Photo Scavenger Hunt

Dave and I are taking a creative photo class at our favorite local photo store (creativephotoacademy.com if you want to check it out) that is challenging, insightful, and fun! It isn't a technical class so I thought it would be great for me since I'm more creative than technical (I don't get all the numbers and language in photography...fstops, aperture, iso...makes my brain hurt), and Dave is taking it because he is super technical and wanted to learn to be more creative. I'm now realizing that I need to learn the technical stuff in order to make my creative ideas translate to taking the photo!! Good grief. 

Anyway, thought I'd share a couple ideas from the classes to inspire you to look around your surroundings differently and be on the lookout for interesting photo opportunities - this class has really helped us with that. It's also made me start wearing my camera when I go anywhere in case I see something cool (like the grocery store - I got a great picture of the meat guy with a mask on his face), which means I have to match my outfit to the brightly colored strap I have on the camera! Yep, I'm a dork.

something sacred

At the first class we were assigned a scavenger hunt - so fun. Homework was to fill a bunch of different categories from common things in our daily life... for instance - pictures of water in motion, from a snake's point of view, something you're afraid of, etc. Maybe give yourself a little challenge and make a list of things to look for, then see if you can find those things and take a photo. It's fun! Something I learned right away is to be aware of what is in the background of your picture, check all around the subject you are taking the photo of and see if there is anything distracting or unwanted in the rest of the shot - if so, then either move your camera so it's a cleaner shot or zoom in or move to a different angle. Make sense? Example - I took a very cool shot of a guy for our homework project this week that I thought was going to be great and then when I looked closer it looks like he has a lamp coming out of the side of his head! Not good...haha! Fortunately if you shoot with a digital camera or your phone you can just delete the photos when you're done, it's just a fun way to practice and engage your creative side!

water in motion - while brushing my teeth I thought the water in the sink looked pretty cool

for a 'snakes point of view' - it's a falcon on the corner of our roof

something I'm afraid of - who left the gate open?!

I highly recommend taking some classes if you want to learn more about your camera, or different ways to think about your photos - it has really helped open our eyes to how we view taking pictures. Now if I can just get up the courage and muster some brain power to take a technical class or two - that's next on my list :). Just FYI, the classes we are taking are at Creative Photo Academy at Paul's Photo in Torrance, CA if anyone is in the area and interested in learning more!