Project 365: Week 1

This year one of my goals is to take my camera out everyday and take pictures. I had been thinking about it a lot before the end of the year decided this would be a good goal for me. Here's what I hope to get out of it:

1. Become a better photographer.

2. Capture more moments on camera that I normally wouldn't if I wasn't trying to take pictures everyday.

And here are a few things that I learned after over a month of doing it:

1. Taking pictures everyday means I have to get more creative. Otherwise it gets boring for me. So I've been trying out different angles, different lighting, different editing techniques. Sometimes I make encourage my kids to do tricks or play with certain toys. Sometimes I just ask Will to make funny faces for me. 

2. I end up taking a lot of pictures at night.  If I'm too busy or forget to take my camera out during the day, I usually end up taking pictures of the kids right before bed, during dinner, or asleep in bed. It's been good for me because I'm not very good at taking good pictures with bad lighting. 

3. If I completely forget to take pictures of the kids and don't dare go into their room after bedtime (there are plenty of days like that) I have to find something else to photograph. So now I have a bunch of random pictures for our posterity of our house, our furniture, or other random things that I think are fun to have for later. I also get to pretend I'm artsy by taking a picture of my cookie dough covered KitchenAid or a closeup, blurred out shot of Will's block tower.

4. Apparently my kids never wear clothes. I have so many pictures of them in just diapers and so many other moments where I thought about taking pictures but they weren't dressed. Sure, when we go out I make sure they are fully clothed but when we're at home... let's just say it's not a priority. When Emma eats I usually just take off all her clothes (less laundry for me) and I don't usually redress her until nap time. Will stays clothed for meals, but when he sees Emma as a "Buddha belly" he laughs and takes off his own clothes and hangs out in a diaper just like Emma.

5. Bad picture days are ok. My house is usually messy, Emma's hair is always in her eyes, pictures come out blurry, grainy, or just not that great. Sometimes I barely get one picture that I like. And that's ok. There are some days I get a ton of really awesome ones and that helps make up for it.

6. Will really likes getting his picture taken. If I'm taking a picture of Emma I can almost guarantee hearing, "Mom! Take a picture of meee!"

7. I need to be in more pictures. I'm usually holding the camera so I just forget.

8. We have some really cute kids. :)

January 1, 2015

January 2, 2015

January 3, 2105

(We built a fort and read books before bed.)

January 4, 2015

January 5, 2015

January 6, 2015

January 7, 2015

Will's car we made in joy school.