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Getting Creative With Will & Co

“Will & Co has always been about creating a lifestyle we love for ourselves and was born out of a love for others and so it hasn't felt like work to us most of the time.”

Meet Dana & Doug, South Australia based photography + videography creatives.

We have followed their Instagram account Will and Co for some time now and so we jumped at the opportunity to put together a journal post with them around making valuable use of their time in isolation and hope that you too find inspiration in your own creativity.

'Words By Dana' Before we were hit with the global pandemic, our calendar was full and we had weddings, shoots and meetings planned for every weekend for the foreseeable future. Having that all be postponed, and finding ourselves with some spare time up our sleeves was a bit of a shock to begin with. We didn't want to waste the time and despite having a to-do list that is long with many things to work on for Will & Co, we decided to rest first and be really intentional with our time and to bring some balance back to our work/home life and that this would help us be the best versions of ourselves.

Instead of working almost every minute of the day, we had slow mornings, coffee over breakfast with long conversations about books, podcasts and all the ways we want to create and incorporate that into our everyday. Will & Co has always been about creating a lifestyle we love for ourselves and was born out of a love for others and so it hasn't felt like work to us most of the time, which is how we get so caught up in the busy-ness of the business. It’s been such a beautiful thing to allow ourselves the time to dream and plan for the future and for Will & Co.

A lot of the creative work involved for photographers once the photos are taken, is editing - which is brain work. So it's been great to explore some different ways of creating, using our hands. Doug and I have both gotten back to some of our interests we've always had as well as trying out some new ways of being creative. Doug has been cooking everyday, he's always been the better cook but we've been enjoying some of the most amazing cuisines. I've been enjoying creating flat lays, taking photos of ourselves for the usual everyday happenings, as I know we'll really cherish this time in years to come and it's a habit I wanted to get into. We are finally getting around to designing our own wedding album to print too.

I went into 2020 with a goal to paint just one canvas this year, Doug made a gorgeous easel for me and so I've been really enjoying painting again. I was inspired by many beautiful works of embroidery on etsy and decided to create one for our home, and it's turned out very rustic but I really love the home-made-with-love look it has. I think everyone should try it, it's so relaxing! I think it's really good to look at what inspires you or sparks joy and try your hand at it, you might end up with something you love that you've made yourself and if not, then you've tried and probably enjoyed yourself or learned something while doing it.

Three quick tips for taking photographs at home:

1. Start with a clean space, move things around and just try things out. It's okay to fail. Just have fun + have a go!

2. Use natural light. Turn off any other lights so that you don’t have mixed lighting and open the blinds. Natural light always looks better.

3. Clean your phone's lens. You wouldn't believe how much better your photos will turn out! You can easily edit using Lightroom for mobile (free on the app store)

To find out more about Will & Co visit

http://www.willandcophotography.com/

Dana wears

Savannah Tie Front Maxi Dress

Maise Shirring Midi Dress

You can view the full Valentina Collection here

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