Challenge Accepted!

At the beginning of 2018 there was a challenge among photographers called “Ugly Location Challenge” and one location that became popular was Hobby Lobby. This was back before I started taking photography seriously. I told myself once I felt I was “good” enough I was going to try that challenge in Hobby Lobby. Kelsey Maggart and Adam Delane received a lot of attention from this challenge and made it go viral through social media and the photography community.

You don’t have to love your locations to love your shoots

- Kelsey Maggart

If you know me, I love a challenge. I finally felt comfortable enough in my craft to do a shoot like this justice. A lot of people don’t understand the knowledge that goes behind using a camera. It’s not the gear it’s you and you (me) was ready!

First, I needed a model, so I took to social media and asked who would be interested in doing a free Hobby Lobby photo-shoot. Some people thought it was for Hobby Lobby and some didn’t understand how I would be able to pull that off. I would explain it’s a personal project and people just didn’t see the vision. I even had other photographers wonder how I would pull that off. The doubt in others gave me more confidence within myself that I would pull this off. Finally Tina reaches out and accepts the challenge. Now I’m set!

The Doubt in others gave me more confidence in myself

- Roland Baker

The day is here! I decided to go into Hobby Lobby early to start mapping out what I wanted to do and to maybe pick up some props for the future. I grabbed a buggy and had some stuff in there so nobody would be suspicious and I get kicked out. Tina shows up and we get to work. Since I already had a rough game plan I wanted to shoot, there wasn’t a lot of wandering around to bring attention to us. LET. ME. TELL. YOU. Tina was phenomenal! She was absolutely natural, focused, and not bothered by other people around us. This allowed me to focus more on composition instead of directing and posing and I’m glad to say the shoot was a huge success. I think I will make the Ugly Location Challenge a thing. I think photographers should often challenge themselves to stay engaged and grow within the craft.

You can can get to know Tina by visiting her blog: Purposely Positive or her Instagram: Queen_Tina.t

Let me know what are your thoughts on some of these photos. If you have a location in mind or interested in participating, leave a comment down below.