If you’ve been following this blog at all for the past month, you’ll know that I was participating in a photography challenge that consisted of me taking a photograph every day for 30 days. Man, just typing that out makes it seem so easy.

But even from the start, I wasn’t fooled. I had participated in the challenge last year, as well. It was then that I realized how hard something like this really is. It’s not that it’s hard to pick up your camera every day and randomly snap a shot. (Well, sometimes it is!) The hard part lies in finding something not only of interest to photograph, but also of interest to blog about. Something new and different and fun. Something that makes an interesting photography lesson.

Believe me, I didn’t achieve that every day of this challenge. But, looking over the collage I made of my 30 images, there are many photos here that I would not have taken had it not been for the challenge. I pushed myself to photograph different things than just my usual subject, my daughter. (I am called Shooting the Kids!)

What I came up with is random shots of every day objects, different perspectives on the familiar, pretty and funky nature photos, (and yes, a few shots of my daughter thrown in for good measure) in a bright, rich, colorful palette that I had no idea that I gravitated towards. I saw saturated blues and greens and reds and oranges. I saw groovy sepias and rich blacks.

Overall, taking a photograph every day challenged me to think outside the box, but also helped me find my style. I challenge any of you wanting to improve your photography to try this sort of thing for yourself. It’s quite a lesson in discipline, sure, but it’s also a fun way to quickly get more experience and a few new photographs under your belt.

If you decide to try something like this yourself, post a link to it in the comments. We’d love to follow your progress!