february oh snap! photo date: ordinary beauty

**The following article was written by guest contributor, Emily Powers.**

In my article, Pinch Your Pennies: Photography on a Budget, I introduced the photo date concept.

Explore your community with new eyes. See that weathered, abandoned barn? Oh, look at that way the light filters into that tiny alley and hits the ivy covered walls! I wonder if we could take a few pictures inside that adorable boutique bakery; let’s go ask! The way that lonely, two-lane road snakes through the hills is so poetic. Did you know there was a park tucked in behind that neighborhood? Look at those brightly painted murals on the side of that building. That sign is hilarious!

Grab your camera, head out solo and capture the world around you. Want to experiment with modern portraiture? Invite a significant other, child or friend to model for you. I like to occasionally schedule a photo date with another camera enthusiast and take turns photographing each other’s families; that way I’m in a picture once in awhile too!

Go on a photo date each month and your skills will dramatically improve as you wade outside of your comfort zone and photograph new people, places and things in new ways. Classes, books and workshops are helpful, but they cost money and nothing compares to self-discovery; get out there and engage the craft!

Now, the photo date concept has evolved into a hands-on, monthly, photography workshop that encourages self-discovery and growth by engaging the craft. Come on—jump in the water is warm!

February OhSnap! Photo Date: Ordinary Beauty

The Details:

1. Everyone is invited to participate. Whether you happily snap with a point and shoot, an Instax, a DSLR or a film camera, you are welcome. Mamarazzi, camera enthusiast, professional photographer, we are glad you are here.
2. The photo date must take place at, or within a 10 minute walk of, your home or workplace. Ordinary beauty is encountered every day in the midst of the mundane.
3. Your subject can be a person, place or thing.
4. You may not purchase anything for the photo date. Reduce, reuse, recycle.
5. Submit your five favorite images from your photo date to the OhSnap! Photo Date Flickr Group by February 28 at 11:59 p.m. EST. Share your experience and your process in our community.

The Prize: One participant will receive a custom 20x20 storyboard of their submitted photos designed by me and printed by my pro-printer, WHCC. I will also feature this participant and their ordinary beauty photos on my blog.

The Inspiration: So many wonderfully ordinary moments slip past unnoticed; they fold into time forgotten and unseen. But last week my eyes were open, my camera was handy and I captured the ordinary beauty of a little girl, her Gooma’s hands and a bathtub. This is the first time I’ve processed an entire photo date in black and white. The documentary nature of the images and the timeless, organic, raw tone shouted in grayscale; the color photos only whispered.

Running Water.
oh snap! photo date