Congratulations to student photographer William Fallow on being chosen as the winner of the recent assignment, The Gift of Photography! William is a Lenspiration member from New Zealand who has been an active participant in recent assignments, and we’ve so enjoyed seeing his photos and watch him grow in his photography skills!

We recently sent him some questions to get to know him a bit better, and loved hearing all the ways he has been enjoying photography. Let’s sit down and have a chat and see some of his stunning photos!

Q: What’s your favorite thing to take pictures of, and why?

William: I love taking photos of nature (birds, trees, flowers, etc.) because not only do you get to be out in it, you also don’t have to set up anything, so you can just go out and start taking pictures. Planning definitely helps though!

Q: What’s one of your favorite things about learning photography with Lenspiration?

William: Choosing just one thing is hard! The positive Christian environment and the assignment critique webinars would be my choices (even though that’s two). I enjoy the webinars every time because James always has advice/tips to help me improve my photos.

Q: Which Lenspiration course has been your favorite to go through?

William: Seeing as how I’ve only completed one course (Foundations of Photography), I guess that one’s my favourite! I’m looking forward to the next few courses as well though.

Q: What do you enjoy about shooting photo assignments? What do you find challenging?

William: The most challenging bit I find with assignments is the logistics side. Trying to find the right subject, the right location, the right lighting, and all the other things that form the basis of the photo is probably the most difficult part for me. The enjoyable parts are actually taking the photos, and also seeing the end result after all the hard work you put in.

Q: If you could talk to someone else who’s just starting out in their photography journey, what would you say to them?

William: My advice is to just get out and take photos (be intentional though!). It doesn’t matter what equipment you have, just start shooting! I think the times that my photography has grown the most is when I took loads of photos and then reviewed them later, to see the areas I could improve on. Also, always be willing to make mistakes, and when you do, learn from them.

Q: What’s an area of photography that you’ve been growing in during the past few months?

William: Portraiture is probably the area that I’ve improved the most in, in the last few months, mainly because we’ve had so many portraiture-related assignments in that time! Having done pretty much none before, even the little bit I’ve done I’ve noticed improvement.

Q: What was your favorite aspect of this past assignment?

William: My favourite part of the last assignment was the design aspect. I’ve done a small amount before, but never with my own photos. It was fun being able to create something to share with others that also contained some of my own work.

Q: What was the hardest part about this assignment?

William: Funnily enough, the most difficult part was also the design. The little things of getting the colours, and the size and type of font right were quite challenging. It took quite a long time to make sure that everything worked well together.

Q: What was your favorite photo submission from this assignment, and why?

William: My favourite of my own submissions would be the monarch butterfly bookmark, but I also really liked @BlessingsCaptured two-sided cards that they designed!

Thank you, William, for sharing with us! It’s a blessing to know there are student photographers all over the world who love the Lord, love praising Him for His wonderful creation we see around us, and love taking the time to document their corner of the world so we can all see it too. God bless you as you glorify Him with the artistic talents he has given to you!

“Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them [photography!], they are more than can be numbered” (Psalm 40:5).