I've always admired the photographers I follow who do "365" projects, which is taking a new picture every single day for an entire year. Wow. 365 new, creative, personal pictures - what an amazing feat! There is another group of photographers out there who participate in "Project 52", which requires taking a new picture every week of the year. This is more in line with something I think I could do. So, this year I decided I WILL DO IT! One of my goals this year is to take more creative pictures of our every day lives. This also includes me getting in the pictures more (see my last post for that). And, upon conclusion of this project, I WILL PRINT THESE PICTURES (again, see the last post). 

Each month I will try to recap the previous month's themes & photos I submitted. Its not necessary to stick to the theme each week, but its been a nice side effect producing more creative thinking for me. I have found myself looking forward to finding out what the next theme is, then figuring out how I'm going to shoot it. 

Here is January, Weeks 1 - 4. 

1/52 "Reflection" & Caption: "I got this bracelet last year to remind me (whenever I was feeling anything less) that I AM very blessed. So, every time I'm frustrated or sad or disappointed, I look down at my wrist & reflect on everything that is wonderful. This project is a first for me, so I can't wait to see what the year brings!"

*This photo, in week #1, was actually featured in the the Eye Candy post done by the administrator at the close of each week. I'm not gonna lie...I waited until the last possible moment to submit my photo for Week1. The thought of so many people/photographers seeing my images made me nervous. However, when I was zipping through this first Eye Candy post, my day was totally made & it gave me just the confidence I needed to kick out any doubts I had about being nervous in my participation. The goal of the project is not to be a competition, but make it what YOU want it to be...although, to be recognized among all of these amazing participants (around 1300 as of 2-2-14) is pretty cool, too.  :  )

2/52 "Imperfection" & Caption:  "Shared Imperfection: It wasn't until high school that someone pointed out my toes were short, compared to normal toe lengths. I had never noticed anything otherwise... Then I found out my mom & my sister's toes were of the same (small) proportion, and I thought that was cool. Now I've discovered my daughter has inherited these short toes of our's & I'm thrilled to have her share this 'little' imperfection with us!"

3/52 "Inside" & Caption: "The life of a little brother - wanting to be on the inside with his big sister who is having fun, learning, making new friends...but stuck on the outside for 45 minutes a week for the next 6 weeks."

4/52 "Joy" & Caption: "Joy is your husband getting to use his new "flame thrower" to burn off snow for the first time!"

I love that this project is giving me (or forcing me) to take advantage of the opportunities to capture our family in different ways each week. For example, I "had to" have pedicure time with Miss A for week #2's theme (but C also participated in that activity as well). And, I never would've taken my "big" camera to A's cheerleading practice to get that shot for week 3. And, well, I would've just let Ryan go take care of the driveway instead of following him out there. It's been such a wonderful experience already & we're only 4 weeks in!