Models are posing in Hobby Lobby photoshoots

Yes, that Hobby Lobby.
Models are posing in Hobby Lobby photoshoots
Credit: Getty Images

UPDATE: Feb. 7, 2017, 2:50 p.m. EST: This article has been updated to include comments from Kelsey Maggart, the creator of the Hobby Lobby challenge.

People around the United States are taking on a new challenge: photographing models in Hobby Lobby.

They're creating gorgeous portraits with some careful posing, a lot of editing, and the craft store's stock of fake plants.

Kelsey Maggart started the trend in late January, when she took the "Ugly Location Challenge" to Hobby Lobby.

She wanted a spring photoshoot, but lives in Indiana where it's cold until April.

"So you kind of have to improvise," Maggart said.

Her photoshoot inspired other models and photographers to attempt the challenge.

Getting dressed up to go to Hobby Lobby is now a thing.

Adam Delane, a photographer based in Cincinnati, posted his version of the Hobby Lobby photoshoot challenge on Facebook. He included behind-the-scenes versions of the photos next to his edited final shots.

"Hobby Lobby has the best and biggest selection of fake looking flowers," Delane said. He used a Canon 7D to shoot the portraits, and used Photoshop and Lightroom to create fake sunlight.

Here's model Assisatou Thiam posing with some fake sunflowers. (Notice another model crouching in the background, holding up a few more stems.)

And here's Delane's edited version, which shows Thiam's glowing face framed by the same fake flowers.

When Hobby Lobby shoppers and employees walked by, Delane and his team stopped the photoshoot and pretended to look through the merchandise like they were shopping for props.

"We knew at any moment someone was going to come around the corner and tell us we couldn't shoot there," Delane said. "So we just tried to execute as much as we could."

He saved the most elaborate scene for last.

"We blocked the whole end of the [a]isle and put all these vines on a room divider," Delane said. "I saved the big set up for last just in case we got caught."

The photo looks like something straight out of an enchanted garden -- model Loving Sonja looks like she's bathed in sunlight instead of Hobby Lobby's fluorescent bulbs.

This isn't Delane's first unconventional photoshoot. He's also photographed models in parking garages and on rooftops.

The challenge shows that good photographers can work with pretty much anything.

Mashable Potato

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