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 

[Titian06]

So pretty, @itsfi ! 😍  I love the theme for this pic and the brush is lovely! 💖💖💖

[itsfi]

Thank you @Titian06! I had fun with the theme. 🥰

[sister13]

I was getting ready for an evening event yesterday and picking out my jewelry and decided to add two of my all time favorite brushes to snap a pic for the challenge. The Chanel pouf I have had forever and doesn’t really do much but look pretty and feel nice. The Laduree is wonderful for blush and highlighter. These are not well styled or anything but show down pretty things and the gold on the brushes matched the jewelry, at least! 

 

[itsfi]

@sister13, the Chanel pouf makes me smile. It looks so fluffy and fun❣️ Your jewelry is beautiful. 

[Samtian]

@sister13 Oh wow those are so beautiful!!! I need them both. 

[Titian06]

Very pretty, @sister13 !  Love the poofy brush! 💖💖💖

[itsfi]

@Samtian, I've been using these monthly challenges to delve a little deeper into different aspects of photography; or, at least, to me, they seem like delving deeper. I typically just point and shoot, then rotate my photos if I need to so that they are right side up, and maybe crop the edges to center the shot. This time though, when I took that same approach, the original shot (in the spoiler) seemed to showcase the eyeshadow palette more than the brushes, so I decided to crop, zoom in, and rotate the original photo just a little bit more to get a closer look at the brushes themselves. 

Original Photo:

Spoiler

Original Photo

It's not exactly what I had in mind but it's closer to it than my original photo and it's more focused on the brushes than the original, so a step in the right direction. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. It was interesting to see how I could change the look and feel of the photo (even if just slightly) by doing a little editing. It's the same shot, just magnified to provide a more focused view of the brushes. Learning. Slowly, but surely. 

SEPHORA COLLECTION PRO Shadow Brush #15 SEPHORA COLLECTION PRO Shadow Brush #18 

[BlondeCafe]

The second photo features the texture of the brushes so well. I also love what it has done for the glitter in the palette itself. Great work! 

[itsfi]

@BlondeCafe, thank you! That's so kind of you to say; much appreicated!

[greeneyedgirl107]

@itsfi What palette this this?  I'm thinking maybe LORAC?  

[itsfi]

@greeneyedgirl107, it is the Lorac PRO Palette Noir. 

[greeneyedgirl107]

@itsfi pretty!  I wish I had bought LORAC palettes when they were carried in store at Ulta.  So many of them were appealing but just not enough to get them as back then I was buying a lot of palettes.  Now that nothing has piqued my interest in some time, I'm regretting it.  Idk if ulta even carries the line anymore.  I thought kohl's did, but I'm guessing not since sephora went in.

[SportyGirly125]

@greeneyedgirl107 @itsfi I miss when they had the Lorac Mega palettes for the holidays. 

[greeneyedgirl107]

@SportyGirly125 It's always sad when brands aren't as prevalent as they once were.

[itsfi]

@greeneyedgirl107, I was late in picking up the Lorac pro palettes. Had my eye on them when they were first released but wanted to hold off until I worked through more of my existing eyeshadows. The Lorac shadows are nice and I do like the color stories to a few of them. All the Ulta stores in the city have permanently closed and the closest ones are anywhere from 30 - 60 minutes away so I do not get to them often, if at all. I ordered this one and another one based on swatches I saw online. I noticed that the brand has a corresponding "mini" version of each of the larger palettes - if I'm remembering right, there are 6 shadows in those palettes. Th Lorac palettes are available online but I've found that store inventory varies by the particular store - when there were 2 Ultas in the city, one carried the palettes but the other did not. 

[greeneyedgirl107]

@itsfi Thanks for the info!  I didn't realize that Ulta carried anything from the brand at all.  I've bought so few eye palettes in recent years that I'm wondering if I should track down ones I didn't bother to buy initially, or that I have FOMO about.  Several would be LORAC.  

I'm so sorry that all your Ultas closed down.  That is just awful!  My local mall has closed a lot of stores (and it was never an amazing mall to begin with) but I'd be so disappointed if Ulta closed by me.  That said, I do the majority of my Ulta shopping online, but I like to go in-store to browse.

[Samtian]

@itsfi I love how it makes you try new things! You are going to love next months! I like how you magnified it, I did something similar! 

[itsfi]

Just saw the theme for September’s challenge @Samtian. Loving all the themes but I have a few things 😉 that come to mind for this month’s sheet mask theme. lol. Going to post a note about this month’s photography challenge theme on the mask thread.

[itsfi]

Awwww, thank you for saying that @Samtian! Venturing out of my comfort zone isn't something I'm great at, even if I know I should, and it's definitely not my first choice, but it's good for me and good for growth. Thank YOU for giving me, giving all of BIC, a platform to be creative and to grow. I appreciate that more than I can truly put into words.

Yeah, this magnification thing is something I'm going to have to work on more. I *think* I have an idea of what I should have done to get the shot I was aiming to - part of it involves taking the photo straight on and close up, instead of at an angle at a distance. I'll try to keep working at it with other photos I take. 

[Titian06]

@itsfi - Actually, I like the original photo better!  The angled palette and brushes are great.  My eyes go right to the white tips of the brushes and then the brush handles.  Then I look at the wonderful palette.  BTW, what palette is this?  Those colors are right up my alley.  The small/close-up pic, my brain keeps trying to widen the space.  I personally don't like close-up closeups.  With that said, I can't believe how clear and in-focus the pic is!  My pics never come out like this.  You definitely have a gift! 😘

[itsfi]

@Titian06, ah, thank you. That is very kind of you to say. Lighting plays the biggest part for me when it comes to my pics. 📷 

Oh, I think you would looove the colors in this palette. It’s Lorac PRO Palette Noir. ♥️