Description
“Everybody loves a good story, but good storytelling doesn’t come easy to everybody.” ― Austin Kleon
I have been thinking recently… what if there was a better way… a better way to create photos with a story behind them. Some people are really good at shooting photos that tell stories… but so many people who do photography are randomly shooting without direction. Without reason. And then they wonder why their photos are feeling a bit flat. They get stuck in a rut and don’t know where to go. They have nothing to say about the photos when they post them beyond “my photo of the day”… The inspiration well dries up because it was never full, to begin with… I get it… I’ve been there too!
Remember back when you first got your camera… maybe that was a while back, as it was for me… and you ran around your house looking for something to shoot to try it out? I did a 365-day project in 2011… and did that exact thing every single day… ran around the house looking for something to shoot that day. Without direction… without reason… without a story behind the random things I pulled together. And if you were to take a look at those random photos I took now… you might wonder… why did you take those photos? And I wouldn’t have a good answer for you. I’d think… I don’t know. I didn’t know what to shoot that day and felt the pressure to create something… even if it had no meaning or reason behind it.
I remember being in a photography competition around that same time… I took a photo of an old car in the weeds at Old Car City… and we had a special judge come in to judge our show… some hoity-toity big shot who curated collections for famous people… and the comment I got for my photo of the car in the weeds… was “Why did you take this photo?”… there is no story behind it… and at the time I giggled. I wasn’t offended in the least… I figured she didn’t know what she was talking about… I was arrogant and thought, I don’t take photos with stories in them… I take pretty photos to enjoy. I’ll admit that I didn’t recognize the validity of that point until just a few years ago… when I began to see the value of your photo telling a story. People just scroll past a random photo… but they stop to look at one that tells them a story. Something they can connect with. You have an interesting story to tell when you started your photo with an interesting story to begin with.
Elizabeth getting a letter from Darcy… Pride And Prejudice
What if I showed you a better way… an easier way to create photos with rich stories behind them? Photos that speak to people because they can immediately see where you were going. What you were trying to convey. And they can see there is a story there that they might be interested in knowing more about. An easy way to have endless ideas. The creative well will always be full and your photos will be rich with the story behind them… stories you don’t have to make up on your own.
This is where Illustrated was born. I was reading a really good book one day after going for months being totally uninspired in my photography. I was reading and visualizing some of the scenes in my mind… I could see the details… I could imagine all the things sitting around the room and the characters… and I began to think… what if I created a photograph for this scene that I could visualize mentally… What if I could illustrate this passage in a way that others would immediately see where I was going with my idea and could identify with it… We always see line drawings in books illustrating certain passages… what if we could do that with a photo instead?
And it doesn’t matter what kind of photography you shoot… you can shape this idea into any part of your photography that works for you. I am focusing on small still life photos shot in my studio – because that is what I enjoy… but if you’d rather be out shooting… you can focus on: location shooting, people photography, landscape photography, large still life photos, wildlife photography, etc… And what you choose to shoot and how you choose to shoot it, will be what makes your photos unique and individual to you. The way we choose to interpret the stories you are reading will be different for all of us… so even if we are all reading the same book… I guarantee… the way you choose to shoot a scene will be completely unique and interesting and different than how I see it and choose to shoot it.
Captains quarters on the ship… Treasure Island
I am so excited to bring you Illustrated… a more advanced way to shoot photos that tell stories. If you took my Still Stories workshop… you’ll remember that we learned to come up with our own stories… then curate props to create that story we dreamed up. In this workshop… we’ll be using stories and books that already exist for our inspiration. And believe me… this was SO MUCH EASIER than thinking up my own random stories.
Who is this workshop good for? Photographers who love to read and are ready to create photos with rich stories behind them.
**The video workshops come with Online access and you can download videos to keep.
The Star Merchant – “This merchant sold all manner of stars. Fallen stars and lost stars and vials of stardust…” The Starless Sea
Illustrated
There are approx 7 1/2+ hours of video content in this workshop (60+ videos).
This is the perfect workshop if you are ready to dive deeper into creating photos with rich stories behind them. We cover some of the basics as a reminder when you get started… but that is not what this workshop will be focusing on since I have covered them so extensively in my other workshops. This class is geared toward photographers wishing to up their skills in storytelling with their photos.
- In this workshop, I’ll walk you through my creative process. How I get started, an overview of some of the basics like lighting, lenses, composition, camera settings, and more… including a nice resource area. These are more of an overview reminder, not a deep dive into each subject.
- I’ll be using 4 books in this workshop that I think you’ll love. I’ve chosen them because I think they would be easily recognized by most people and be inspiring right upfront. The concepts I’m using in these books will be easy for you to translate into any book or poem. You will begin to see stories and ideas with everything you pick up to read!
- Books I chose for this workshop: Pride and Prejudice, Treasure Island, The Night Circus, The Starless Sea
- We’ll cover how to do books that don’t use as much descriptive detail such as Pride and Prejudice and Treasure island so you’ll have an idea how you might still come up with sets and ideas inspired by these books.
- I chose The Starless Sea and The Night Circus because they are so very rich in detail that you can practically see and create a photo from every scene. These books were the perfect subjects for this series because of the rich variety of things you could choose to shoot and ways to shoot them.
- I’ll be showing you a ton of setup ideas I came up with for each book. You are welcome to duplicate my sets as well as dream up some sets of your own. I show you dozens of ideas that I know will inspire you to continue creating. I’m super excited to see how you interpret your sets.
- This is the perfect way to work on a series. The Starless Sea book has smaller stories within the larger story… and what I love about that is you can create a whole series just on some of these smaller stories. This will be a book I revisit over and over again I loved it so much.
- Bonus – You get my new Illustrated Preset collection -This is a fun set of 20 presets I created while filming and editing photos in this workshop. I like to give you some fun tools to practice and play with even though this workshop doesn’t focus on editing but on your photography and telling stories. These are compatible with Lightroom 7.3 and up and Photoshop CC. (due to changes in Lightroom and Photoshop this year – this collection only has the .xmp files for Camera Raw included as I can no longer create the older .lrtemplate lightroom files) (If you don’t use Lightroom – no problem. These are simply a bonus I have added in for those who do to give a spin. You can edit in any program you feel comfortable in.)
- Bonus – You also get the new Illustrated Texture Collection – a really beautiful set that includes 30 textures perfect for adding atmosphere and details to your photography. Even though this workshop doesn’t really focus on editing but more on your photography and storytelling skills – I still like to give you a few fun textures to try out and experiment with since I love using them in my own photos so much. (Don’t use Photoshop? No problem. You can use textures in any program that allows for layers, as you will layer a texture on top of your photo.)
“The majority of stories within the Harbor on the Starless Sea are captured on paper. In books or on scrolls or folded into paper birds…” The Starless Sea
Check out what students are saying about my workshops in our workshop group:
“So excited! You always give double-plus in your workshops.”
“Loving this workshop – what I really like is the use of the words to create the layout. Feels more meaningful than just a random photo of things. Great job!”
“I just got my workshop and watched the welcome video and this is exactly what I needed to take my still stories to another level. This is genius, Denise! Thank you!”
“I love the images you have created after being inspired by a passage in a book. Just incredible.”
“I love these book-inspired photos! Can’t wait to see what is next!”
“This will be my 4th 2Lil Owls course and I have loved every one. Being new to photography Denise’s workshops were just what I needed to jump-start my adventures. I learned so much but the best part was I had fun!! You won’t be disappointed.”
“Congratulations… you are a wonderful, generous teacher… and always passionate about what you do. I’m sure this will be another hit!”
“I credit Denise Love with helping to take my photography to the next level. My images definitely went wa-a-ay higher with her classes. She’s so relaxed and explains things in a clear and easy manner. Worth every penny to me!”
“Cracking the Color Code Workshop is so intense! In a good way. There is just so much to learn… My eyes are opened and I’m seeing my art much differently…Thank you, Denise Love. This workshop is so valuable and full of information I will use forever! You are the best!!!”
“I honestly didn’t think I needed a course on colors. I just took “Cracking the Color Code” for inspiration. However, I can’t even begin to tell you how much I’m learning! Denise Love @2lilowlsstudio is such a great teacher and encourager.”
“I’m loving the new color course! Your images are always So gorgeous, and So inspiring. Your courses have helped me to move forward with my photography SO much. Thank you so very much! You are one very talented and generous lady!!!”
“Denise, I am loving your still life courses, I’ve already learned so much.”
“I had an “aha” moment while studying these videos… Look for the soft diffused light… use the light… reflect the light… bend the light… it’s really all about that light!”
“I have been working on your food workshop videos! They are so well presented!! You did an AWESOME job!!! :)”
“Creative Flowers Workshop. Fluttering Petals technique. This workshop has stirred something in me.”
“I’m loving the Still Stories Workshop! The section on lighting was a game-changer for me as I’ve always done photography outdoors and didn’t really know how to work with indoor light.”
Various bottles form the bedtime stories tent… The Night Circus
Once you make your purchase – your course will be available for you immediately. You will access your course under the “my courses” tab up top under the “my account” tab.
You must be logged in to view your course. All of the videos are available for download for you to keep. I provide a Vimeo link below each video – which will allow you to access the Vimeo video page for your download options.
