I’ve thought about starting a Project 52 many times in the past, and I’ve decided that 2015 is the year to do it! Basically, I take a photo every week.
Why a project 52 instead of a project 365? Well, I’ve actually completed a project 365 in the past. Not only that, I almost did it twice. If you look at my tumblr archive, I started a project 365 in September 2009, successfully completed it in 2010, and then kept going until July 2011!
Completed on 09/28/2010! This is the first photo of the second 365.
From that, I learned that I treat a project 365 as a fun way to catalog my life. Not all of the photos are particularly interesting, and some were lazy ones that I took just to complete the day. Plus, I started it before Instagram was around, and now I use my Instagram in a similar way as the project 365.
What I want is a photography challenge, so I’m going to try and be more creative about it. A project 52 would give me more time to put thought into each photo, instead of churning out something daily. It’s been a month since I started, and here’s the progress!
(Click the thumbnails for the full image!)
#1 – Heads or Tails?
The first week coincided with Ikkicon, a local Anime con that I do photoshoots at. So, my first photo is from that! This is Kate and her friend dressed as the Luteces from Bioshock Infinite. I tried to recreate a part in the game where they ask you to flip a coin.
#2 – Japanese curry in the making
I wanted to take photos of my husband making Japanese curry, and I actually got a photo of every step. However, it was too many! I ended up picking out 4 photos (prep, cooking, and final result) to stick together.
#3 – A grumpy visitor
We were cat-sitting for a friend, and this guy is actually the sweetest cat. However, he has a tendency to look grumpy sometimes XD
#4 – Teamwork
I didn’t really have time on week 4 since I had a friend visiting, and we also went to PAX South. So… I took the photo at PAX!
And that’s what I have so far! I actually felt limited in January due to…
- Ikkicon photoshoots – I did 6 photoshoots during Ikkicon, and it took me the whole month to post process all of the photos. (Some photos from the shoots are here.)
- Cedar trees ruining my life – January is when cedar allergies are super high here. I’ve been hit bad by it, causing me to spend much of my time blowing my noise and demanding that my husband go out and cut down all cedar trees. I don’t know how he deals with me sometimes.
- Flash receiver not working – My flash receiver ran out of batteries, and it uses an uncommon type that I had to wait to ship to me. Without my flash receiver working, I couldn’t fire my flash remotely, which prevented me from doing a couple ideas I had.
Fortunately, my allergies have been better lately, and the other two things aren’t issues anymore. So! I hope to have some more interesting photos to show next month 🙂
Project 52 sounds really cool (almost like a code-name in a spy movie, lol). I love the depth in your cosplay photo! I kinda miss cosplaying, my next convention probably isn’t until June 🙁 That Japanese curry looks REALLY good and I kind of want to eat something now (it’s 1 AM, and I am supposed to work in a paper due next week, oops). Oh and the grumpy cat looks soooo tiny! Too cute!! PAX sounds like a lot of fun, some gaming Youtubers I watch went there as well. I only mainly play Pokémon and Nintendo stuff though.
Hope your allergies get better with time! Have a fantastic February ^_^
I’m thinking about starting a Project 365 today. I can never start on 1/1 because there’s so much going on at the end/beginning of the year. I’ve tried and failed 365 a few times so maybe I’ll do a Project 52, too, just to increase my odds of actually sticking to it.
It looks like you’re keeping up with the project! I’ve done the 365 project almost twice in the past and I feel the same way – how there are some lazy days and just took pictures of something random.
I hope you’ll continue to keep up!
PS – pictures of grumpy cats are so cute
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This sounds like a pretty interesting challenge. I totally understand why you wouldn’t want to do a 365 project again. A 52 project sounds a lot better.
What a cute cat, even if he does look grumpy. 😛
I hope your allergies don’t get any worse.
I always found Project 365 intimidating, but Project 52 sounds a lot more doable! I agree that it gives you more time to come up with ideas and actually take a good photo, rather than just taking one for the sake of taking it. Looking forward to seeing your upcoming Project 52 photos!
PS. love the cat in #4, he looks so cute even when he’s grumpy!
I’ve tried 30-day challenges on Facebook before, and I always failed. I can never keep up! XD
Good luck! ^^ and I can’t wait to see the pictures! Yeah, I agree with some people on here, Project 365 seems intimidating but Project 52 is quite doable and quite flexible to say the least.
I think this is a great challenge and make good blog posts! Oh, that Japanese curry… yummy 🙂
Wow, great photos so far! Good luck on your project 52 and I hope you complete it with the desired results 🙂 I agree that photos from these kinds of challenges make good blog posts, but I’ve never completed a project 365 nor a project 52 before because I felt like my life wasn’t too interesting to chronicle through photos. Lol!
What a good idea! I agree with what you said about daily challenges and doing something just for the sake of doing it. A weekly challenge gives you much more time to sort – and if the pay off is pictures like the grumpy cat then that’s worth it! That’s such a great picture! The Teamwork picture from PAX is great too, it looks very structured but I imagine that’s just a natural shot of some gamers!
Glad your allergies are getting better!
I’ve been so lazy with photographing with an actual camera. That’s definitely something I want to do more this year.
That cat is the cutest thing I have ever seen! I love smooched faces. haha
Project 52 sounds like a lot fun and less daunting than Project 365! I tried that latter once, and I think I stopped after two weeks. I’m very impressed that you finished it twice! Good luck on this one. 😀
This is a really cool idea. I wish I were more disciplined when it comes to my challenges. I mostly stop because I don’t think people are interested but maybe I should do one to push myself, I don’t know.
I can’t wait to see all of your photos! Your friends cat is so cute!
And I hope your allergies stop becoming a problem for you!
Ooh, I like the idea! I also agree with you that project 52 gives you more time to produce quality pictures! Not to say that your pics aren’t good enough already, it’s simply better to have that extra time improving them rather than churning them out on the daily. Good luck! YOU GOT THIS! 🙂
Project 52 does sound doable than Project 365. I mean, hell, my life is so monotonous that sometimes I can go for days without having the need to take a photo of something “new and different”, and not to mention that I’ve got my exhausted period with work, so the last thing I want to do is take a photo of something every day! Not unless people want to start seeing nothing but selfies depicting me as a tired, cranky old lady or something!
But you go! I wish you the best with this round! 😀
This is a great idea! I’ve completed two 365 projects and they were tough. I agree with you that some days I would just take a random picture to complete the day. I look forward to watching you progress!
Good luck with project 52! I find project 52 much better to manage because you don’t need to stretch your creativity juice too far for a picture! I know when I tried 365, I run out of things to take pictures of or I completely forget *o*.
Your husband got some skills for being able to make some Japanese curry! And I remembered that grumpy-looking cat! So adorable ;3.
4 weeks down, 48 more to go ;). hopefully you’ll be able to get the ideas to become a reality once the new battery comes in!