Welcome to The Framed Focus Blog!
The Art of Creating Eye Catching Flat Lays | by Dorene Hookey
Learn how to create balanced, eye-catching flat lay photographs with simple techniques for lighting, composition, styling, props, and storytelling. Whether you’re photographing food, products, hobbies, or everyday details, these practical flat lay photography tips will help you thoughtfully arrange your scene and create more cohesive, visually engaging images.
52 Clicks | Week 43 | Identity: Self Portrait
52 Clicks | Week 43 | Identity: Self Portrait
To finish off our month of identity in our Project 52, we ended on self portraits. Every single year I slip this theme onto the calendar. Not because I'm evil and like to torture everyone. But because I genuinely feel like it's an important exercise to force ourselves out of our comfort zones and embrace the awkwardness. Self portraits are hard. They can feel like we're exposing a vulnerable part of ourselves. And they're technically tricky. But we all survived the week, and even if not everyone would agree with the sentiment, I truly believe we're better off for it.
Instead of picking only a handful of images to share this week, we are featuring every single person who gave permission to celebrate the courage and vulnerability and challenges self portrait week involves. I hope you all get in front of the camera every once and a while, too.
xo,
Angie Mahlke
A Haunted House and a Lot of Fun: Halloween Photoshoot Inspiration | by Holly Awwad
An old mansion, beautiful window light, and a haunted-doll costume made our visit to Bruce Mansion a perfect opportunity for Halloween creativity. Get inspired by our spooky session and learn how to plan your own Halloween styled photoshoot, from choosing a location and outfit to using light, posing, and editing to tell a story.
52 Clicks | Week 42 | Identity: Tradition
52 Clicks | Week 42 | Identity: Tradition
We continued on with the identity theme in our Project 52 focusing on traditions. This sub theme invited us to explore the rituals, habits or customs, both big and small, that are meaningful to us. Whether they were seasonal activities or regular habits or things we like to do while we travel, it was fun seeing how the p52 participants tackled this one.
What would you document as a tradition?
xo,
Angie Mahlke
100 Days of Nature 2026
What happens when you slow down and photograph nature for 100 days? Take a look inside our 100 Days of Nature 2026 community photography project and see the beautiful images, creative discoveries, and lessons photographers found along the way.
Chase the Rainbow Project | Grey
In photography, colour does far more than add visual interest. It shapes the mood of an image, draws the viewer in, and helps communicate the story. In our Chase the Rainbow project, we celebrate colour by focusing on a different shade each month. Whether that’s seeking out the colour in nature, spotting it at home, or styling a scene with thoughtfully selected props and clothing, the project encourages creativity and seeing the world through a more colourful lens.
"“There's so much grey to every story - nothing is so black and white.” - Lisa Ling
October’s colour is grey!
Grey is a neutral colour, between the two extremes of black and white. Pure grey has equal amounts of red, green and blue, but there are also many shades with numbers just slightly off from this, like slate and platinum. It’s a diplomatic colour, serious and solemn, yet also sophisticated and wise. Grey can be easily overlooked, but it’s a fascinating colour if you look a little deeper.
Enjoy looking through all our grey images.
52 Clicks | Week 41 | Identity: Habitat
52 Clicks | Week 41 | Identity: Habitat
Your environment says a lot about who you are. Your home, workspace, favorite hangouts, or creative spaces all reflect aspects of your identity. Last week's habitat theme encouraged us to explore one such space and how it ties into our identity. I think you'll agree that the Project 52 participants nailed the assignment. Whether they were documenting an area of their home, workspace or a spot that is special to them, they delivered with the level of creativity and artistry we've come to expect of them.
What habitat would you choose to say something about yourself?
xo,
Angie Mahlke
You Don’t Need a Reason to Take Up Space | by Casey Ladisa
Self-portrait photography is about more than creating a perfect image. It can help you build confidence, explore your creativity, and recognize that your everyday life is worth documenting. Discover lessons from four years of self-portraiture and find encouragement to embrace imperfection, get in the frame, and take up space exactly as you are.
52 Clicks | Week 40 | Identity: Hands Tell Stories
52 Clicks | Week 40 | Identity: Hands Tell Stories
The month of October in our Project 52 is all about exploring our identity. The first theme was showing this with hands. Hands can reveal a lot about who you are: your habits, skills, interests, and daily life. There are so many different ways to show this, and it was fun seeing how each participant tackled it.
What do your hands say about you, and how would you interpret this theme?
xo,
Angie Mahlke
Finding Stories in the Everyday: A Simple Guide to Street Photography | by Sarah VanHook
Street photography is all about noticing the stories unfolding around you. From busy city streets to quiet small towns, learn how to use light, layers, simple gear, and a little patience to capture meaningful everyday moments wherever you are.
52 Clicks | Week 39 | Cool Colors
52 Clicks | Week 39 | Cool Colors
We finished up our month of color with the serenity of the cool temperature. Whereas warm colors give energy and excitement, cool colors are calm, tranquil and sometimes even melancholy. Use blues, greens and purples if this is the mood you're going for.
The Project 52 participants certainly understood the assignment. You'll notice the peaceful theme throughout their work below.
So...where do you stand? Warm or cool colors?
xo,
Angie Mahlke
Finding Inspiration in Fall Photography: How to Capture the Feeling of Autumn | by Holly Awwad
Autumn is one of the most inspiring seasons to photograph, filled with warm color, beautiful light, changing landscapes, and little details worth slowing down to notice. Whether you love photographing nature, portraits, or a little of both, discover inspiration for capturing the colors, light, mood, and feeling of fall in a way that feels natural and true to you.
52 Clicks | Week 38 | Warm Colors
52 Clicks | Week 38 | Warm Colors
The great photography debate of whether you're Team Golden Hour or Team Blue Hour can be dwindled down warm versus cool. The warmth of golden hour or the cool temperatures of blue hour...where do you fall?
You'll see a lot of examples from the Project 52 participants this week utilizing golden hour and the sunset for this week's theme, but of course warm colors in photography are more than just a time of day. It's the colors themselves. The vibrant reds, oranges and yellows evoke energy, passion and excitement, and can aid in creating a cozy atmosphere. Scroll through the below images to see all the ways we used warm colors last week.
xo,
Angie Mahlke
Walking in Nature | by Jill Johnson
What happens when photography stops being about creating the perfect image and becomes a way to simply notice the world around you? Nature photographer Jill Johnson shares her journey from photography competitions and creative burnout to rediscovering her love of photography through walking in nature, mindfulness, and slowing down with her camera.
Chase the Rainbow Project | Purple
In photography, colour does far more than add visual interest. It shapes the mood of an image, draws the viewer in, and helps communicate the story. In our Chase the Rainbow project, we celebrate colour by focusing on a different shade each month. Whether that’s seeking out the colour in nature, spotting it at home, or styling a scene with thoughtfully selected props and clothing, the project encourages creativity and seeing the world through a more colourful lens.
"I finally discovered the true color of the atmosphere, it is purple!” - Claude Monet
September’s colour is purple!
Blending the fiery energy of red with the calmness of blue, purple symbolises royalty, spirituality, creativity, and mystery. Rarely found in nature, it has long been associated with magic and uniqueness. Historically, purple dyes were expensive to produce, making the colour a symbol of wealth, status, and power. Today, purple continues to inspire imagination and individuality.
Enjoy looking through all our purple images.
52 Clicks | Week 37 | Monochromatic Colors
52 Clicks | Week 37 | Monochromatic Colors
When we hear monochromatic, our thoughts often go to black and white. And although that is a facet of the monochromatic color scheme, it doesn't encompass the entirety of it. It's defined as using a single base hue with its different tints, shades and tones. In other words, color! Not the absence of it but rather the many different shades of one color. Since this color scheme oftentimes simplifies the composition, it allows the textures and lines and other details to do the heavy lifting.
Nature is rampant with monochromatic possibilities. That's why you'll notice a common theme among the Project 52 participant images: greens, blues and browns. How would you approach this theme? If this interests you, you're welcome to join our project.
Angie Mahlke
The Lightroom Features You're Probably Ignoring (That Could Save You Hours) | by Laura Froese
Want to spend less time managing photos and more time actually creating? Some of Lightroom Classic’s best time-saving tools have nothing to do with editing. From smarter import settings and previews to Collections and better file organization, these often-overlooked features can completely change the way you work. Here are a few simple Lightroom workflow tips that can save you hours and make every editing session feel a little easier.
52 Clicks | Week 36 | Analogous Colors
52 Clicks | Week 36 | Analogous Colors
Using color psychology in your photography is great way to create emotionally impactful images. Knowing the emotional meanings of specific colors is important when using them intentionally. The analogous color scheme creates a sense of calmness with its lack of contrast. This is from using three or more colors that sit next to each other on the color wheel. Using warm or cool colors determines the emotional impact (warm = energy / cool = tranquility).
Do you gravitate toward the complementary or analogous color scheme in your work?
As always, the open invitation to join our group remains. We'd love to have you.
Angie Mahlke
Golden Hour Photography: How to Find and Use Beautiful Golden Light | by Holly Awwad
Golden hour can make portraits, flowers, and everyday moments feel almost magical. Learn how to find beautiful light, choose your camera settings, work with backlighting, and edit golden hour photos naturally.
52 Clicks | Week 35 | Complementary Colors
52 Clicks | Week 35 | Complementary Colors
We all know that composition and light play a huge role in photography, but one area that can sometimes be overlooked is color. Color has the power to completely shape the way an image is received. This is why our Project 52 is spending the entire month of September dipping our toes into the vast subject of color theory.
We started with complementary colors. If you think back to school learning the color wheel, you'll remember complementary colors are the ones opposite each other. Green + red is the easiest combo to find in nature. You might have to look a bit harder for blue + orange and purple + yellow. Using these color combinations is great for contrast, infusing energy, and isolating your subject.
One of the things we discussed this week in our p52 is how we often prefer colors that are slightly adjacent in the complementary color schemes, like green + pink and blue + yellow. What color combo is your favorite?
And, as always, the open invitation to join our group remains. We'd love to have you.
xo,
Angie Mahlke
On the blog
*
On the blog *
Get Free Resources!
Sign up for our mailing list to stay in-the-know about our latest free resources, available courses and blog posts!