One of my creative goals for 2016 is to improve my photography skills by completing at least 6 challenges or specific assignments. I printed out the January photo challenge from CaptureYour365 and brought it with me to the Craft and Hobby Association Mega Show as a challenge for myself. The challenge has 31 prompts (one for each day of January) and are split by weeks into 'Personal', 'Color', 'Technical', 'Composition' and 'Inspiration.' Instead of using it as a picture-a-day challenge, I gave myself 90 minutes and the list as inspiration to see what I could photograph.
Let me begin by saying that photography at the CHA show is notoriously difficult, even for excellent photographers. The lighting is awful, the booths are crowded, there are almost always people in the background, and an irritatingly-large number of crafts and craft supplies have reflective surfaces. For a mediocre photographer like myself using a point-and-shoot, it's especially tough. Still, I had a lot of fun with my challenge and I'm actually happy with a few of my photos. Some are awful, but they make me happy anyway. :)
I allowed myself to interpret the prompts very broadly (hard for me as I'm usually very literal) and to just go with it. For each photo, I'll tell you the prompt and how the subject inspired me. I'm not going to link to every single manufacturer because of time restraints, but if you would like to know more about any of the photos, please ask in the comments and I'll be happy to share a link.
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FRESH START: This display of dozens of dress, wigs and accessories made with Caron yarn by Yarnspirations was so cool and so fresh. I could imagine each of the mannequins ready for her own fresh start.
ONE WORD: Technically, I suppose CINDY is a name and not a word, but I'm counting it. This tote is by Everything Mary and was great for carrying around a bunch of stuff during CHA.
THIS IS SO ME: An adorable snowman and fabulous ice cream cones made from colorful craft supplies? It's so me!
NEED THIS: I've really started getting into jewelry making recently. I'm taking a wire-wrapping class soon and have started collecting beads and findings for projects I want to make.
A RELATIONSHIP: No matter what he's doing, there is always a crowd around Tim Holtz. His relationship with his fans is cool.
MONOCHROME: These purple patterned papers really caught my eye. They're so pretty together.
DRAW: Few things make me as happy as a full spectrum of colored pencils.
MOSTLY WHITE: This wall of styrofoam heads in the FloraCraft booth went from floor to (almost) ceiling. The heads were white, but when they turned on the lights from below, they took on a neat glow.
A TREASURE: Weave Got Maille had a literal treasure chest in their castle-themed booth.
LIGHT: It's Lumiere, made with rubber bands and the Rainbow Loom!
ARTIFICIAL LIGHT: Literally every single photo.
SPACE: How cool is the constellation patterned paper by We R Memory Keepers?!
A FAVORITE: I love Deflecto's 3-tier cupcake stand, I love this yellow and pink color scheme and I love cupcakes.
ANGLED: The word angled can refer to fishing. This fish at the Doodlebug booth is so cute.
ON: I love that you can dress up anything by putting lace tape on it, including walls!
These are amazing!!!!!!!!! I am loving how you interpreted the prompts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
ReplyDeleteLooks like you had an amazing time. Thanks for sharing the photos :)
ReplyDeleteI am LOVING your photos. Great way to challenge yourself.
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