January 2013 Photo Project

If you follow me on facebook you know I did a photo project during the month of January.  The idea is to take a photo each day during a month of your choosing.  The images should be of your family doing regular, everyday things.  To give the project cohesiveness and to challenge you a little bit more the only parameters are to keep all of the images in the same orientation (landscape or portrait--I chose landscape) and to edit them the same way.  I chose to do black and white since I find that when I shoot with the intention of creating black and white images I tend to be more mindful of really capturing moments and I pay more attention to what my subject is doing.  I also find that black and white is great for showing off little details--like the image of my daughters hair in braids for the first time which is one of my favorites from this project.  

I truly enjoyed this project--the proccess and the end result.  I felt like I really got back to my favorite kind of photography--lifestyle--and I started noticing the sweet little moments each day.  I kept true to staying away from any set-up shots.  I didn't make my daughter do anything just so I could take a picture of it.  I did keep a list in my head of certain things I wanted to capture during the month because they are so "her" at this age, like her helping my husband with his boots like she does every morning, how she likes to wear dress-ups to the grocery store, and enjoying a piece of chocolate.  The 31 images that I ended up with, especially when I look at them in book form, create such a perfect snapshot of exactly what life with our girl is like right now.  This project is meant to be repeated each year during the same month so that you can compare from year to year and I am really excited to make this a part of the beginning of each year from now on.  Here's a sampling of some of my favorites from the month:

Below is the final product.  I was freaking out when I got it (A day early!  Yay for efficient shipping!).  I have made photo books before but this was my first time using Mpix since I switched to then for all of my prints.  The process was so easy and I found that I could actually make it the way I wanted to using the 'create your own' template instead of getting overwhelmed and settling for a pre-made template that I didn't really like.  

I kept it super simple, using the photo from day 1 (with a closer crop) as the cover image with just the title in an casual, handwriting-esque font.  The photos then followed in chronological order.  Some photos got the full page and I chose to use two photos per page for other images.  Some photos were given a whole page but I left some white around the perimeter of the picture if I felt it highlighted the image better.  I opened and closed the book with a few lines of lyrics from Loudon Wainwright III's "Daughter."  If you have a daughter, watch the video here and weep a little bit--go ahead, it's good for you!  My husband put it on a mixed tape for me when I was pregnant and it has always been a really special song for us.  On the last page I put a small heart and an inscription telling her that the pictures were taken by her mama.  On the back cover I chose to include the only color image--one of my favorite images from the month but one that didn't make the cut for the daily photo.  

I absolutely cannot wait to do this project each year and have a big old fat stack of them in 20 years to see how our family changes and grows.  I hope you consider doing a photo project like this too.  There are so many neat ideas online for projects with varying degrees of dedication so I know you can find one that works for your schedule.  It is so worth it and you will end up with meaningful photographs and a better understanding of photography whether you're a pro or a hobbyist.   

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