

  • The Fujifilm Instax Mini 12 automatically adjusts to ambient light or natural light and the shutter speed, flash brightness and other settings are all done for you. This makes for a great camera even for beginners, as you have to do as a photographer allowing the camera to capture that high quality image.

  • Simple to use. Twist the lens to turn on the camera and then twist again for close up mode. Press down on the shutter button for a quick release, capturing those images quickly.

  • With this iconic looking instant photo camera, use the Instax Up app from Fuji. Using this app will allow you to scan your prints so they can be tagged and edited for sharing with your family and friends. The app can be used for post processing editing.

  • With the Instax instant Film your instant image printing can make for exposures which will look great in a photography book.

• The Fujifilm Instax Mini Link 2 Smartphone Printer is the perfect pairing to your smartphone.

  • Draw on prints with new Instax AiR which directs the LED light on printer towards your smartphone. Then move the printer around in the air to write or draw and print away. It’s like a magic act - drawing in the air.

  • The printer prints on 2 x 3" Photos printing paper.

  • Print multiple images right from your Smartphone in only 15 seconds using the app which can be found on your iPhone in the App store or your Android phone in the Google Play Store.

  • Share images you've taken on social media easily with bluetooth 4.2 to connect to your PC or smartphone.

  • Print QR Codes on Your Images. This is great if you have a web site that you want to direct traffic to, all the user would have to do is point their smartphone camera at the QR image even on the print.

  • Multiple print modes are available on this gadget device.
    
    

• Interested in the world of Drones? Take a peek at the DJI Air 2S Drone Quadcopter with 5.4K Video. DJI is an industry leader in drones and their gimbal camera build and operation. This fantastic drone offers some of the following tremendous features and specs:

  • Utilizing a 1-inch image sensor, the DJI Air 2S is capable of 5.4k/30fps and 4k/60fps video recordings. Your image from this drone’s camera will show the vibrant and sharp clarity, and authentic color tones.

  • With UHD and HDR recording included even harsh lighting conditions like dimly lit areas will shine brightly through.

  • Capturing 1 billion colors lets the viewer be fully immersed in your exposure and video recordings.

  • Shoot in RAW format providing for more flexibility in post editing.

  • Offering a Hyperlapse and Panorma view shooting. So you can speed up time and movement with a single tap with hyperlapse. The DJI Air 2S can also capture larger, more enhanced shots of your surroundings with panorama mode.

  • FocusTrack features several different technologies such as Spotlight 2.0, ActiveTrack 4.0, and Point of Interest 3.0. This simplifies the DJI Air 2S to follow or circle your subject.

  • With 4 antennas featuring dual frequency and a 12 km max transmission, you can easily fly your drone for extended distances.

  • With a large 3500 mAh battery the DJI Air 2S can get 31 minutes of flight time without windy conditions, meaning you have plenty of time to find and capture the shot that you want. We do recommend purchasing a power bank if you are using the drone while on the go and will not be able to charge it from an outlet.

Start Photographing this New Year

Happy new year to all you photographers out there. Now is the time when making new years resolutions regarding your photography skills and how to improve them. The photography project ideas coupled with the recommended equipment are just what you need to begin, improve and master your photographing and video recordings. So, don’t hesitate, grab the gear, use the photography tips and ideas and start your new year off the right way.

2024 Photography, get ready because here you come ready to improve your skills!!