April Member Photo Challenge Winner

Wencke Neumann

About this month’s challenge:

Each month, our members are given a challenge to help push their creativity and have them learn and grow through new techniques and exercises! Those who participate have the chance to submit their results and win both a $25 gift card to Hello Storyteller, and a special blog feature with HS! For the month of April, our challenge was to capture a Silhouette! Our Members were given a Challenge Guide  giving them full instructions and inspiration to get them started.

Our April Member Photo Challenge Winner for the Silhouette Challenge was our amazingly talented member Wencke Neumann! We got a chance to sit down with Wencke to get to know her better! It was a lot of fun picking her brain and getting to know her a bit better. Check out her inspiring interview below!

~ Holly & Angie

Wencke’s Winning Submission

Q {Angie} ~ Hi, ladies! Are you ready to chat?

A {Holly} ~ Hello Hello! I’m ready!

A {Wencke} ~ Hello. Hope you’re doing well.

Q {Angie} ~ Yes, very well. It’s Friday and finally spring here. Should we dive right in?

A {Holly} ~ Let’s do it!

Getting to know Wencke

Q {Angie} ~ Wencke, I’ve been a big fan of your work for a while now. I love your attention to detail and how you use them in your images. That definitely is true for your submission for the silhouette challenge. That big sky is almost another subject!! Tell us about it. Did you have a specific inspiration? Is that sky real or did you do some post processing magic?

A {Wencke} ~ Thank you so much. That’s lovely to hear. The sky as it is real but I adjusted the tones in post to emphasize the color of it. As for the inspiration: before I worked on it in PS my hubby told me, it reminded him of a “Saving Private Ryan” movie poster. So I guess that might have influenced the process of editing. And I think it turned out that way (with a big sky and us as a small silhouette) because I‘m such a fan of negative space.

Q {Holly} ~ I can totally see the Saving Private Ryan vibes! You did a beautiful job bringing that mood to life! Like Angie, I’m a big fan of your work. It’s always so inspiring and creative. How would you describe your photography style?

A {Wencke} ~ Thank you. That’s always the hardest part, at least for me. Colorful for sure. I’m always drawn to color and try to use the rules of color theory in my work. I would also say I’m more an environmental photographer, trying to include the surroundings in my frame.

Q {Angie} ~ I can definitely see both of those in your work. Your colors are always so good. Since we’re a big group of photographers, we all want to know the nerdy details. What kind of gear do you use? And what could you not live without?

A {Wencke} ~ I shoot with canon and use my good old EOS 6d and the EOS R. As for my lenses. I’m a fan of the sigma lenses and the 135mm and 35mm are my go to lenses and almost never leave my body. I think I couldn’t live with both of them. I LOVE them. For macro shots I use my older sigma 105mm which is still a favorite of mine. My bag also includes the canon 50mm 1.2 and a DJI drone which I definitely should use more often.

Q {Holly} ~ I have the Sigma 105 macro as well and I LOVE it! I also have a drone and don’t use it enough (I actually need to find it!) A 135mm is on my list. My list always seems never-ending LOL. Now we know the tools you use to create your beautiful art. Next we want to know where you draw your inspiration from? What and who inspires you as an artist? Both photography focused and non-photography focused.

A {Wencke} ~ I’m a little bookworm, so that’s definitely a source of inspiration for me. That includes novels as well as children’s books. Pinterest is a perfect way for me to find inspiration just by scrolling through it. Sometimes it’s just a color combination inspiring me, sometimes it’s a short poem. I feel there’s inspiration everywhere. In illustrations, music, Melodie’s, paintings…

Q {Angie} ~ Yes, it’s so true! So many things can be inspiring! That kind of leads me to our next question. What about photography or the creative process excites you the most? Is there something that drives your creativity the most?

A {Wencke} ~ For me it’s the ability to capture and “create” an image as I see and feel it and as I want to remember a certain situation or moment.

Q {Holly} ~ I loved reading about your inspiration and creative process. However, we all know that the creative process isn’t always easy. We all go through ups and downs and ebbs and flows in our creativity. I know personally I go through creative blocks often. Do you ever find yourself facing creative blocks? And if so, how do you overcome them?

A {Wencke} ~ Absolutely. Right now, I would say, I’m in the middle of a creative block. Let’s say it’s a mixture of creative block and not enough time. What worked best for me in the past is to take my camera and just go outside and snap away without any plans and ideas in my head. Besides that I love to try out new things and photography styles I’ve never tried before. I also love to draw and right now I started a little illustration project. I don’t now where this will lead me, but it already inspired me for some new photography ideas and projects.

Q {Angie} ~ That’s always advice I give people when they’re struggling with inspiration – to just get out with your camera or try something new. I love that you’re branching out into illustration. That’s really fun! One big thing we all strive for (and generally struggle with) as artists is finding our own voice. Do you remember a specific image or moment where you feel you found your unique artistic voice?

A {Wencke} ~ That’s still a topic I struggle with. I feel I’m still at the beginning of my journey and continuously go through changes with the body of my work.

Q {Holly} ~ I think it’s normal to continuously evolve over time. That’s what I love about photography, there is always something more to learn and ways to grow, even as we become more experienced. Style will subtley change throughout our journey as we learn new techniques and develop new preferences. However, I really do feel like you have a strong voice. I recognize your work immediately when I see it! One part of your work that I’m always impressed by is your storytelling. Your images are always so beautiful and compelling using multiple storytelling elements to capture the viewer’s attention. How do you approach storytelling in your work?

A {Wencke} ~ I define myself as a conceptual photographer and there’re just a few images in my portfolio I captured without making any plans before I took the shot. For me, this is the most important factor in telling a story through my pictures.

A {Holly} ~You do it so well!

A {Wencke} ~Thank you so much.

Q {Angie} ~ Oooh yes, your images definitely read as conceptual. I can always see the level of prep you put into them. So let’s switch gears a bit away from photography for this last question. Let’s hear about Wencke! Tell us a bit about yourself, including 3 random facts!

A {Wencke} ~ 1) I’m wife to a lovely husband and mom to a beautiful, witty and energetic girl as well as an animal lover and advocate living in Germany.  2) If I wasn’t working in healthcare already to live out my social side, I may spend my time taking in and rescuing animals of all kinds. At the moment “just” one cat is living in my house. 3) I am overly creative with my head full of ideas but unfortunately newer know where to start to bring them to life.

{Holly} ~ It’s been so nice getting to know you better, Wencke and thank you for letting us pick your brilliant brain!

{Angie} ~ Yes! It’s been good spending a bit of time with you.

{Wencke} ~ Thank you again. It was fun.