Last year I witnessed the remarkable birth of Brian & Maralee Bradley‘s 6th child, and this year I captured him at age 1. Little Theodore is a gift from the Lord. It’s a privilege to watch him grow!

These shots were taken, oh, four months ago. Yes, I am just now getting around to posting them. I present to you: a bunch of Lawtons at the Topeka Zoo. Also, lorikeets.

From top to bottom:

Day 24. Dad, Uncle John & Aunt Carol (not pictured) tear out Dad’s back deck.
Day 23. Night light.
Day 22. In attempt to mess with me, Dad got in my shot. I’m using it.
Day 21. Jen shooting a chalk artist in conversation with a passerby. Haymarket.
Day 20. Cozy bed at last light.

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Shooting daily is… something else. It’s challenging. It’s fun. It’s tricky and it messes with your head. I tend to feel inspired for the first few days and then overwhelmed by Day 4 or so. By Day 8 I think I’ve given it all I’ve got and I encounter brief misery. And then a spark of inspiration flies and I’m encouraged to keep up with the project.

Is every shot in a daily photo challenge going to be a fantastic work of art? No. But don’t give up. Out of a full month of shooting you may have one image that surprises you, or three shots that are interesting. Or five shots that are frame-worthy. DON’T. GIVE. UP.

We live in a world of very short attention spans. When I notice that I *think* in terms of a Facebook status (I’m way too long-winded for tweets), I know I need to invest my brain in a novel. In general, we don’t persevere and we’re not willing to long suffer much. When it comes to art—whether you’re a painter or a photographer or a writer—you can’t give up. You have to make a million pieces of drivel to find the gold. Or maybe you have to shoot 30 pictures in order to be satisfied with one. I suppose that depends on how hard you are on yourself. The thing is, you need to continue to shoot. To draw. To paint. To write. You have to push past the voices that tell you that you can’t do it, that you aren’t any good at your craft.

Just keep shooting. As John Russnogle used to tell me all the time. (Thanks, John.)

Images, from top to bottom:

August 19. No Kids No Flowers. Okay!
August 18. Rainy skies.
August 17. Summer toes.
August 16. Quiet Sunday.

Images, top to bottom:

Day 15. Forgotten flip flops.
Day 14. Snack time.
Day 13. Lucky Charmies.
Day 12. Ripening Romas.

A few more shots to please this mama’s heart when we had plenty of time to enjoy the morning!

From top to bottom:

Day 11. Morning dew.
Day 10. Trampoline.
Day 9. Bookshelves at sunset.
Day 8. Waiting for Noah.

From top to bottom:

Day 7. Beer Cart Friday for a remote employee.
Day 6. Joseph, who scares the tar out of me every.single.time I walk past him in the garage.
Day 5. Self-portrait.
Day 4. Lovely piano.

I’m shooting and choosing an image each day this month, with the challenge being that it’s “no kids, no flowers.” Sounds fun, right? Above are my selections for the first three days.

From top to bottom:
Day 3. Firstfruits from my tomato harvest. They are the sweetest little Romas I’ve ever seen.
Day 2. A black and white from the Detroit airport.
Day 1. A delicious salad prepared by my sister-in-law Jenny.