PhotoWalk
The beauty of a PhotoWalk is that it doesn’t matter if you are inside or outside, at home or in a foreign museum, or if you are by yourself or with a group of people - you make your experience memorable using YOUR imagination, and that says a lot about you!
Take a PhotoWalk in your living room, your backyard, around town or while on vacation - YOU are the artist so YOU get to decide.
What exactly is a Photowalk?
Select a theme at the beginning of your Photowalk by using one of the suggestions below, or coming up with your own idea. Then, as you walk, take pictures that follow your rules. Afterwards, study each shot to make sure its the best it can be, and finally come up with a clever caption and post!
Idea List
Each image will contain a COLOR, like red, so you could include a red car, a red flower, a red sign, etc. The color can take up the whole image, or be a tiny dot in a corner. Or choose a SHAPE instead and have all photos contain something that forms a circle, or square. Or make your group of photos all about TEXTURE and include shots of peeling paint, rusty signs, the coins at the bottom of a fountain, or the bark on a tree.
Just a LINE is cool too, find content that draws a line between 2 objects (maybe a line of different colored bricks between 2 windows) or that separates the image in half (top half is a green field and bottom half is yellow daffodils). The trick here is that the line needs to be long enough to make sense compositionally, and also straight enough so viewers get the point.
Common OBJECTS work as well. Instead of just opening every door you come to, take a photo of all the different door knobs you see during one day. You’ll probably be amazed at the variety.
Or maybe each shot is made up of interesting shadows? Or extreme (non-blurry) close-ups? Photograph your feet in different locations, with different backgrounds (or maybe use your dogs paws instead). And then invite the viewer to guess what they are seeing. Be sure to circle back and let them know if they are right. Common THEMES like this are fun for the photographer and also fun for the viewer, who doesn’t like to test whether they can come up with the right answer?
Take a SUNSHINE walk and show what it looks like glowing through the curtains, reflecting prisms or sun catchers on a surface across the room, a pet enjoying a sun bath, as it lights up knick-knacks, or as it creates dappled shadows. Revisit these photos on dark and dreary days to lift your mood, knowing these days will return.
You can go on a WORD walk that can last for months or even years. Either come up with a phrase first and then find words on signs, buildings, menus, etc to recreate it, or photograph interesting words you find and create a sentence later. It might take years, but it will be SO satisfying when you complete your mission.
Use EXTREME ANGLES. Take shots parallel to the ground, from a worm’s point of view. Lay on the grass and look up, taking pix of the tree canopy or put yourself right next to a building and shoot up the side of it. Everything will seem SUPER tall. Squat down or get down on your knees and take a photo like you are looking through a child’s eyes (or your dog!), or find a safe place to look down from above and see what it would look like to be a bird.
Take the SAME PHOTO many times. What does this shot look like at sunrise? sunset? in summer? winter?
Concentrate on REFLECTIONS. Photograph the reflections found in a window, mirror, an oven door or a shiny pan, mud puddles, or in lakes. Steam up the bathroom and draw a heart or message on the mirror, photograph that. And then reflect on what these images mean to you using words.
Take a LITTLE FRIEND on a walk! A mini-figurine can look like an action hero while on a sidewalk with a lawn jungle behind them, or they can easily come along on a trip to the museum to contemplate the artwork too. They can sit next to someone on a park bench, and probably get closer than you to the birds you are feeding. Create an environment on a bookshelf for them to explore (using houseplants, knick-knacks, and books).
Use different objects to make IMPRESSIONS in sand or snow.
Photograph fun signs you find on your next ROAD TRIP along the side of the road. Billboards, signs on stores, on houses, or even in your hotel all count.
FRAME your photos. Take a photo through a doorway, framing your shot with the door opening. Or use a window, a hole in a chain link fence, your hands, or a gap created by tree branches to frame your shot. Get even more creative by using software to combine 2 photos, using the “frame” from one image and the background from another to form a whole new creation.
Creative PORTRAITS use a persons clothing and objects they love, like their favorite coffee mug or bag, cleverly placed and photographed. Maybe hang the clothes on a line and have the objects placed on a stool in front?
Turn to the DARK side. Turn out the lights and using a flashlight take photos of hand shadow puppets, shadows created with fun shaped objects or create textures by shining lights through objects with interesting holes. Put up twinkle or glow lights and experiment with your phones settings to see if you can capture accurate images.
Edit your shots
Every shot you take is not a masterpiece. Crop images to focus attention on what you want highlighted. Work with filters to sharpen or brighten your shots, and delete any blurry ones. If you have 10 photos of the same basic shot, look through them and delete all but the best shot. You should be left with your best shots now, you are almost there!
Clever word play
What are you going to say about your walk? A clever sentence can bring your photos to a new level. A color walk can be captioned “I was seeing RED today!” Photos of your feet could include “Playing with footsies today”, and “Fun with Jack” can accompany photos of your little figurine on his adventures.
Share!
Share your images on social media or display them in an art gallery. If your photos are taken in Marshall, MI be sure to include #ChooseMarshall so we can enjoy your photo adventures too. Have fun!