Creativity Exercise: In the Kitchen

Each month for 2017, I'll be sharing a monthly photo challenge that with either get you capturing your daily life,  improving your photography skills, or get you feeling more creative.  So, if you like the idea of a monthly short project, make sure you come back on the first Tuesday of every month for your assignment!  

(UPDATE! If you missed the creative exercises first time around, be sure to download our FREE Creative photography exercises and projects guide where you’ll get all 12 projects listed out for you! You can grab it here)

The last two months have been focused very much on capturing our daily life, so for this month's exercise we are going to switch gears a little bit, and focus instead on learning to think more creatively.   

And as you may have guessed, for this exercise, we are heading into the kitchen :)  

For this month's creative exercise, I simply want you to take an everyday object that you usually find in your kitchen, and photograph it!

You can go abstract, get in close and take a macro shot, or pull back and take an image of your item "in situ" - the only goal here is to make the ordinary look beautiful or interesting.  

You don't have to stick with one single item here either, you can photograph a group of items, or pair two different kitchen elements together, and it can include food - the only rule is that it must be something in your kitchen, and it must be inanimate objects. 

The goal of this exercise is simply to get you thinking of all the different things you can incorporate into a photograph - here are some suggestions to get you going. 

Look for the light 

Light can make an image of an ordinary item look more extra ordinary.  Since you are going to be in one room here, you are going to have to work with what you have! Remember that the room is going to have different type of light at different times of day, so be sure to observe the light in the room throughout the day, and when gives you the best type of light to work with. 

Although you are only in one room, and that may mean just one source of natural light,  you can use one window to create backlit, front lit and side lit images, so the possibilities are still varied!

Think about colour

There can be a raft of different colours in your kitchen, and using colour effectively can be a great way to add extra interest to otherwise boring items. 

Go harmonious by using two colours that are next to one another on the colour wheel (like in the image below) or go for contrasting colours, which give more of a punch. (You can read more about using contrasting colours in your images here)

Capture the details 

If you have a macro lens, you can really start to go to town! Getting in close to capture the smaller details is a great way to make an everyday object or item interesting. Need some tips for capturing macro? Here's some!) 

Use different perspectives

Sometimes it really can be as simple as finding a new perspective to photograph from - try shooting from underneath, from above, or from the same eye level to  make the image more interesting.  This post about getting creative with different angles might help! 

Your Creativity Exercise Challenge!

Here is your creative exercise for March! Take an everyday kitchen item (or items) and photograph it in an interesting way, thinking about light and composition. 

Then come and share all or some of your images on Instagram with the hashtag #livesnaplove

That way we can all find one another, and see each other's images! 

Want to get your hands on even MORE creative challenges? Then grab this FREE download which has 12 different creative exercises and projects - one for each month of the year! You'll never feel stuck or in a rut again :)