A Beautiful Mess: Photo Idea Book

The authors of A Beautiful Mess: Photo Idea Book (affiliate link), sisters Elsie Larson and Emma Chapman, explain on the first page that they are not professional photographers. They are bloggers (abeautifulmess.com) who honed their photographer skills by taking pictures of DIY projects, recipes, and other stuff for their blog. Their love of photography has grown along with their blog and in this book they share what they have learned with us.

The subtitle of this book explains it well — 95 Inspiring Ideas for Photographing Your Friends, Your World, and Yourself. The first six chapters of this book are packed full of a wonderful variety of ideas that will inspire you to grab your camera and get shooting. These chapters cover photographing people, using lighting, and making backdrops and props. You will also find an entire chapter with tips for taking fun and creative self portraits.

Also included in these first six chapters are suggestions to help you Get Creative and Get Inspired. To help you get creative, the authors share details to help you use your camera to capture creative shots. Get tips for photographing motion, taking macro photos, and using homemade filters. To help you get inspired, the authors challenge you to take pictures of different things around you, the places you go, and even parts of your daily routine.

The last two chapters of this book contain ideas and projects that will help you practice your photography skills and also exercise your creativity. Chapter seven is titled Challenge Yourself. The authors hope this chapter will help you push yourself to be a better photographer. It has 13 different photo challenges you can try with the goal of stretching your imagination and practicing different skills. Amongst these challenges, you will be encouraged to have fun with color, take photos from above, and re-create an old photo.

Since I am a crafter, chapter 8 is definitely my favorite one. It is titled Show Off Your Photos. This chapter contains 26 fun and unique projects you can make with all of the amazing photos you take. There are some projects that are more two-dimensional, like homemade invitations, business cards, and gift wrap. You can make some amazing gifts such as a personalized locket that looks like a little book, a custom smart phone case, and homemade soaps. Decorate your home by using photos to create a wall display, sew up a portrait pillow, or refinish a chair.

This book teaches you that you don’t need a high-priced, fancy camera to take amazing photos. Using your imagination and some experimentation, you can take wonderful photos of all of your favorite people, places, and things; and then you can use them to make crafts.

Disclosure: A review copy of this book was provided by the publisher. No further compensation was given and all opinions are my own. As noted above, this post contains affiliate links. See my disclosure policy for details.