The creation of a work of art has been indicated to result from 'expressive awareness', achieved as the artist matches images and methods. This study examines how novices, who tend to express reproductively, acquire such expressive awareness over several weeks of practice of photography. We conducted case studies with two conditions: 1) one participant reflected only her own creative activities, and 2) one participant imitated eminent works of creative expression in the domain. As a result, the participants acquired expressive awareness in both conditions, though the contents of the expressive awareness were different. The imitation participant started to practice creative expressions and tried to control her creation consciously, while the reflection participant started to focus on precision of methods of expression. The findings of this study are useful for developing educational practice in art schools.