Last year I was inspired by Bleubird‘s beautiful images for her “52 project”: a photo once a week for an entire year. She committed to take a portrait of her children every week, and the result was a stunning portfolio. With my own children growing and changing every day, my goal to learn my camera, and my excitement about this book (currently in the mail!), this seems like a fitting photography project for the year.
So here are my photos from 1/52 (just whatever I could find that I took in the first week of January!) and 2/52 (which were a little more intentional):
Lena 1/52: From a trip to the farm below our house, where she snuggles with “Wilbur,” a little puppy that we first found in the pig pen and have since considered adopting…
Gil 1/52: He’s learned not to touch Siena’s food after dumping it on his head a few times (yuck!), but he still loves to watch her eat. And his oversized pajamas just get me every time!
Lena 2/52: She recently told us that she wants to be “a dancing doctor for cats and dogs and lions” when she grows up.
Gil 2:52: After church on Sunday, flashing one of his signature smiles.
Now what to do with all these photos besides post them on this blog?! Any good ideas? Printing them out is not my strong suit. I made photo calendars for my grandparents and parents this past two Christmases and they have loved them, but I have yet to print any for us or put them in a book, photo album, or even on the wall….
So I was recently watching sharktank, and these folks were selling “groovebooks” — for 2.99 a month, you get a book of up to 100 photos. They’ll do repeats, so if you wanted 10 of each portrait to send to family you could.
It looks like they only upload through the app, so you’d have to transfer the dslr photos to your phone, but I am still amazed at how inexpensive they are.
https://groovebook.com/
It’s not 8x10s or anything (which you probably will want to print of your favorite portraits) but it’s an easy way to get some of the pictures in “real” form. And I haven’t actually seen one of these in real life, so they could be not as cool as they look online and on shark tank.
Wow, thanks so so much for this info, Jenna! This sounds like a great deal, and maybe signing up for something is just the motivation I need. :-P
Define little munchkin.
Answer: Gil Garber
Glad his auntie thinks so!
Oh my…those curls and that impish grin! They are amazing! This is a great idea, Becca. Although you say that printing the pictures out is not your strong suit…I still say “do it”! If you don’t want to put them in a book yourself, how about a digital book for the year? I don’t think you’ll regret it!
I have thought about that, Alica, and I think it’s a great idea! I had originally planned to do a big book of all our time in Sicily, but I’m not sure if that would be TOO huge. Smaller books might be more fun for looking through, especially for the kids.
Hey! I loved this idea and this post. I definitely take at least one photo each week of the boys, but think I might be more intentional. It’d be fun to have a book at the end of each year. I also have so many photos of our travels and life in Sicily. We started making “volumes.” The first volume is just the year 2009, the second 2010, etc. It’s hard to choose photos, but we just pick some and don’t think about it too much. I’m also making a book just for Samuel with only pictures of him “traveling” for his 3rd birthday (in about 2 weeks!). Anyway….cute pics. Look forward to seeing more of these photos each week.
Nicole, that birthday book for Samuel is such a good idea! On a kind of serious note, I am planning to make a photo book (probably a board book) of my sister Julia on what would have been her 22nd birthday (March 23) for Lena and Gil to have. Lena knows about her and speaks about her pretty frequently, but of course she doesn’t remember her, and so this will be a sweet way to get to know her a little better, I think.
Also, really loved this line in your comment: “It’s hard to choose photos, but we just pick some and don’t think about it too much.” That’s the way to do it! Just plunge in and go! I was amazed that I could put together and order the calendars for my family in just an evening’s hard work, but I put it off for weeks both years, thinking it would be an epic project. It really doesn’t have to be! And the results are so wonderful!
Make them in to a keepsake worthy photo book using blurb.com. Can’t wait to see how this project progresses!
Blurb! OK, got it. Thank you, Esther!
I just ordered that book too! In fact I should get it in the mail today. One of my goals this year is to learn about my camera too, so I’m planning on taking a photography at a local community college in February. Hopefully that will help! I figure it’ll make me a better family historian. I look forward to seeing what you decide to do with the pictures at the end of the year.
I should really take a class. I’m so proud of you for planning to do that! There are sometimes classes offered on base here, and maybe I’ll just bite the bullet and DO it. I feel like having an instructor and a few hours of detailed explanation might really help me!
I agree with photo books. They are so fun to out together and my girls love looking at the ones my mom has put together for them. Blurb is a great place to start! I love this idea. I have started doing the “This moment” series on my blog which is a lot of fun but pics of my girls each week would be fun too. Gahhh! Too many projects and not enough time :)
I just showed Gil’s photo to my sister Christina, and she said that Gil is the Shirley Temple of boys. :)