Make Magic From Mess | A Quarantine Photo Challenge

Last week, I took part in a photography challenge called “Make Magic From Mess.” It was put together & run by a sweet photographer I have followed on Instagram for a long time (I honestly can’t even remember how I originally found her or how long ago that was!) Jill Gum is a delightful wedding photographer & Mama who lives out in the midwest & since we’re all stuck in this “funk” of quarantine, she wanted to put together a challenge, specifically for Mamas, to inspire us to capture our daily lives.

Every morning, she sent us all a prompt for the day – a theme. She gave some ideas, shared some of her own images of how she interpreted the prompt with her own kids, and then shared some tips on how to get the best images. She put the challenge together and invited any Mom who wanted to be more strategic about capturing her children into it – whether she had a DSLR & a whole suitcase of lenses or simply had a smart phone.

It was so much fun! I found myself waking up every day, anxiously logging into my email to see what the prompt for the day was. It gave my days focus & a specific creative task was just what I needed. I pushed myself to do something “different” – to not just take the easy road, but to honestly let it be a “challenge”. I used lenses I hardly ever reach for, I used my flashes outside to replicate the sun, and I even put myself in some of the photos!

The “creative distraction” was exactly what I needed & I am so thankful to have participated in this challenge.

I posted a lot of these images on my Instagram account, but I wanted to share them here as well.

Day 1: Homework

The prompt for Day 1 was to capture “homework time”. For a lot of the Mamas in the challenge, this was a unique prompt as their kids are doing school from home for the first time ever. For us? This was just capturing normal, daily life. Braelynn & I do school every afternoon while Leander naps, so it only made sense for me to include myself in some of these photos!

Day 2: Get Outside

The prompt for Day 2 was: “All about outdoor play!” With spring arriving, going outside has been the perfect way to break up our days & we’ve spent a lot of time in our backyard recently! Unfortunately, on Tuesday last week, it was a pretty chilly, cloudy, grey day. So, I broke out my “portable sun” (my flash) and got creative!
All I wanted for these photos was for Braelynn to push Leander down our walkway. She pushes him in the little car all the time, so I figured this was a natural, easy thing to ask her to do. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, Braelynn decided that she did not want to push her little brother last Tuesday. I got one photo of her pushing him – and can you just see her little grumpy attitude?

Day 3: Food Prep

Day 3’s prompt was to get into the kitchen & capture the kids setting the table, helping make lunch, or baking something. We had some overly ripe bananas sitting on our counter, so it seemed the perfect opportunity to bake some banana bread. Both Braelynn & Leander found the process to be absolutely fantastic & we had a ton of fun baking together! (Plus, the end result was delicious!)

Day 4: Beloved Toys

Day 4 was all about our kid’s most precious possession: whether that be a baby doll, blankie, or stuffed animal. Of course, for Leander, this prompt was very simple: he has his blankie.

Braelynn on the other hand – well, she doesn’t really have a “favorite” stuffed animal because she loves every single one on a rotation. I asked her if she could pick out her very very super-duper favorite stuffie & she looked at me & said, “Mom! I love them ALL.” I then asked her to pick her favorite five, which she negotiated to be her favorite ten, and then somehow a few more got added – she truly does love every single stuffed animal that she has (and she has a lot).

Day 5: Pajama Party

So, on Day 5 – the last day – we were supposed to have a pajama party. We are currently going on Week 4 of quarantine life – is anyone getting dressed in real clothes these days?

Again, wanting to push myself & make it a challenge, I set up a tent on our 3rd floor – complete with white lights. I did it while Leander was napping & Braelynn was playing downstairs, so it was a really big fun surprise (and a “fun” surprise to Derrick when he realized I’d carried chairs from our dining room table up 2 flights of stairs – don’t worry, I promised that I would bring them back down when the kids were done with the tent.)

So, if you’ve ever wondered what life in the Abbey house looks like during quarantine – there is just a tiny little peak! I don’t pull out my camera every day, but it was definitely a delight to strategically