December Creative Challenge

This year is surely flying by...I honestly can't believe it's time for our last challenge to soon begin.  It surely has been an exciting year and I've learned soooo much!  I have had a lot of fun being more creative in my photography with you.  Thank you so much for taking this journey with me!

Our December challenge is: 

Creating a Series

As with most of the challenges this year, I am learning as I'm going. Though I have made a few series for Instagram, it's not something I've done much outside of that platform, and therefore want to pursue it more this upcoming month.  I know December is busy, so I figured this would be an easy way to be creative amongst all the hustle and bustle!

A great series must have one strong point in common, while everything else is different.  If you choose to have your subject should be the same thing every time, change up what's around it, the lighting, the angle, etc. Of course you can have a different subject, but if you do, you'll want to make sure the background is the same throughout the series. (Or make it all the same some other way.)   You do need to have at least one constant, so your viewers KNOW that you are making a series and not just randomly shooting.

At first, you may feel a bit limited by only being able to work with something the same.  But the great thing about shooting for series, is that it can give you limitations--because ironically limitations will give you some freedoms in your creativity.  Sometimes thinking inside the box actually makes it easier in the fact that you don't have to think so hard.  Keep it simple if you start to get overwhelmed, and you'll find your creativity a lot easier!

If you follow me on Instagram, you probably know that one of my favorite on-going series is silhouettes.  Capturing my boys is tricky, but when there's a beautiful sky, they are more than willing to be in a silhouette picture for me because they don't "have" to smile! ;)

​Some ways to do this challenge:

When approaching the thought of a series, think of something you love.  If you have no idea what kind of series you can do, ask yourself these questions:
* Is there something I always pull out for holidays or the season?  (Lights, decorations, foods and traditions all present some wonderful opportunities.)
* Do I have a child with a favorite article of clothing or a toy? Is there a habit that is often seen? (I've made a series of my boys sleeping in funny places, but now that they make faces at the camera, I'd like to try that as a series!)
* Do I have a fun prop I've been dying to use such as an umbrella, bubbles, balloons, crystal ball,  or even something simple like a spoon or other everyday object?
* Is there a new technique I want to try?  Some in-camera double exposures, free-lensing or a creative lenses all make great series!  

Think back to all of the challenges we've done this year, and make a series involving one of those!  (If you're new here, here's a link to what we've done to give you some ideas!)

A series can be something that happens naturally (like sleeping children), or it can be something you go out and make.  Either way, take time to think through some details of how you can make more than one image for the series.  Think about your point of view, lighting and what else is in the scene.  If you're planning a deliberate series, you may want to be sure you have a consistent set up and lighting to make your series flow.  


Time
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A series doesn't have to have a certain time frame--it can be years in the making, a few months, a few days, or even in an hour!  Since this challenge is only a month long, you will need to think of something you can do in a month.  You can do one for the whole month, or try a new series each week and make one image everyday with that series. You could challenge yourself to make a series in one day, then share it all week or in a grid.  Maybe you'll want to do a seasonal series and add to it each December from now on.  It's really up to you of how you want to make your series work for you!  

How can you participate?

I hope you'll join in with our little Creative Inspiration Community on Instagram!  We like to share tips with you about the challenge, as well as learn from those we feature!  If you haven't joined in over there, please head on over! 

If you will be sharing your series on Instagram this month, please use the tag: #2017creative_series.  

Thank you to all of you who created with me this year!  We will keep going with the IG hub, but the newsletters and the FB group updates will no longer be happening.  I know, it's sad, and I wish I could keep doing it for some reasons, but as with all things in life, there is a time and a season for everything.  

I do have some projects coming up that I've been working on. It may be a few months out before they are ready to reveal, but I promise that as soon as they're ready, I'll be announcing it here on my blog and through Instagram.   One project in particular has to do with this creative challenge, so if you've enjoyed it, be on the lookout for it!

​Thank you again, to all of you who have supported me in this project this year!  I certainly learned a lot and had a blast upping my creativity with all of you!