A Year of Beauty- Photography Challenge- Year 2

[Samtian]

September/October is here so break time is over!

Time to start with some fundamentals. Photography has it's own set of "rules". Which of course are meant to be broken, but it's really helpful to know some basics. Starting with the rule of 3rds in composition. What you do is place your subject on one of the "imaginary" lines that cut a photo into thirds ( 9 sections). I do this rule often, but sometimes parents don't like it in their pictures and want the subjects centered. Included is images with the lines showing. Just basic set up so you can see it. One of the easiest ways to get something on one of the lines is to crop it down. When you crop an image you usually get the lines that show up, using those lines tells you where the "thirds" are, and just line your subject up with one of them. 

If you want to get really technical I encourage you to look up the Golden Ratio and learn about it. It has many names and it is way too mathematical for my brain to comprehend. To my knowledge I don't think I have ever taken a golden ratio image. I have golden triangle but not ratio. Check it out! photoworkout dot com/golden-ratio-photography/  

Hopefully you can see the lines...I should have thought it out and used a dark background. 

What a great first year we had!! Even if I dropped the ball sometimes! I decided to change things up this year with the themes. They will be a little more challenging this year.

2023-

April- DOF 2 images.

May- Flash/Artificial Light.

June- What you see vs. What I see

July- Break

August- Break

September/October- Rule of 3rds.

2022 challenges-

April- Lipstick

May- Eye Shadow

June- Primer/Foundation/Concealer/CC/BB

July- Highlighters

August- Brushes

September- Sheet Masks

October- Hair Care

November- Fragrance

December- Nail Polish

January- Blush/Bronzer

February- Candles/Wax Melts/ Diffusers

The challenge and "rules"-

1. Flat lays and staged photos only. I'll post examples below. But no faces or people allowed in your photos. (Though you can include photographs).

2. All photos you take must be your own. 

3. Post as many images as you want, you have a whole month to get creative with each theme. Post one, post everyday, doesn't matter.

4. Let's talk gear and products! Tell us about your image. List the products and colors, talk to us about your concept and how it came to be, taken with your phone or DSLR? 

Here are some helpful reads- digital-photography-school dot com/flat-lay-photography/  and digital-photography-school dot com/tips-for-getting-started-with-still-life-photography/

Here are some of my example images I've taken in the past-

Gucci Bloom Eau De Toilette 1 oz/ 30 mL 

Floral Street Sunflower Pop Eau De Parfum Travel Spray 0.34 oz/ 10 mL 

[Samtian]

@itsfi Yep! Something like a candle or lipstick, something simple so it'll be easier for you to visualize it.

[CynthieLu]

Trying to capture the Golden Ratio or Rule of the Thirds out of doors 🍂

 

 

 

All taken on my Pixel 7, cropped to tidy a bit.

The top and bottom I was aiming for the Rule of the Third, the middle was the Golden Ratio, I thought the stones on the terrace were a focal point of the image.. and I went all around that bridge, because I really wanted to make it work in the shot somehow 😉

[Samtian]

@CynthieLu Great shots! That bridge is stunning. 

[Titian06]

These pics are so pretty, @CynthieLu ! 🥰

[CynthieLu]

Thank you! 🙏 @Titian06 Nature makes a really lovely backdrop.🙂🍂

[fatimamummy]

@Samtian Ok we are getting technical now. That is exciting. 

Somehow when I initially started taking photos I was following the rule of third almost religiously but lately I see myself deviating from it and maybe leaning more to the golden ratio or just what my eyes find a pleasant composition. I am going to try to turn back to rule of third again for this challenge and see how it goes. 

For now here is the recent most photo in my gallery that follows rule of third and a screen shot of meta data to show the camera settings. 

There is almost no props used I just placed a few stems of dry flora in-front of the window to create a bit of texture in the shadow and since the scene was already black and white only due to packaging and table colour, I desaturated image (brought colour saturation all the way down) to give it a proper B&W look without having to use filter.

[CynthieLu]

It's so elegant @fatimamummy 🩶🤍 Using shadows to add texture etc.. my mind is blown, it creates a really cool picture. 

[Titian06]

I love your photo, @fatimamummy !  B&W is my fave!

[Samtian]

@fatimamummy Woooo I love this!! That is so awesome you are so good at the golden ratio! I love how you added things for shadows/textures! And that black and white *chef's kisses*

[itsfi]

Exquisitely elegant @fatimamummy! I've said it before and I'll say it again, you are a masterclass! 💖

[CynthieLu]

Ookay sort of maybe?? 

 

I didn't use the top shot for anything, I ended up using a closer shot in a thread lol but I did try to get the idea down with some experimenting today.

The Second shot I used in a thread as well. I didn't edit the brighteness here but I did turn it up in the other, just too make it look softer and nicer 😊

These here are just in thier natural form from my Pixel phone.

I can't seem to turn on a grid too see while I'm photographing so I had to use my best judgement, it did appear during cropping when I tried to get it just right. 😅

[itsfi]

Nice work @CynthieLu! I agree with @fatimamummy about scouring the internet to find the grid feature on your phone, if only to see the difference it makes for you (if any) between using it and eyeballing it. 

I love that you are experimenting with this technique. Both your layouts are pretty and I always find it valuable to hear everyone’s approach with an original shot and editing. I can see the rule of thirds at play in that first shot. 👍🏼 

The lighting contrast in that second shot is great. Appreciate seeing the original frame for the first shot and the close up in the other thread. It’s interesting to see how a little editing here and there can change the look and feel of a frame. 

[Samtian]

@CynthieLu You did great! My favorite is the second one. The Bioderma seems to be the main subject and that was where my eyes went to first! If you did brighten them you'd have to be careful of the whites and brights because that is where attention goes to first (Danessa mentioned that in her masterclass and it filled me with such glee). I try and line up for rules of thirds but almost always without fail need to use the crop function like @fatimamummy mentioned to get them right on. I don't think my phone comes with the grid unless I'm in crop mode.

[CynthieLu]

Oooh she really does know color. Her teach me Tuesdays are very informative but I think I need to take notes, I am not remembering near enough of what she says 📓 ✏️

That's really good to know, the brighter the more attention it grabs, it makes sense as soon as I read it @Samtian thank you!

[fatimamummy]

@CynthieLu I would say in first shot you nailed the rule of third. You estimate is much better than mine. I have my grid permanently on because without it my photos always end up skewed. I think it is worth googling how to turn the grid function on for your phone. That makes it much easier to follow the rule. 

I also some time cheat and crop my photos to make them follow rule of three.

[CynthieLu]

I appreciate the feed back @fatimamummy  ❤️ thank you!

It would be so much easier if I had the grid available when I took the shots,  I never paid that kind of attention to detail before, it was an eye opening experience 😅

[CynthieLu]

Math is not my friend but I'm going to try to visit the suggest place and read about this Rule of Thirds @Samtian.

This challenge looks fun and inspiring. I can't wait to see your, and everyone's, photos.

I definitely think seeing photos from everyone over the course of last year has helped me too grow creatively and improved my skills too. Thank you @Samtian for this thread ✨ 📸 💕

[Samtian]

@CynthieLu I'm so happy to hear that! Math isn't for me either lol, my high school teacher senior year took pity on me and "helped" me graduate pre-algebra so I could get to the others before graduation lol.

[CynthieLu]

I may have been a summer school attendee thanks to complicated high school maths 😅 @Samtian , your teacher sounds like a star! Mine didn't anyways get me I don't think 😆

[itsfi]

Firstly, yaaaay, we’re back! 🙌🏼 Nice to have a break & nice to be back at it! Thank you @Samtian  for putting so much effort into helping us learn about photography. I know that I’ve learned so many tips, tricks & techniques from you and all those who post on this thread. Thank you, thank you! 🥰

I plan to dive into the theme / homework assignment sometime this weekend🤞🏼and will come back to post my efforts and lessons learned, one of which is that there’s a grid feature on my camera setting 😳 Who knew? Clearly, I did not. 😝.

I took a look back at some older shots I’ve taken and it’s quite evident that left to my own devices, I am not a rule follower when it comes to The Rule of Thirds. 🤭 😂🤣😂🤣 Ohhhh, Fi!! What are we going to do with me?!! 🤦🏻‍♀️😊

[fatimamummy]

@itsfi  I remember the day when my kid turned the grid on my phone camera, on for me. I had no clue I could have grid while shooting and thought it was only for editing 😂. I haven’t turned it off ever since. 
Least it does it help me take straight photos .