Photographer Terri Jacobson checks in with her assessment of Project 52.

Only 52 photos

In the beginning I was a point and shoot kinda girl. All I ever needed was the little green box on my Canon dial. In 2010 I began the 365 photo a day project completing it successfully, never missing a day and during that year I moved from the green box on the dial to aperture priority and then the big move to manual.
By the end of 2010, I wanted more. I wanted to master lighting, the elusive, always mysterious lighting.

Enter, Project 52. I bow to the amazing talents that are now @wizwow groupies.

The challenges. I am but a mere guppy in a sea of friendly sharks. Some of these photographers are hot. Every week I hold my breath and submit my photo hoping not to look too much like a rookie. In the beginning I knew nothing about lighting.

The biggest challenge was photographing things. Things that pour, things that are edible, things that shine, things that are three-dimensional. Things that need white cards, reflectors, black flags, back lighting and the list goes on and on.

When I first started the Project 52 I wanted to shoot it all, I’ve eliminated “things” off of my list. “Things” are a lot of work.

Overcoming the challenges. Every week I faithfully listened to the critiques. Without a doubt, the critiques were the most valuable piece of the project. Don is gentle but firm and I learned more about the whole of photography from the critiques than anything else.”

More from Terri and some images from her portfolio after the jump.

“Don made his way out to Portland in July and I was fortunate enough to take his two-day workshop. Well worth its weight in gold, it gave me a foundation for off-camera lighting that I continue to build on. The workshop, the growing pile of books and website links I continue to collect are slowly building my understanding. Every day has a new “ah-ha” moment for me.

My two “take-aways”. I love how light separates the subject from the background. I now look for it in my own photos and I secretly critique it in other photos that I am looking at. The second most important take-away has to be how my thought processes have changed. Instead of jumping right in to take the photo, I’m thinking more about the end product. I now try to shoot everything both vertically and horizontally. At the beginning of the year, I thought I could shoot it all and I thought I wanted to shoot it all. During the course of the year I finally realized where I wanted to take my photography.

Going forward. 2012 and beyond. My heart belongs to dogs… and cats and other furry critters. I wish I were brave enough to hang out my shingle and say that I am a pet photographer, but I don’t think I am ready yet. Instead, I have offered my services to volunteer as a photographer to two non-profit dog organizations in the area. I committed myself for the year. This will help me gain more experience, have fun and hopefully help the two organizations. I guess I would call them my pet projects.”

Terri’s Website
@greygirl25
Flickr • @greygirl25
Facebook

Some of Terri’s Project 52 images:

Thank you Terri. I look forward to working with you again.

Twitter / Facebook / Workshops / About.Me / My Book, Lighting Essentials on Amazon

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