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On January 1, I began a new photography project called the 52 Challenge. It’s similar to the 365 project I completed in 2015 but this one is not as demanding and is very doable.  The 52 Challenge requires you to take one photo a week for 52 weeks over the course of a year.  You can either choose to follow a weekly prompt list, like I’m doing, or you can freely choose your topic of choice.  Either way works just as long as you take a weekly photo.

This first week the prompt was documentary.  My niece loves working puzzles and I knew I wanted to document her working with her hands.  I also wanted to be able to see all the letters and names she spelled out in the photo.  So the best approach was to shoot from above to capture everything.  Standing on a bar stool helped me achieve that.

                                                                                             WEEK 1 —DOCUMENTARY

The second week was candid.  My younger niece wanted to wear my new rain boots I got for Christmas.  And as you can see, she thought she was a big girl!!  I placed her in a well lit area.  There is a window to her right and directly in front of her.  She loves making people laugh and in this photo she was putting on a show for her papaw : )

                                                                                                         WEEK 2 —CANDID

For week 3 the prompt was your style.  I would describe my photography style as lifestyle or storytelling.  In this photo my niece was lost in the moment of baking cupcakes, a favorite past time for her.  I love capturing her engaging in a project, unaware that I’m photographing her.  She prefers this way of photographing her versus looking and posing for the camera. She doesn’t have to stop what she’s doing and I get to freeze a moment of her childhood.  A win-win situation for everybody : )

                                                                                                   WEEK 3 – YOUR STYLE

Depth was my prompt for week 4.  I decided to take my camera outdoors to photograph my holly tree.  Since I needed to photograph depth I decided to put the main focus on the red berries to the right while blurring out the house in the background.  To accomplish this look I had to lower my aperture setting resulting in a shallow depth of field.  By doing this the berries are isolated from the background making them stand out more.  When looking at the photo your eyes immediately look to the right because the berries are in focus.

                                                                                                            WEEK 4 – DEPTH

Before the holiday season began I got to photograph this family of three for their holiday card.  This beautiful Fall setting was literally behind their house!! Woods as far as you could see and the creek at the bottom was the icing on the cake.  The location was truly a child’s fantasy land. This family was a breeze to photograph.  And as you can see they are pretty photogenic, even the dogs posed for me : )

Thank you Weedman Family for letting me take your photos for your holiday card this year.  I hope you enjoy these for years to come and I look forward to photographing your family in the future.

On Saturday afternoon I got to photograph The Smith Family at their home.  This was especially exciting because they have two very energetic little girls and a backyard full of leaves!!  It was hard for the little ones to contain their excitement at the thought of playing in those leaves.  But they were good and pretty patient considering they are 1 and 4  years old.  After taking photos of the family together we let the girls loose to play.  Watching them running and jumping in that pile of leaves brought a smile to all our faces : )

Thank you Smith Family for letting me capture your afternoon at home.  I enjoyed photographing your family and hope to always capture the girls’ childhood.

Almost two years ago I began my journey of learning how to use manual mode on my camera.  For me this was a very intimating obstacle to overcome.  My camera had all these extra buttons and settings that baffled me.  I ended up taking an intro class to photography that helped clarify the basics of manual mode. ISO, shutter speed and aperture.  I understood what each of them could accomplish individually but was having a hard time trying to sync them up correctly to work as a group.  While researching on the internet I came across the idea of a 365 project which I had never heard of.  Basically, a 365 is a photography project in which you take one photo every day for a year.  I continued to read articles about this project and every photographer that had finished the project said it was the best thing they had done for their photography.  So I decided come January 1, 2015 that I would tackle this project and see what happens.

I am happy to say that I did complete the 365 project last year and what an accomplishment it was.  I wanted to share with you why the project was so beneficial for me and tips to help you complete your own.

WHAT I GAINED BY COMPLETING THE PROJECT

1.   YOU WILL LEARN HOW TO USE YOUR CAMERA

My main purpose for pursuing the 365 was to push myself to learn all my camera’s capabilities, which meant learning how to use manual mode.  I am a hands on type of person.  Meaning I have to actually do the task at hand before I start to really understand it.  It’s called practice.   I can read books all day every day about how to use my camera in manual mode but if I’m not practicing how to change my settings to achieve proper exposure for a photo then it’s a waste of time for me.  Taking a photo every day forced me to learn how ISO, shutter speed and aperture work together to create a beautiful photo.

2.   YOU WILL SEE YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS GROW THRU YOUR PHOTOS

One of the most rewarding things about participating in a 365 project is the growth you will see in your photos.  Some of my first photos looked more like snapshots than photos.  But gradually, from month to month I could see myself improving because my photos were getting better.  Seeing this growth gave me the confidence to continue day after day to reach my goal of 365 photos.

3.   YOU WILL CHALLENGE YOURSELF

In the beginning of my project I didn’t really put a lot of thought into my ‘photo of the day’.  I was just taking a photo for the sole purpose of “I need to take a photo”.  I started noticing I was staying in a very narrow comfort zone and was not challenging myself.  One thing that I started to do was put more thought into my photos for each day and sometimes planning them out.  This started snowballing into trying new perspectives and leading to creativity when photographing something.  For example, taking a photo from above or getting down low will result in a more appealing photo than if you had just took a shot straight on.

4.  YOU WILL HAVE IRREPLACEABLE PHOTOS

Picking up my camera every day to capture something about my every day gave me photos I would never of had had it not been for the 365 project.  Some of my photos were out of the ordinary that included subjects I never would have considered photographing.  My eyes were open to new possibilities of how to create a memorable photo.

TIPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL 365 COMPLETION

1.  MAKE IT PART OF YOUR DAILY ROUTINE

Taking a photo every day was not easy.  At times I got caught up in my daily routines and it wouldn’t hit me until I went to bed that I had forgot to take a photo that day.  I would get back up and take a photo for the purpose of taking a photo and go back to bed.  I got tired of this real quick.  So I started to push myself into taking a photo in the morning or the afternoon so I wouldn’t forget.  This soon turned into a habit that led to being part of my daily routine.  Just like brushing my teeth.  I know it’s something I need to do so I just do it.

2.  JOIN A 365 GROUP

I’ve read that a lot of people join a 365 group which is just a group of people completing the project just like you are trying to do.  Joining a group where everyone has the same goal holds you accountable and gives you the motivation for taking your photos.  It’s the same principle as having a buddy to work out with.  It gives you the push you need to accomplish your goal.

3.  REWARD YOURSELF

This was my favorite motivation for completing my 365 project, rewarding myself at the end.  I started my project as a New Year’s Resolution and I told myself that if I took a photo everyday and didn’t miss a single day that I would treat myself by creating a printed album of my photos.  I wanted to be able to hold all my hard work and dedication in my hands instead of just viewing my photos on a screen.

Pursuing a 365 project is not just for professional photographers.  It’s for anyone that has a love for photos.  Hobbyists who want to challenge themselves, moms wanting to document their child’s everyday life, or anyone who just wants to improve there photo taking skills.   And you don’t have to have a professional camera to complete the project either.  Use your phone if you don’t have a camera.  As long as you are capturing something every day you will accomplish your goal.  But most importantly, have fun with it.

It’s Christmas time again, the most wonderful time of the year.  Time to trim the tree with your favorite Christmas ornaments.  Time to build ginger bread houses with sticky fingers.  Time for grandkids to bake Christmas cookies with their Nana.  And don’t forget the matching PJ’s the kids wear on Christmas Eve.  All of these are memorable traditions to share with your little ones.   They are also perfect examples of lifestyle photography.  So why not capture these traditions!!  Christmas break is starting next week and would be the perfect opportunity to make those memories.  I’m available for sessions so contact me to reserve a date before Christmas passes you by.