Can we start today with a secret????

We’re 27 days into 2022 and I have yet to pick up my camera to snap a single personal shot.

Not one.

(Another secret….I had to write a cheque 😱 today and wrote the date as the 29th then sent it with my kid to school – so if you know the date today, you’re 10 steps ahead of me!)

Some years I’ve had 150 keeper photos by now. But, this isn’t that year. I thought about documenting our time isolating at home with COVID, but honestly, I just couldn’t do it. 🙅‍♀️ 2 years into this gong show and I didn’t want to document it.

Over the last 10 years I’ve had a camera in my hand, I’ve learned that creativity is like a roller coaster. Sometimes the build to get to the creative drop is reeeeeeeally slow, long and scary. Sometimes it feels like you’ll never get to the top for the drop. I used to worry I’ll never get the creative thrill again. That my kids will life out the rest of their lives without another decent photo.

Of course, that’s silly. The desire to create always comes back.

It can just take time.

It’s part of the process. We aren’t designed to create over and over and OVER again (although Instagram would make us think otherwise).

It’s ok to let it be – to not be creative for a while. To use your brain in other ways. (Me? I’m late to the party, but I’m getting ridiculously obsessive about baking the p-e-r-f-e-c-t loaf of sourdough. I actually do want to photograph it and set up a beautiful shot with all that crusty goodness in detail, but I’m forcing myself to just enjoy the baking for now.)

But! If you’re itching for a 2022 project that can utilize your camera (doesn’t have to be fancy – it can be your phone camera!) and document your days, here are 9 for you!

• A self portrait of you (yes, YOU!) every week for a year (or every month, or every quarter….whatever feels attainable).
• A super quick video every day. I’m talking 1-5 seconds. That’s it. You can put it together as a monthly recap using the 1 Second Everyday app or treat yourself and have a pro put it all together for you.
• A day in the life (once a month, or once a week, or once a year).
• Document a certain time of day for a specific amount of time (bedtime once a week, before breakfast for the first month of school, while kids sleep every year on their birthday, dinnertime with everyone at the table every Sunday night).
• 25, 30, or 100 days of…(Christmas, thankfulness, summer, your kids, your spouse, you).
• Document a relationship (sisterhood, parenthood, kids with pets).
• Your whole family in the frame (selfie against a white wall once a month, on your front steps every Monday, etc).
• Cook one meal/item each week that’s photography worthy, then photograph it.
• Road trip madness (ya, it’s madness, there’s no way around it!). Here a few tips for photographing your next road trip.

Don’t feel like doing any of it? It’s fine! Store these ideas away for when you’re feeling like it’s time to flex your photography muscles.

Maybe next time I write I’ll have a personal photo to share! 🤞

Stay safe,

Kelly