52 Clicks | Week 51 | Shoot Through

One of the fan favorite themes in our Project 52 is "shoot through" during our creative techniques month. It's one we've done a handful of times over the years, and it's always fun to see what people come up with to shoot through. Copper pipes, string lights, windows, door frames, plastic bags, and on and on and on. The possibilities are endless, which is why it makes the theme such a fun one.

It's a little hard to believe we have entered our final week in our year-long project. We all mark success differently. Some of us will have 52 images by the end of this week. Others will have a different number to boast about. To me, the number of images isn't an accurate way to measure the success of projects of this magnitude. So much happens in the scope of a year, and many times our real lives derail us in ways we can't predict or control, and we need to push pause on creative endeavors. So to use the numbers of images as a measurement of success would be a deeply unsympathetic and inflexible way to determine the worth of creative projects. Instead, let's normalize the ways in which we protect our mental health and herald the celebration of the small wins, especially when the small wins are truly the big wins in small packages.

As we finish up this year's project, we are already looking ahead to beginning anew in 2026. We'd love to have you join us! Sign up now to join us in 2026!

xoxo,
Angie Mahlke

52 Clicks | Week 50 | Bokeh

Every December in our Project 52 we do a bokeh theme. It's such a perfect time of year with all the festive lights, adding that magical touch to your holiday images. Although the majority of us created Christmasy images, other p52 participants instead focused on using that dreamy and creamy bokeh background in their images. 

With the year winding down, you might be focusing ahead to the new year and deciding what sort of creative endeavors to partake in. If a Project 52 is on your radar, we'd love to have you in our group. Sign up now to join us in 2026!

xoxo,
Angie Mahlke

52 Clicks | Week 49 | Starbursts

The next creative theme in our Project 52 was starbursts. The most important factor in this theme is light, and a majority of us suffered from overcast weather and had to pivot to a light source besides the sun. Thankfully this time of year provides plenty in the form of festive twinkle lights. 

I personally had to go way out of my comfort zone this week as I experimented with the lights on my Christmas tree. The group rallied behind me and gave me a swift kick in the butt to just take the picture already. While we may grumble on weeks like this, we all agree that so much can be gained from the struggle and experimentation and practice.

If this sounds like something you're interested in, sign up now to join us in 2026!
xoxo,
Angie Mahlke

52 Clicks | Week 48 | Emoji

December is always reserved for creative themes in our Project 52. We kicked off the month with a brand new theme for us: emoji. This open-ended prompt allowed us to be as creative and cheeky as we pleased. It was a lot of fun seeing what everyone came up with, whether they literally translated the chosen emoji or took a more liberal approach. See what the p52 participants did with this theme. I bet they make you smile.

It's hard to believe that this is our final month in the 2025 project. What a year it has been! So much learning and self-discovery, and let's not forget how often we stepped outside of our comfort zones (even when we whined and moaned about it) that led to even more learning and growing. If this sounds like something you'd want to do in 2026, we'd love to have you! Sign up now to join us!
xoxo,
Angie Mahlke

We ended our “Emotion” month in our Project 52 with our final theme: Inspired By. This prompt was open-ended, allowing the p52 participants to choose anything that inspires them. This could range anywhere from other artists and art forms (like literature, films, music, paintings, etc) to more abstract things (color, light, mood, etc). Take a look to see what inspired everyone last week.

The 2026 run of 52 Clicks is now open for registration. Sign up now! We have a great year planned with a myriad of themes to keep you inspired and clicking through the year.
xoxo,
Angie Mahlke

52 Clicks | Week 20 | Surrealism

The participants of the Project 52 really tested ourselves last week with the next theme in our genre sampling month: surrealism. We thought forced perspective was hard, but this one challenged us even more. Surrealism encompasses a large net, leaving the theme wide open for creativity and out-of-the-box thinking. We were given permission to really go for it, and you can tell by looking through the images that everyone took the assignment seriously. 

We shared our creative processes with each other, and let me tell you how interesting it is to be able to take a peek inside and glimpse the magic behind each finished product. We saw the beginning (SOOC), the in-between (the progress) and all the components used in the process (images, overlays, props, editing steps, etc) that led to the magical completed image. 

Will we go on from this surrealism week and continue to create in this genre? The majority of us would probably say no, but the lessons learned are invaluable. And who knows, maybe we'll see glimpses of surrealism-inspired components in our future work because I think this week left a mark.

xo,

Angie Mahlke

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