By doing creative photography exercises you continue to challenge yourself and push your craft.
When I attended the Blographer in August, I got to listen to some amazing photographers. I loved Erin Cobb’s tip of changing your perspective to tell the view point of your subjects. This is a fantastic way to tell the story of what your subjects are seeing. It lets your viewers into their world.
Read more: How to take outstanding photos that tell a story
Creative Photography Exercises
My oldest loves to feed her younger sister breakfast. I wanted to capture this sweet relationship from each of their perspective.
My perspective
I see my girls eating breakfast and feeding each other. I see a sweet relationship and bond forming. Typically, we would snap this and move on. Don’t stop there! Capture each of your subject’s perspective to tell a better story.
Baby’s perspective:
When the older girl feeds the baby there is so much concentration. She is such a little mama and wants to be so helpful. You can clearly see her focusing on her task at hand. This is what the baby sees as the older child feeds her. A sister who wants to do it right.
Child’s perspective:
No wonder she wants to help feed the baby, you can clearly see how much the baby adores her older sister. She happily eat each bit off the spoon and even gives her a few smiles in between.
Sweet and simple! Yet, if you put them together in a collage or book it adds so much more to the story to see each subject’s perspective. If you are interested in lifestyle photography, I highly suggest giving this creative photography exercise a try.
Get everyone’s perspective:
– Mom
– Dad
– Grandparents
– Child
– Dog/cat/bird/fish
– Stuffed animal
There is so much you can do with this exercise!
If you do participate in this exercise, please post your images on our Facebook page. I’d love to see the different perspectives.
Some other creative photography exercises you might enjoy:
– 8 tips to get you photography juices flowing
– Get out of your photography rut in 10 steps
– One subject, many vantage points
– Photography bucket list
– Photography project ideas
Great tip! Thanks for sharing!
Glad you enjoyed it Sarah :)
Love this! I really believe that there is a recipe/logic/science to all things in photography! I will DEFINITELY be trying this in my upcoming shoots! :) Thanks for all that you do! -Jill
It definitely takes thinking ahead of time to capture certain moments in different ways :)
What a wonderful idea! I love seeing the expressions… so much is gained from seeing this one scene from everyone’s point of view.
Thanks! As a mama, I wanted to freeze those expressions :)
What great ideas Courtney! I never thought about capturing those expressions quite like that!
Thanks!! Have fun doing it :)
this is such a great thing to do!
Thanks! Hope you will give it a try!
Great tips!
Thanks! :)
This is sooo cute! Your daughters are adorable.
Great article! I couldn’t help but notice the similarities in our lives since I too am an Air Force wife and SAHM (although both of my kids are now in school) and home is definitely where the Air Force sends us. It sent us to the ugliest place in the US (Del Rio, TX) which for a landscape photographer, this has been a particularly challenging assignment. However, it’s making me a much better photographer too and for that I will be forever thankful. Thanks for sharing your tips!
Wow! We do have a lot in common :) We haven’t been to Del Rio so I can imagine it is a challenge to photograph. I love that you are using it as a challenge instead of getting defeated :)
I hope for your sake that you’re never unfortunate enough to be sent here. However, I have to say that Texas cowboys have been a wonderful discovery for me. They are just so sweet, charming, and polite. In fact, I asked my husband on Saturday night(I had just finished photographing the big rodeo here) if we could adopt one and sadly enough, he said no. ;-)
Ha! I was actually born in TX but only lived there for a little while. We are stationed at Abilene for a little while as well. I have to say the people are amazing there. You could definitely take some awesome cowboy pics :)
I was able to get some great rodeo pictures this past week! However, Del Rio, Texas is NOTHING like the rest of Texas as anyone who’s ever been here will tell you. This is FAR more desert and being that it’s only three-count them, THREE miles from Mexico, it also feels like you’re in the crappy, not the touristy-part of Mexico. ;-)
Lovely photos and fantastic suggestions. Thank you!
Thanks!
Thank you for posting this! I love the stories that photos tell, and really want more of that in my own photography. These are great tips and your girls are precious! What a fabulous moment to capture :)
Thanks :)
The idea of perspective is something I’ve learned in EVERY photography class I’ve taken. For some reason, it’s also the lesson I so easily forget, along with the advice to MOVE. ;-) Thanks for the reminder! I mentioned this post in a post of mine as well…maybe I’ll help to remind someone, too. :-) Thank you, Courtney!
Thanks for the mention :) Glad it was a good reminder for you.