Creating my own stock photo

I just completed a project for Central Region's first Asian American student conference. Asian American designs sometimes prove a challenge for me--I want to give it a visual look that reads as "Asian" without being too stereotypical or cliché.

As I researched their theme, "Ohana," I discovered that the origin of the word comes from the root of the taro plant. The idea of roots, connectedness, and family all relate to the conference's theme. I decided I wanted to use images of taro roots as my main visual theme. Finding the right image was challenging. I had found one that I liked on iStockPhoto, but it would cost $70.

So yesterday I went to a local Asian grocery store and picked up a few taro roots, and this morning took a few photos on my window sill. I used the morning light to imitate the look of the original iStockPhoto.

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, in fact I almost like my photo better than the stock photo. I get excited when I get to be creative and resourceful - in this case that meant saving $70 (and also having some taro to make something yummy out of later!)