Creator Eka converts her creative passions into a successful side-hustle

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Versatile stylist and photographer Eka Kurnia Sari has turned her passion for creativity into a successful side hustle. A working Graphic Designer and mother from Indonesia, Eka's passion keeps her striving to learn and continually create allowing her to evolve as a stylist.

Her continual self-development has let to an effortless versatility in creative styles and genres. Eka is just as comfortable styling neutrals and naturals as she is soft pastels or vibrant colours. She can cook up a beautiful storm in the kitchen and switch to beauty UGC in an instant.

We are honoured to chat with Eka about her creative journey. Keep scrolling and be inspired by Eka, light and bright by style and by nature.

Meet Eka!

My interest in photography started while I was in college and my first camera was a Canon 450D. At first it was just a hobby but when I started working in an office I didn't have enough time to pursue it further.

My passion for photography was revived in 2017 when I joined a local photography community in Bandung. Since then I have been able to keep photographing as a hobby without distracting from my day job as a Graphic Designer where I spend my of my time designing book covers.

Fun Fact I graduated college as a Food Technologist, so what I am working as right now is purely started from passion and mostly self-taught. Even though at times I find it sometimes frustrating to work under tight deadlines, but as long as I enjoy it, why not?

Outside of my working life, I am a mother of an 8 year-old, and a wife of an illustrator and comic artist, my husbandʼs work has been being published several times in Indonesia.

Eka's Creatively Squared journey so far

I joined Creatively Squared back in 2018 after an invitation from Ruth. At very first time I thought Creatively Squared was just a creative community running weekly photography challenges, but then I was surprised to learn that they were also connecting many content creators worldwide to work with well-known global brands. I saw this as big opportunity to be connected with other awesome international content creators and learn so much from them.

As for my own creative journey, to be honest, Iʼm not really consistent with my style. I can easily switch from one genre to another. Initially when I first joined I really loved minimal photography and creative flat lays, but recently I turned to loving food styling and photography. But above all, I really like to challenge myself to keep trying something new, and improving my photography experience.

I would describe my personal aesthetic as bright, clean, with (mostly) monochrome palette.

Challenging Eka's creativity

The most challenging project I've worked on was Betty Crocker because it involved baking the product as well as just styling the packaging

The images needed to be aesthetic pleasing and also look delicious and tempting.

Other projects I've found challenging have been stop motion because it is quote a complicated process requiring idea generation, good storyboarding, precise execution and editing technique.

Eka's Creative Equipment

I use a Fujifilm XA-7 with 35 mm f2 lens, a softbox lighting and a reflector. Sometimes I use a tripod but mostly I only use my hand so I can move freely to shoot the object.

For image editing, I use Photoshop, Lightroom and Snapseed. But when it comes to commercial product photography, I choose Photoshop as my tool of trade.

My obligatory props is backdrops (the one with marble pattern is my fav), all kinds of fabrics, plates, trays, and any other object as long as itʼs white. I tend to choose white or monochrome properties since they are neutral to be placed with any other objects.

Favourite location is in the mini studio in my house since I can do all the styling as I like. I always plan and story board my shoots. And I have a super helpful assistant, my husband!

Eka is Inspired by...

There are many current favourite creators to follow and inspire me are mostly food photographers, such as @yogaofcooking @nm_meiyee and @foodie.yuki

Overcoming creative blocks

Little break, mixed with another fav activities like cooking or book reading. And sometimes after scrolling through Pinterest for some inspirations, usually the ideas come by itself.

Eka's top tips

1. Look for inspiration as much as you can. It can be from Instagram, Pinterest, etc

2. For me, it's not about the gun, but the man behind it. So never get bored to try something new, keep studying, explore new style as many as you can to improve your skill.

3. Editing is a must. Train yourself with common editing program such as Lightroom and Photoshop.

What's next to learn for me? I want to improve my videography skill, especially in stop motion.

Thank you Eka for sharing your creative journey with us, not to mention your deliciously good images! Follow Eka’s journey on her Instagram account @kulniyasally and join our community platform to meet more like-minded creatives like Eka and perhaps even become a Creatively Squared Creator yourself!

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