develop on fridays :: week 1

Although still relatively new to the photography business, I have met an incredible number of fellow photographers from around the globe. Through workshops, emails, online forums and groups I've gained many new friends and acquaintances. Some I've met face-to-face, some are "e-friends" :) but all of them have influenced me in some way.

With all these new acquaintances and friends I've found myself with one very LONG list of blogs that I try to keep up with via my trusty Google Reader. On Friday, I noticed the lovely Gina Maxine had a new blog-post...and I was intrigued. It was about a new 'study group' put on by the ever-so-fabulous Jefra Starr Linn .

Since my recent photography project (Project 365) recently came to an end - I've been trying to decide what kind of project to start next.

The timing was perfect.

In a nutshell, Develop on Fridays is a creative photography "study group" led by Jefra. Each Friday we are given a new lesson + assignment and dig into ways we can develop our voices, photographically speaking.

The first assignment, naturally, was about finding our voice.

Your “voice” is how you uniquely express the way you see things. It is uniquely you expressed through your work. It’s what you have to offer the world. It’s how you see the world. It’s something that changes and evolves and intensifies/mellows and matures over time. It’s something you work on and feed. It’s how you serve the world around you. --Jefra Starr Linn

We were asked to take no less than 75 photos of the same object and then select our favorite one and four runners up. Ok... I chose five runners up. :)

This was my favorite:


...and the other five






Which are your favorites? I may have to select a couple of these for prints to hang on my poor, bare walls -- would love suggestions! :)