Great Escape Publishing

Posted December 12th, 2011 by Lori Allen & filed under Travel Photography.

I’m in Paris this week, doing my best to take in the city one last time before the new baby comes in February. On one hand, it’s not easy being pregnant in Paris. My favorite foods – soft cheeses, pates, raw seafood, foie gras – are off limits to pregnant women. On the other, the French people are so incredibly nice when you’re sporting a big belly. One waiter fashioned my eggs with a strip of bacon into a smiley face and told me it was for the baby when I asked if I could get two eggs on a plate in addition to my typically French breakfast of juice and French bread. I arrived this time without a schedule, too. In previous years, I’d clip articles from magazines all year and fill my schedule with adventures to find the best patisserie or I’d hurry to check out a new restaurant I read about or had a friend or fellow reader recommend. But this year, it’s just me and my husband and if we make it to see the Rock’n Roll animated Christmas display at Galeries Lafayette’s, great. If we don’t, I won’t be disappointed. Just being here is all I need right now. And that brings me to this month’s Photo Challenge theme: Whiten Up. It’s a play on words for the popular phrase: Lighten Up. And that’s exactly what I’m doing here in Paris — trying not to pressure myself and instead take time to smell the roses. For this month’s theme, though, you’ll need to include the color white. White snow… white lights… white weddings…white backgrounds… white objects… white pets…white food, you name it. And I encourage you to take the theme literally, too, and add white to scenes you’d traditionally shoot with lots of colors. Like in this photo that could have been taken with the family in bright colors but instead the photographer chose much lighter colors… Or this one, you might traditionally want to shoot in either pink or blue but works well in white (and might even sell better because it’s gender neutral)… Here are some more pictures to inspire you… White backgrounds: White Snow: White Food/Drink: White in Nature: White Mementos: [Editor’s Note: Learn more about how you can turn your pictures into cash in our free online newsletter The Right Way to Travel. Sign up here today and we’ll send you a new report, Selling Photos for Cash: A Quick-Start Guide, completely FREE.]