So many are closing the door on the previous year and welcoming the promise of a new one.  Some of us do this with resolutions, cleaning house, perhaps with one little word.  This year I’m doing it with a picture-a-day.  Have you heard of a 365-project?  There are many forms, but the basis is taking one picture a day for an entire year.  It can be a shot of anything, done with film, DSLR, or camera phone.  Some brave souls embark on 365 self-portraits.  Some begin on January 1st, others on their birthday, or any random day when you are ready.  It is a big commitment.  One that can impart a lot of stress if not taken on with some humility and self-kindness.

I attempted a 365 project in 2010 … and failed.  A long winter, the drain of 3 young kids, and daily dramas led to my throwing in the towel.  I was pretty disappointed in myself, but in retrospect it was the right decision.  I wasn’t ready yet.  Then in 2010, with new resolve and a solid dose of realism, I tried again.  December 31, 2011 I finished.  Would you like to see a little bit?

I won’t lie — it was hard.  Hard to stay motivated.  Hard to shoot on sick days, busy days.  Hard to look at a shot that I felt I could have done better.  Hard to think I’d captured one thing, only to find, late in the day while processing, that it didn’t turn out anything like I’d expected (yes this can still happen when shooting in the digital age! that LCD is small!).  Toward the end I was just trying to finish and say I’d made it.  Then I took a morning to make a video of the entire year (you can see it here).  And it transformed the experience.  I’d heard others talk of this, but didn’t believe until it happened to me.  I got weepy, and I am not a weepy gal.

I’ve gained a lot by this experience.  I mentioned some of the benefits before, but I was surprised how different I felt when I looked at the project as a whole.  Do you think it’s time to begin this journey? Then join US!  Several of The Creative Mama contributors are embarking on a 365 project — although beware, this is a leap year so it really is a 366 project!.  To foster your creativity and support you with a community, we’ve created a group to share your images and chat about your experience on Flickr, a photo sharing website.  The group is a public group, anyone can join.  If you already participate on Flickr, you can find us here, or go to flickr.com and set up an account.

There are tons of ideas on the internet to help you with your 365 journey.  Our own Stacey Woods wrote about approaching your project with an eye on gratitude.  Along those same lines, there is a Flickr group who focuses on a year of living positively.  There are sites dedicated to 365 projects that can help you get started, or guide you on how to archive and present your completed project.  You can find advice from experienced 365-ers.  Using your iPhone and Instagram can be a great way to make your project simple.  There are tons of options for making prints and books from your instagram photos.  And you can share them with The Creative Mama by adding the hashtag #creativemama366.

There are no rules, except those you set for yourself.  And don’t be surprised if you find them changing along the way.  However you approach it, don’t let it overwhelm you — just jump in and figure it out as you go!  Join a Flickr community, share on your blog or start a photoblog, post in Instagram — but start documenting your life.  You will be amazed at what you find.

TCM Contributors on the 365 bandwagon:

• Amy Bader  Flickr
• Bree Hester  Tumblr, instagram–bakedbree
• Kelli France instagram–kellifrance
• Hannah Mayo Tumblr, instagram–hmayophoto
• Shannon Harrison instagram–shannonharrison
• Alison Bickel instagram–thishomemadelife
• Erin Cobb (finished 2011) Take Two

Each month we will be featuring one image from The Creative Mama 365 Flickr pool.

Watching him grow, stature and creativity.

Enjoying the outdoors together.

These small hands. These calming moments.

The love between these two…

…and between us two.

As I look back over the past year, these are a few of the everyday moments that fill my heart with unspeakable gratitude. This is our life, as a family. I cherish each day that’s passed, and in my longing to savor it and not let it fly too quickly, I am so thankful for the ability to capture and save a few of the details that make it so beautiful.

What are some of the moments you’re most thankful for from the past year? I would love to see them.

Growing up, my two sisters and I spent a lot of time at my grandparents’ house.  One of our favorite things to do was to pull the photo albums down from the bookshelves and let Popaw and Momaw tell us about each person in those images.  Their names, what they were like, which house this photograph was taken in front of, the name of this friend, and that cousin, and this holiday.  There were always fantastic stories to go along with each one.  They always told stories of how Uncle Don would take our Daddy fishing in his boat, or how Momaw Grace made the best apple pies you ever did eat.  They told of the hardships they faced during the Great Depression, and how they overcame it, thankful for everything they still had.

In addition to the many albums, there was also a big basket of loose photographs. We leafed through those too, sometimes sorting them and stacking them and passing them around to share.  New things would be noticed about some of the photos, and we’d all giggle at the clothing they wore, which was completely stylish at the time, of course… or we’d smile at Popaw’s thick black framed glasses or Momaw’s cardigan sweater and brooch.

Looking back now, I realize that our grandparents never once told us that we couldn’t touch those old, precious photographs.  They never denied us a chance to look through them and get them all out of order, or to get our little fingerprints on them.  They were truly delighted to share their stories with us.  Their past, and our history.  What makes up our legacy.

I’m so grateful for the hours I spent learning about each of those family members and friends that were so important to my grandparents.  The people who shaped their lives.  In turn, they helped to shape mine.

I am anxious to have the opportunity to allow my kids to leaf through our own photo albums, to scatter our books and many boxes of loose prints across the table, and ask me who these wonderful people are.  I will happily tell their stories to my children, and repeat the words that were told to me when I was a little girl.

I will tell them that this precious photo is of five generations of my family, and that the tiny baby in this photo is their grandfather.  My daddy.

It’s their legacy too.  And I am so thankful for that.

Every year, I look forward to November. Fall is in full swing, the calendar loosens up a bit, and I begin to get ready for my absolute favorite holiday, Thanksgiving. Each year, I am reminded that I have much to be thankful for. I have a loving and supportive husband. 3 healthy and beautiful children. A roof over my head. Plenty to eat. Friends and family that I do not always deserve. A job that allows me to work when I want, and how I want. I could go on for days with the things that I have to be thankful for.

I got an email this afternoon that piqued my interest, and thought that it might pique yours as well. It is a project called, thanks {squared}. Every day in November, you take a picture of something that you are thankful for.  I love this challenge for another reason, you are encouraged to use your camera phone.  Snap something that speaks to you, but do not worry about the technical stuff.  Post your image on the thanks {squared} facebook page and follow along.  It is great way to get in the mind set for holidays, and remember why we do it.

Thank you to Ali Ebright, for passing this on to me.

Will we be seeing over at thanks {squared}?

It seems that there’s a lot of talk happening right now regarding newborn safety, in regards to photography.  And honestly, it’s about time!!!  Yesterday, a friend who is trying to spread the message of newborn safety, shared on her facebook wall, a photograph [from another photographer] of a newborn in a glass vase that looked very unsafe and quite scary!  As the photography industry becomes more and more saturated with photographers [many getting into business well before they're ready], I’m afraid this unsafe newborn posing might also continue to occur more and more.  This message needs to be spread –no matter who we’re photographing, photographers need to have safety as their number one priority.

Please know that professional newborn photographers, such as Baby As Art and Kelly Ryden Photography, always have newborn safety as their ultimate priority.  These photographers have many, many years of experience, work as a team and they have the art of posing newborns and editing in Photoshop mastered.

Jodie Otte recently wrote this great article on newborn safety, along with sharing some behind-the-scenes photographs, showing how this baby on a guitar is actually a composite of a couple different images.  Never was this baby balanced on this guitar alone, without the assistance of someone else.  Please refer to Jodie’s article in it’s entirety, for additional newborn safety information and behind-the-scenes images.

This article by Shoot Baby shares additional [frequently attempted] newborn poses, along with how the photographs were achieved, by combining multiple images in Photoshop.

Parents — if you don’t feel it’s safe, you don’t think it’s right, it doesn’t make sense or you’re simply not comfortable with something during a photo session, please stop the photographer immediately.  Always remember that you have commissioned the photographer; he or she is working for you!

After graduating college, Deb Schwedhelm spent 10 years as a Registered Nurse in the Air Force. It wasn’t until she left the military that her career as a photographer began. In 2006, Deb decided to pursue her dream — she purchased a DSLR camera, began teaching herself photography and never looked back. Whether commissioned portrait sessions, commercial assignments or her ongoing personal projects, Deb always remains true to herself and her artistic vision. Deb is married to a U.S. Naval Officer and is the mother to three incredible children, who are often the subjects of her photographic work. She is currently based in Tampa, Florida. Her work can be viewed on her website, and her inspirational photoblog can be found here as well.

Last Friday, in the height of the Fall busy season for my photography business, my computer crashed. We were able to recover all of our files but the experience left me more than a bit shaken. The thought of losing client files – irreplaceable newborn photos and travel sessions that would be impossible to redo – had me shaking in my boots. And don’t even get me started on three years’ worth of person photos. So today, I’m here to give you the gentle kick in the pants you might need to make arrangements for your digital files. Consider one of these services to protect your most precious memories.

1. Carbonite. While it’s not free, it is affordable. Especially when you consider the money you’d otherwise spend on therapy after a loss of all your files. Once you set Carbonite up it will run in the background of your computer to automatically keep your hard drive backed up at all times. Just know that depending on the number of files you have, it may take several weeks in the beginning before everything is protected.

2. Mozy. Similar to Carbonite, slightly different pricing structure. Compare them both and decide which is right for the number of files you have.

3. This Life. While I’m less familiar with the way This Life works, I’m super intrigued. Once your data is backed up on their site you’ll see a beautiful timeline showcasing all the lovely moments in your life. I just love the sleek design of their site.

4. Shutterfly. I like to think of this as poor man’s backup. Or maybe a backup to your backup. I have albums on Shutterfly that have been there for, literally, ten years. If you lost all of your files you wouldn’t be able to recover them via Shutterfly but you would at least be able to make hard copies of what you have there. It’s free and easy to share too. Can’t beat that.

Computers fail. And if you own one long enough, yours will. Be prepared and make arrangements today. Or just start a change jar for your therapy bill. You’re surely gonna need it.

Erin Cobb

Erin has been a mama for five years, a blogger for four, and a professional photographer for 3. She hopes to be all of those things for at least another 50. She’s passionate about her family, her friends, bright colors and shooting jpeg (what?!). Those are the things that feed her soul but Erin says writing about them feels like the dessert. Erin makes her home and runs her business in Huntsville, Alabama.

School has begun, fall is just about here, and all our activities are changing.  My motherhood journey the last couple years has been a bit crazy, with settling into a new town and parenting toddler twins.  But now they are pre-schoolers, my oldest is gaining lots of independence and it is time to get out of that rut of saying “NO.”  I don’t want to say “no, we can’t go there” and “no, we can’t do that.”  It is a pretty easy rut to fall into.  I’ve been in this one before.  Digging out is a little hard and a little scary.  But you can do it too.

Last weekend I said “YES.”  The littles had skipped naps, it was pouring rain (again) and the oldest was bored out of his skull.  The easiest thing would have been to park them in front of a movie (think of all I could have gotten done, like writing this post!).  Instead we headed to the local bowling alley.  It was busy, it was loud, there were all sorts of temptations — all the things I dread.  And you know what?  It was fun too.

Even though winter is still awhile away, I’m starting to think of how to say “YES” and build some fun family time.  Between the soccer games and my husband’s crazy schedule, I’m hoping we can carve out some more of these moments.  I’m thinking some hiking is in order, certainly some more bowling, maybe a trip to the local pottery shop.  Who knows?

What’s on your TO DO list this season?  What will you say “YES” to?

Amy Bader

Amy is a bit of a jack-of-all-trades. A photography course in high school sent her to college with a journalism degree in mind, but some surprises along the way led to a career in veterinary medicine. Motherhood has brought things full circle, and now she is concentrating on her photography, finding her creative self and expressing the joys in life which she shares on her blog, Life in Eden.