Hobby Lobby Challenge

Have you heard of the Hobby Lobby Challenge?  I’m sure if you are on any type of social media, you have seen people posting frame worthy pictures of themselves surrounded by lushious flowers and greenery, with the hashtag #hobbylobbychallenge.  Is everyone hiring a professional photographer?  Where are all these beautiful gardens and fields?  I know those are some of the questions I was asking.  So I had to dig a little deeper into this phenomenon.

What is the “Hobby Lobby Challenge”?

The infamous “Hobby Lobby Challenge” was said to be started by a 22 year old professional photographer named, Kelsey Maggart. How creative of her.  These social media photos are taken in the flower aisle of any local Hobby Lobby store (a Hobby Lobby employee’s dream right, LOL.)  Then the picture is edited to resemble an outside photoshoot with amazing flowers in the background.

I’m up for the Challenge

I got to thinking…Hey, I’m creative and like to do social media challenges, so I decided on a whim to go take my random photos in the flower section. I just got off work, was tired, and didn’t have on any make-up. Sounds real photogenic right? However, I was determined to feed my creative beast.

First Time is NOT a charm.

I had prepared nothing and the closer I got to the store I realized, I was a bit shy.  There was tons of nervous laughter to myself the whole time I’m walking into the store. I finally get to the flower section and of course I’m walking down every aisle to make sure no one is around. I finally get a brave bone and start snapping pictures. The first shots were HORRIBLE. I was snapping so quickly just in case someone came by. The picture below is so funny because I snapped it real quick . I thought I heard someone was coming down the aisle. I realized after awhile…no one cared. LOL

Practice Makes Perfect

Now many people have professional photographers go with them. Some even bring professional lighting and assistants. Nope, I just had myself and my handy dandy iPhone7+. The key is to only get the flowers and not any other background. No tags, no words, just flowers. After a few snaps, I started to really have fun. For instance, I did different poses, and used different flowers, releasing my inner photo diva.  (Learn more about inner diva HERE)  You can also add other props from the store like baskets, bows, seasonal items, or any crafty finds.

Editing the Photos

My creative juices started to think about all the effects I could add to these pictures to make them look amazing. The goal is to make them look like a high end photo shoot. Therefore I went home and doctored the pictures up with a free app on my phone simply called “Photo Editor”.  I lightened up the photos and made the flower colors pop, added some effects and Bam, you have yourself a Instagram worthy Hobby Lobby Challenge Photo.

Finally, I used another free app called “Pic Collage” to make a collage of my favorite shots. And I think the pictures came out really well. See for yourself below.

My Advice

Above all, my advice for you, if you’ve been considering the hobby lobby challenge…Just do it. Have fun. Be Creative. Get some great pictures. Research some poses that you feel comfortable doing and snap away. Just think, at the very least you will have tons of laughs.

Show off your fabulous pictures below.  I’d love to see them.

Until next time…Stay crafty!

Angie