Elsie Larson - A Beautiful Mess Photo Idea Book: 95 Inspiring Ideas for Photographing Your Friends, Your World, and Yourself

A BEAUTIFUL MESS

PHOTO IDEA BOOK

Copyright 2013 by Elsie Larson and Emma Chapman
Photographs copyright 2013 by Elsie Larson and Emma Chapman except where otherwise noted

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Amphoto Books, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
www.amphotobooks.com

AMPHOTO BOOKS and the Amphoto Books logo are trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Some of the photos included herein were previously published on www.abeautifulmess.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Larson, Elsie.
A beautiful mess photo idea book / by Elsie Larson and Emma Chapman.First edition.
pages cm
1. Portrait photography. 2. Self-portraits. I. Chapman, Emma. II. Title.
TR575.L35 2013
771.44dc23
2012023524

eBook ISBN: 978-0-7704-3404-5
Trade Paperback ISBN: 978-0-7704-3403-8

Design by Jenny Kraemer

v3.1

This book is dedicated to our grandparents,
Norman and Corina Patterson.
Thank you for capturing your life together in photos.
Its beautiful.

We wish to thank the following people for their generous support in producing this book: our creative and supportive family, Jeremy Larson, Kinsey Mhire, Sarah Rhodes, Janae Hardy, Katie Shelton, Lindsey Edgecombe, Julie Mazur, and all of the wonderful and patient folks at Amphoto Books and the Crown Publishing Group.

Capture Your Favorite People

Add Backdrops and Props

Use Beautiful Lighting

Get Creative

Get Inspired

Capture Yourself

Challenge Yourself

Show Off Your Photos

This is the part of the book where we explain that we are total pro photographers and you will be too if you read this book. The only problem is... well... were not pro photographers. Were bloggers. For the past five years, weve been writing a blog called A Beautiful Mess, where we share our daily lives along with DIY projects, recipes, and all things homemade. We take all of the photos for our blog. This routine started out of necessity and has since become one of the aspects of blogging that we are most passionate about. Now youll rarely see us without a camera. We may not be professional photographers, but we are in love with photographing everyday life, and thats what this book is about.

Our greatest photography influence was our grandpa, Norman (we called him Papa). We always think of our grandpa as a renaissance man. He moved to South America as a young man, where he met and fell in love with our grandmother. They started a family there and eventually moved to southern Missouri to start a cattle farm. Photography was a hobby of his throughout his adult life, and he left behind a beautiful collection of photos. He took photos of their home in South America. He took photos of their vacations together. He took lots of photos of our (very stylish) grandmother. He took photos of his children playing. Thanks to these photos, we have a very full picture of our grandparents life together and our mothers childhood. We are so grateful for the way these images show us lives full of beautiful and interesting moments rather than only a few posed portraits.

Our grandfathers photography inspires us to document our lives.

Photo technology and trends have changed a lot since our grandfathers time, but his habit of taking time to document his life is a gift that has remained with us to this day. It is often with our children and grandchildren in mind that we keep taking photos and striving to learn new and better techniques. We love the idea that they will be able to see our full lives, brimming with moments, details, and emotion. Seen this way, no photo is a waste; no event is too small or unimportant to document.

Youve probably figured out by now that this book is different from other photography books. Were not going to talk about camera settings or technical workflow. We still have tutorials, examples, challenges, and lots of ideas; its still an informative book. But think of this as an idea book, to take you from whatever photography level you are at to the next one. Were going to challenge you to do things outside your comfort zone. There may be moments when we push you to take a photo you may consider a little bit silly. But we urge you to just go with it; enjoy the challenge! You may be surprised by how much you can push yourself to the next level. Our hope is that in the process, well inspire you to capture your real life, and that you will have tons and tons of beautiful photos that you wouldnt have taken otherwise.

So whats the best way to use this book? We suggest reading through the entire book first. Maybe use Post-its or bookmarks to keep track of the sections that inspire or excite you the most. Try all the challenges; dont be shy! Dont be too worried about making mistakes or doing it right. Find what works for you. Try to top your personal best photo. Push yourself to try new methods for displaying and organizing photos in your home or to gift to family members. Get into it! Were excited for you .