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Awaken 2020

Unleashing Creativity

By Tineke Ziemer

December 16^th, 2020

Awaken 30 Day Challenge

20 photographers from around BC and Canada (and it turns out - even Europe!), from complete beginners to experienced shooters, joined me for our longest photo challenge ever! 30 days, 10 projects, endless inspiration!

I was blown away time and time again by their creative interpretations of my assignment themes. It is an honour to feature some of their work here. I hope you will enjoy taking a look and leaving a comment to encourage the artists.

COVER PHOTO: "ARRIVAL" BY SACHIKO KATSUKI

#1 - Roll the Dice

Our first challenge had us playing a game where we rolled the dice to figure out what we had to use for: our subject, backdrop, light source and a tricky secondary subject. There were some unusual things to incorporate and it was amazing to see how the group's imaginations came alive! Here are some of the shots, along with the combinations they rolled:

"Recycling: Little Love to the Earth" by Sachiko Katsuki (blue backdrop, toy, window lighting and food colouring)
"Goodnight!" by Juanita Curtis (green backdrop, vintage subject, lamplight, mirror)
"Icing snowfall on Raspberries and Cream" by Bruce Duncan (yellow backdrop, food, lamp light, icing sugar)
"Dinner for Two" by Kathy Harms (green backdrop, food, candlelight, icing sugar)
"So This is Christmas" by Carissa Boyd (green backdrop, drink, lamplight, mini lights)
"Translucent" by Kathy Philbrook (red backdrop, foliage, lamplight, water)
"'Tis the Season for Hot Cocoa and Candy Canes" by Jodi Duncan (red backdrop, drink, candlelight and smoke)

"Long Lost Friends" by Tineke Ziemer

As the instructor, I don't always get to participate in the challenges, but I made time this go-round and am so glad I did! Here is my image for this challenge. I rolled brown backdrop, live subject, candle light and icing sugar. It was so much fun to create this attic scene and this story.

#2 - Spell It Out

Our second challenge was to create a word by making or finding letters around us.

"Take..." by Ruth Bachman

"Wonder" by Christine Halls

Christine went for a walk at West Fraser Timber Park and found lots to be in awe of.

"Play Play Play" by Michal Fedeles

Michal walked around his hometown and found letters in the architectural details of the city.

Kathy Philbrook managed to find the entire alphabet around her home and property during our three day timeframe!

"O Holy Night" by Tineke Ziemer

I enjoyed the quest of finding the letters downtown Quesnel during the Moonlight Madness event.

#3 - Fake-ation!

Since we had just gotten the news of further restrictions due to the pandemic, it seemed the perfect time to take some fake-ations. We created fake travel photos right from our own homes! Some photographers enjoyed the feeling of getting away somewhere they wished they could be. Others decided to recreate the feeling of being locked down and unable to travel.

"Time Travel" by Christine Halls
"Hawaiian Punch!" by Shannon Stevens
"Locked Down" by Melanie Dydynsky
"Adventure Awaits" by Kathy Harms
"Once upon a time in the Sahara" by Amber Matthew
"Pool side lounging" by Amber Swaan
"Next Year, Then?" by Michal Fedeles
"Dust off your camera and make some memories..." by Donna Davis
"Take Me Back" by Andrea Bunkowski

"Switching Gears" by Tineke Ziemer

I decided to create an image of the day trip my daughter and I were supposed to spend biking to small villages in France last spring.

#4 - Defy Gravity

The idea was to capture something mid-air, which gave us the opportunity to try out levitation or action photography techniques. Loads of fun!

"Coming down for a Landing" by Shannon Stevens
"Elusive Z's" by Carissa Boyd
"Magnus" by Amber Matthew
"Release" by Sachiko Katsuki
"Making a Splash" by Keri Parkinson
"Soup Anyone?" by Kathy Philbrook

"Balanced Diet" by Tineke Ziemer

#5 - Skin Deep

We were challenged to create an image featuring skin. The human body, fruit/veggie skins, drum skins, animal skins - any kind of skin! How fascinating to see all the different interpretations!

"Always Searching" by Melanie Dydynsky
"A Different Kind of Breed" by Ruth Bachman
"A New Best Friend" by Juanita Curtis
"Thin Skinned" by Christine Halls (onion skin! wow!)
"Farm Girl" by Amber Swaan
"Under the Skin" by Kayla O'Flynn
"Protecting the Beauty Within" by Jodi Duncan
"Skin Care" by Kathy Harms
"My Little Sweet Pea" by Donna Davis

#6 - The Dark Side

This project was all about silhouettes of every kind!!!

"Protection" by Kathy Harms
"Lite the Tree" by Melanie Dydynsky
"Untitled" by Alyssa Flood
"My Life" by Kayla O'Flynn
"The Fog" by Shannon Stevens
"Peeking Through..." by Donna Davis
"Sunset over Vancouver Island" by Bruce Duncan
"Sibling Love" by Keri Parkinson
"Me and My Shadow" by Christine Halls

"Emerging from the Shadows" by Tineke Ziemer

#7 - Do You See What I See?

For this challenge, we played a guessing game. Each photographer created an image inspired by a Christmas Carol and we had to try and guess which one it was. Can you guess before reading the list below?

"Santa Claus is Coming to Town" by Michal Fedeles
"'Holey' Jolly Christmas" by Sachiko Katsuki
"What Child is This" by Ruth Bachman
"Singing Angel" (Hark the Herold Angels Sing) by Kathy Philbrook
"Frosty the Snowman" by Donna Davis
"I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" by Carissa Boyd
"Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer" by Bruce Duncan

"Freedom Dance" (12 Days of Christmas) by Tineke Ziemer

#8 - Stake your Claim

There was a race for all of the photographers to stake their claim on a word to use for inspiration for this theme. From that word, they had to create an image. I'll share their word choices beside their name if it's not already in the title.

"Serene" by Alyssa Flood
"Broken" by Bruce Duncan
"Bundled Up" by Sachiko Katsuki (warm)
"Brave" by Kayla O'Flynn
"Ribbon Beauty" by Ruth Bachman (sweet)
"Sliding into a Sticky Situation" by Jodi Duncan (sticky)
"Winter Fun" by Keri Parkinson (sparkly)

#9 - For Old Times' Sake

This assignment was to create a photo inspired by a memory.

"Forever and Ever" by Kathy Philbrook
"Famous Shortbread" by Carissa Boyd
"Tea for Two" by Ruth Bachman
"Memories" by Michal Fedeles
"Memory Lane" by Kathy Harms
"More than Sew Sew" by Christine Halls

#10 - Coming Full Circle

We ended the challenge by going back to our first dice game, with some new twists.

"Take a Ride with Me" by Amber Matthew (yellow backdrop, toy, flashlight and milk)
"Speed Cleaner for Hire" by Jodi Duncan (mulit-coloured backdrop, toy, flash and bubbles)
"Reminiscent" by Kayla O'Flynn (blue backdrop, vintage subject, soft box and milk)
"Just Taking a Nap" by Michal Fedeles (brown backdrop, foliage, ipad lighting, salt)
"Christmas Bouquet" by Shannon Stevens (brown backdrop, flowers, flashlight, candy canes)
"Bubbly Evergreens" by Donna Davis (green backdrop, live subject, window light, bubbles)

Guest Artist - Petra Fedeles

Much to our delight, the daughter of one of the participants decided to join in from far off in Slovakia! For being so young, she amazed us with her artistic talent and creative ideas. She enjoyed incorporating her love of Harry Potter into her images. Maybe one day I'll be able to claim that I knew her before she was famous! Thank you, Petra, for adding so much magic to our collections!

"The Endless Void of Ideas and Creativity"
"Found Something"
"Harry Potter:
"Playing Quidditch"

Feedback

It was so hard for me to narrow these down. There are still so many more amazing images that I wish I had room for. Do you have a favourite image from the collection? Please leave us a comment and tell us the title and artist name for your favourite/s.