Creative Challenge 10 Results: Photography

I kicked off the year by sharing some goals and dreams for 2015. One of the most important of these was to get back in touch with my artistic roots, which I quickly decided would be much more fun to do with friends. And so began the Creative Challenge— a way for creatives from around the world, to come together online and tackle one artistic project per month.

Challenge #10: Photography
Photography is something that poses a challenge to me every month. When I decided to start this blog, I knew that I’d be up against two things that don’t come naturally to me: photography and writing. I learned early on that having a nice camera doesn’t make you a good photographer, and that it is truly a practice-makes-perfect type of craft.

This month, I focused in on styled photography. Not just taking photos that have great composition, vibrant colors and crisp edges, but ones that were truly engaging to the viewer. Since my entire livelihood rests on sharing designs that I create, the importance of presentation is everything.

Here are just a few of the projects I worked on styling and photographing this month. For the blog, I shared a series of free printable Thanksgiving designs (place cards, thanks cards, menus and a prayer card). The small props I used really helped me out in this shoot!

In addition to photographing blog projects, I also focused on refining my Instagram feed. I’ve been taking notes from my favorite Instagram personalities and identifying the characteristics that make their photos so amazing. While this craft will always be a work in progress for me, but I’m enjoying every moment of it!

The last area of my business that really could really benefit from professional looking photography is my online shop, Enchanted Prints. While in the past, I’ve relied heavily on styled stock photography, my goal is to phase those out and replace them with ones that are unique to my brand.

Since my calendars are a best-selling item, and a personal favorite of mine, I focused on shooting my own “styled” photography— and I’m so glad I did!

Once my desk calendars were styled and photographed, photographing my Advent calendars felt like a piece of cake. The biggest lesson I’ve learned throughout this challenge has been to be patient. You don’t always get the shot you want, right away, and it’s okay to shoot hundreds of photos only to end up with one winner at the end. Photography is just as much about editing as it is capturing.

A few members of the Creative Challenge Community joined me in refining their photography skills last month, and as always, I am inspired and awed by their talents:

Our eleventh challenge (jewelry making) is already underway! If you’d like to join in on this challenge, or any of the other challenges planned for the year, we would LOVE to have you on board. Until next month…#gocreatives