My Unexpected Everyday | Day 1 - In The Next 30 Days

As I write, my almost three-year-old, car-obsessed son is snuggled on the couch watching The Dukes of Hazzard with his dad. And earlier, I took my daughter Julia to a PJ party at her dance studio wearing pink footy pajamas, a white tutu and polka-dot rain boots. These are moments I know I need to capture with my camera. I mean, I can see the printed photos framed and on the wall, but honestly, I’m frustrated with my photography process.

I love my camera. She’s a Nikon D90 that I lovingly call Dame. I have a couple of nice lenses, but I’m stuck in Aperture Mode and I’m scared to turn to Manual. I’m comfortable where I am, and I haven’t really taken the time to stop and learn something new. I’ve become too reliant on my iPhone.

But you and I both know all the good things that can happen when you step outside your comfort zone, and that is what this month is about. So I’ve teamed up with Courtney Slazinik of Click It Up a Notch to push myself and my photography and to start recording all those perfectly average and perfectly beautiful moments in life.

Courtney is an ah-mazing photographer, and she has a wonderful way of explaining how to shoot, edit, organize beautiful photos in manual mode on Click It Up a Notch. Her new e-book, The Unexpected Everyday, is the answer to all my photography questions.

So for these 30 Days, I’ll be reading The Unexpected Everyday closely and learning more about manual photography all while taking pictures of my family, children, home in our most everyday moments. Those are the photos I’ll be sharing this month, threaded together by their subjects.

But don’t get me wrong, I’m not here to repeat Courtney’s advice and knowledge. The Unexpected Everyday is available right here if you want to read it (and I SO recommend that you do if you’re at all interested recording your family in photographs). This is my month to document my quiet moments. Yes, I’ll be learning manual photography and shooting everyday, but the real focus this month is on gaining a glimpse into my life, our happenings, and everything that I have happening over here.

By the end of these 30 Days, I hope that the photos of Max snuggled with his dad or Julia twirling and excited for her dance class won’t be moments lost. I hope images like those will be out of my memory and framed and on my wall.