Last week in our Project 52 we concentrated on another creative technique - intentional camera movement. Most of us have never attempted ICM before, and it yielded far more fails than successes. It's one of those techniques that you either love or hate. It's hard to argue how unique the results are, though. It either produces a painterly effect or an abstract piece of art. Have you ever tried ICM? Where do you fall, hate it or love it?

We have one week left of the 2024 p52 and then we're headed straight into our 2025 project. Would you like to join us?

xo,
Angie Mahlke

The next photo prompt in our month of creative themes in our Project 52 was bokeh. It's that magical time of year where festive bokeh takes over, flooding our feeds with colorful bokeh dots. But that's not the only way to use bokeh. Some of the p52 participants chose a subtler approach with a creamy bokeh background instead. Which way do you prefer to use bokeh in your work?

It's hard to believe there are only two weeks left in our 2024 project! Where did the year go? No worries, though. We are starting all over again in 2025. If you haven't signed up yet, we'd love to have you join our group!

xo,
Angie Mahlke

We are finishing up our Project 52 with a month of creative themes meant to push us out of our comfort zones and experiment with new things. The first creative theme was intentional blur, and the p52 participants used a variety of techniques to achieve this, from Lensbaby lenses and freelensing to playing around with motion blur and light painting. Do you have a favorite way to intentionally use blur in your work?

If you're interested in joining a photography project in the new year, the 2025 run of 52 Clicks is now open for registration. We'd love to have you join us. Click here to join.

xo,
Angie Mahlke

To conclude our Fun with Light month in our Project 52 we tackled the theme silhouette. Silhouettes are a great way to get creative. There are so many different ways to capture silhouettes, from small shapes against a big sky to framing your subject in a window. The p52 participants certainly didn't slack on this assignment and came up with a variety of inspiring approaches to the theme. See for yourself! Now you want to go capture some silhouettes, right? I don't blame you. The talent in this group is hard to ignore. Their creativity is contagious.

The signup for the 2025 project is now open. We'd love to have you join us next year!

xo,
Angie Mahlke

Next up in our Fun with Light month in our Project 52 was the theme pocket of light. Finding that little slice of light to add drama, isolate the subject, direct your eye or any other reasons is a creative way to use light. It's a great experiment to hunt for this kind of light and figure out fun ways to experiment with it. Do you ever go on light hunts?

I was gushing about how this week rates right up there as one of my favorites because of all the talent that kept sweeping into my Instagram feed during our mass post. The level of creative genius in the p52 group is mind-blowing. Enjoy a small sampling of their work.

xo,
Angie Mahlke

We continued with our Fun with Light month in our Project 52 last week with the theme of reflections. Reflections are fun to experiment with because there are so many options for reflective surfaces: mirrors, water, windows, glass, etc. Reflections are an easy way to add depth, drama, framing and tell the story in a creative way. Do you like to play with reflections in your work?

Take a look at how the p52 participants used reflections. They definitely understood the assignment!

If you're interested in joining our photography project next year, let us know and we'll add you to our waitlist.

xo,
Angie Mahlke

The month of November in our Project 52 will be all about light. Fun with light, to be exact. We studied different types of light earlier in the year, and now it's time to be more creative and have fun with it.

Our first theme was shadow play, and a large majority of us struggled because of uncooperative weather not giving us enough light for natural shadows. Instead, we had to think outside of the box and come up with different light sources to create shadows. It was a great exercise to challenge us, because without challenges, we won't grow and develop new skills.

You can see for yourself how everyone rose up to the challenge by browsing these p52 participant images.

If you're interested in joining our photography project next year, let us know and we'll add you to our waitlist.

xo,
Angie Mahlke

We finished up our Time O'Clock theme last week in our p52 with our final time of 8:00 p.m. What an interesting change from bright, harsh light to golden and low light.

We're shifting gears to a new theme in September, but before we do that, let's take a moment to appreciate some of the beautiful work from the participants during week 35 of our project.

xo Angie

We focused on the 3:00 hour for our Time O'Clock theme in our p52 last week. Some people chose to do a light study for the entire month, taking a picture at the same spot each time, and it's been interesting seeing how the light changes.

Check out a small sampling of how the participants tackled week 34.

xo Angie

Hi everyone! My name is Becky Wilde. I’m a hobbyist photographer and I enjoy taking photos of anything outdoors in nature. I picked up a camera during Covid and have been creating ever since. My husband and I moved from Indianapolis, Indiana to Grand Haven, Michigan in May 2023. I quickly became obsessed with photographing the local lighthouse to the point where some other photographers lovingly nicknamed me “Lighthouse Becky”. Look at her though, isn’t she a beauty?