Each summer I commit to a project. Last summer I decided to instagram every day of summer, not because I am egotistical and believe that people are clamoring to know my every move but because I wanted to hold myself accountable for how I was spending my precious few days of summer.  I succeeded in meeting my goal and fully completing the project.

This summer I decided on a project a bit more ambitious. We have all heard the old adage that a photo is worth a thousand words, so I decided that I wanted to write a million words. That’s right, I am going to challenge myself to take 1,000 good photos; not selfies, not snapshots, but well composed, visually interesting photos. I will definitely have to challenge myself to reach this goal, but I am ready for the challenge. I already decided to count Labor Day weekend as the official end of my summer, not just my 8 week summer break. I began the project on Memorial Day weekend, so I feel it’s fitting to end the project on Labor Day.

Here are a few of the first 1,000.