Hello! I’m super excited to help out with the photography challenge this month! I’m often reading photography books and scouring the internet for information on how to improve my picture taking process. One of the things I’m really interested in is trying to find new ways to creatively tell my story with my photos. Here’s what I mean : I’m guessing most of us have lots of photos filled with: smiling faces in front of landmarks group shots of posed loved ones in front of a gorgeous landscape or selfies taken in front of something interesting while on vacation or visiting somewhere new. These photos tend to be our favorite types of photos … but what other ways can you tell us the story of where you are? Can you find another interesting way to say “I was here” without your face (or your friend’s/family’s face) simply smiling back at us? Some examples: Here my husband and I climbed to the summit of a local mountain range and although I have photos of us with the gorgeous scenery behind us, I also like the idea of telling the story of how we got there that day. Our backpacks held bug spray, a snack and plenty of water. My kids can look back years later and see the style of backpacks that were common today. And it is reminder to me that we had such a great day together … just the two of us. This photo tells the story of 3 of us kayaking and I was able to say “hey, I’m here too” by including the front tip of my kayak, instead of just taking a picture of my husband and daughter paddling towards those pretty mountains. This photo was of my brother on the front of his new boat enjoying the eagles flying overhead, but also keeping an eye out for the storm that was brewing in the distance. I like that it crops in on him a bit. The stormy sky is taking up most of the photo and you can tell it takes place on the water, but it’s not the predictable shot of my brother smiling while driving his boat (although I do have plenty of those too!). This creative storytelling doesn’t have to be travel, landscape, or vacation related. You can apply this idea to almost any type of photo … maybe your child is reading books or playing with toys on the floor, so think about getting down low to their level and capture just their lower half: the knees, feet and arms holding the toys with the rich woodgrain sheen of the floor or the texture of the rug underneath them … crop in close. Example: Here’s a photo of my daughter practicing her new guitar just after her first lesson. I love that it focuses on her struggle to place her fingers on the strings properly and I can tell it is not coming so easy for her. It embraces the newness of the moment. So whatever or wherever it is that you would like to photograph next, work on trying to capture the story in a unique way and create a page with this photo (or photos). Just be mindful of trying to capture something different from the usual way you photograph. *Note: while a new photo is the ideal, because it forces you to mindfully work at your photography, an older photo that fits the idea is perfectly fine too. Here's my finished page: Now it's your turn, but please remember our monthly challenge rules: Your page must contain at least 75% Lilypad product. Your page should be posted to the Lilypad Gallery and then linked to the Challenge Layouts thread so it can be tracked, and to this thread. The Lilypad uses a percent system for our challenges; the number of challenges you participate in determines the store discount you will receive at the end of the month: 2 challenges = 10% off 4 challenges = 20% off 6 challenges = 30% off If you complete 7 challenges, you will receive a coupon for 30% off, plus you will be entered to win a guest spot on the Lilypad Creative Team! The first seven challenges will be posted on the first of the month; the eighth challenge is the BYOC challenge, which is posted on BYOC release day. Each page counts for one challenge (you cannot use one layout for multiple challenges).
Sounds a good challenge to me as I often take photos of things showing where I am ( eg Coffee cup sitting on the picnic table with the river in the background).
Awesome challenge, I take these kind of pictures A LOT! So I had some difficult choices. I couldn't pick one so I used multiple panoramic pictures from our holidays. I hope this is ok, @jenn mccabe? Here it is:
I'm happy I read this challenge while on vacation! We're road trippin' atm and I'm sure I can think of a way to snap a photo for this challenge during our holiday! Awesome challenge!
When Gayle went to ComicCon with me & my sisters this year, I made sure to get a picture of our bracelets. Edited to add- I re-read the challenge as I'm posting this, and realize it doesn't count. I didn't take the photo. But it's the first one I thought of and I love the result.
Wonderful challenge - finally figured out how to scrap some odd photos I took late last month. Whee! Thank you, too.
Here's mine; the panoramic shot is 3 merged/blended together; to get the shot of the marmot I was on my stomach--in the middle of an unpaved road in front of our camper, holding up two vehicles behind us, no less! The elk shot isn't the best, but it fit with the theme of my LO, which I posted last PM (before I got familiar with the rules of the Challenge Thread.