P.A.D. Finale | August 9th Tweleven

{Totally forgot to share the finale on this blog too... so here goes-- a week late!}

Has it really been a year?! It's hard to believe that this project is over!

Did I take a picture *every.single.blessed.day* of this past year? No. Did I try and fail, only to try again and do better the next time? Yes.   

And that, my friends, brings an accomplished and thankful feeling to my soul. 

It isn't necessarily the best thing to be perfect at what you do. Because when you're perfect, you aren't given the opportunity to learn. persevere. grow. So I am thankful for all of my many imperfections which God uses every day to help me learn more about Him. photography. journeys. 

If this had been an easy project I wouldn't have the feeling of accomplishment that I now hold within me. That feeling doesn't make me feel as if I've "arrived" somehow though-- it pushes me to continue learning and to find something more challenging. 

This project kept me shooting during blah winter months, busy school seasons and times when I just really didn't want to pick up that camera. {you know-- days where, *what* was I going to take a picture of?!!} But having days like that taught me that sometimes as a photographer, you don't capture an image, you create one. And keeping that thought in mind will always give you something to photograph.

I've come a long way from and year ago and though I might not have reached every single goal with photography, this isn't the end. It's just the beginning of so much and I will *always* be learning.

For this last day, I had two images rather than one to share. Both are SOOC shots-- images like these make me even more in awe of how God created and shows light to me through my photography!

Thanks to each person who encouraged me along the way and critiqued or praised my images;) My only wish is that I had been more faithful to posting each image on this blog. And thanks first and foremost to my incredible Savior and Creator who didn't just give me the ability to take photos, but gave me such a gorgeous  and diverse world to capture!

xoxo