Assignment #7 - Brainstorming to a Brief
Someone told me once that creativity is like falling asleep: the more you force it, the more difficult it becomes to fall into it.
So the first goal with coming up with ideas is a successful brainstorming session. In order to do that, you need to take some time for it, especially a time where your mind is more creative. Just like the body has a natural sleep rhythm, treat your "creativity" time the same way: have a designated time for it.
For me, the best time of day that I'm able to get into a creative flow is anywhere between 12-3 pm. I don't use that whole time to brainstorm, but I have found through LOTS of trial and error, that my brain is LEAST interrupted with friction and fog within this time and therefore, I do most of my brainstorming sessions for ideas in this time frame. The other times I leave for taking photos, answering emails/comments, filming, or editing.
You may or may not have this in your routine already. The key is to set it up as a habit so that you're able to find a time and space to generate ideas, which, therefore, allows you to create consistent, new ideas for your work!
In the last module, I encouraged you to practice foundational lighting concepts by shooting images that demonstrated these concepts.
In this module, we're now going to go through a more comprehensive process of creating an actual food photograph - with, of course, the main emphasis on lighting! This is to help you practice the process of generating ideas all the way to coming up with an initial draft (in this case, a photo for a pretend client)
So by the end of this module, we all should end up with our version of an image that represents the core concept of the brief, which I mentioned in the last video.
Remember that a brief provides all the key information about a client's project that a photographer will need, to make logistical, technical, and creative decisions.
For our purposes here in this course, we're only going to focus on the creative aspect of the decision making.
So...What's the brief?
Pretend that I'm a client of yours and I have a concept in mind that I'd like you to bring about in a photograph. I've sent you an email describing what I want and I would like you to come up with an image that speaks to this concept. Here it is.
Hello! I own an orange juice company. I sell organic, fresh orange juice. It's family-owned and we juice our oranges by hand. I'm looking for an image that can really stand out and that really speaks to the fact that we juice our oranges by hand. I will be posting this to our Instagram page where we have a very loyal following. I'd love it to have a very bright, yet muted color palette and also a very minimalistic feel to it, but also isn't very "punchy" or crunchy looking. It'd be great if the lighting was a little bit more pleasant, but also really helps the image stand out. Again, we're family-owned and want this to have a welcoming vibe to it.
I'm sorry I don't speak very good photography lingo! but I hope you can take my description and create something amazing for us. I'll trust your creative direction and am looking forward to seeing what you create!
Thank you!
This is pretty vague right? Unfortunately, this will happen more often than not with clients. But the good news is we can always wow them with what we know as photographers and artists. but we need to take it in steps.
So with that said, your first assignment for this module is as follows:
Conduct a brainstorm on paper that contains possible ideas for this photo. It can be words, a sketch, sentences, or questions, however, you're most comfortable brainstorming, get your ideas on paper.
When you're done, take a photo of the brainstorm with your phone (or a screenshot if you're doing it on the computer) and upload it to our Discord server.
At this stage, it's ALL about brainstorming first. Do not create any mood boards yet!
This is about being able to come up with ideas on your own and jotting them down. You don't need to know the final idea yet and I understand it's possible to inquire for more information from the client if you need it, but don't worry about that here. Just work with the prompt you have presented to you.
And remember, there are NO BAD IDEAS.
Good luck and looking forward to seeing what you get!
When you're ready, I'll see you in the next lesson.
