The Start of the Photo Challenge 2026

Week 1: The Challenge Begins

Week 1 marked the beginning of my photo challenge and the first step toward building August 23 Media. These images were posted in the order they were taken and shared, showing the start of the habit, the practice, and the process of learning to see more intentionally.

I think my most successful photo of the week was the one of my cat Clark. My least favorite was the Game board. I started out in full flailing mode, and boy did I flail around! Let the research begin.

As some of you know I had an accident last August 23, and it absolutely changed my perspective on life and how I see things. I have been racking my brain to figure out why I decided to get back into photography and I came to the conclusion that it really does not matter why. The point is that I have been thoroughly enjoying the process and the learning, as well as the freedom, exploration and education I have found in photography.

I decided to throw out a Photo Challenge to all of my friends and family to follow me in my photo journey and post a picture a day with me for a year. I have been pleasantly surprised by how many of you have joined me.

Now I am going to go back and do a review and a blog on how the process has played out and talk some about my thoughts about the process and how my photography has progressed since January 1. I have not missed a day since then. I took and online class from a local photography legend, Christopher Balmer, and one of the things he adamantly stresses is to "take pictures every day you guys!". Well, I have, and I am still loving it. What follows are the results thus far. I will do my best to get caught up on my thoughts on each weeks photos up until now. I will re post them here so you can see my progress and comment here if you would like. I sincerely thank you all for following along and participating in my insanity.

THANK YOU