Project 52, Weeks 1-8 {Kingman, AZ Photographer}

When my husband bought me my very first DSLR back in 2012, my goal was to take better pictures of my kids. I have always loved photography, taking pictures, and documenting life, and longed to get better at capturing my children in their everyday lives.

When our fourth child was born, my husband and I made a joint decision for me to stop teaching and stay at home with our children. At the time, our two oldest were 9 and 10 years old, and our youngest was 3 years old, before the baby joined the crew in March 2013.

Staying at home allowed me to really dive into photography whole-heartedly, which is exactly what I did. I started taking classes, reading online tutorials, anything I could do to be better.

I practiced. All. The. Time. To the point where when my kids would see me whip out my camera, they would turn around and run the other way! 😉

Pretty soon, people starting asking me to take their family’s pictures, and after awhile, I decided I needed to start charging for this so-called hobby I had.

My business started in October 2013, and quickly took off.

Sometimes I start to lose sight of the reasons why I even started on this journey, especially in the fall, when I am photographing 3 different families each week for 2 months straight! I absolutely LOVE my clients and am so incredibly thankful for each and every one of them, but my heart hurts a bit when I think about how little I am actually capturing my own children.

Well, now there are no more excuses. I made a goal for myself this year…to take at least one picture each week for 52 weeks. My fellow photographer friends have heard of these challenges, the Project 52, but for those who don’t know about them, I am given a theme for each week throughout the entire year, and it’s up to me how to interpret each weekly theme.

Themes for a previous elementary school teacher? You bet I am all over that, because this girl is a HUGE lover of thematic units!! 😉

This project forces me to be creative, while also capturing everyday moments in my life, with my children, which is the reason why I started this journey in the first place.

Over the years, I have also realized that I am not in nearly enough pictures with my kids, so I plan on changing that in the year 2016! 😉

Anyway, here are my first 8 weeks of Project 52, which I plan on making into an album once all 52 weeks are completed. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do! 🙂

Week 1 | Resolution

Resolution