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 with Jasmine, Tuberose, and Neroli 1 oz/ 30 mL 

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

[fatimamummy]

@txcatx  I love your photography ! You have a gift and a great eye. It will be awesome to see you posting in this challenge.

[Samtian]

@txcatx We'd love to have you! Jump in and share away! I started the challenge in April, so it's still on going and I will come up with more challenging themes after we complete the first year. We'd love to see what you have for any of the months we've done! 

[Samtian]

I'm lazy and still haven't done November's yet. So we'd love to have you and get you caught up!

[itsfi]

@txcatx, please, please feel free to jump on in and join us! @Samtian just recently updated the challenge theme for this month - if it's something you're interested in taking part in, whether with an archived photo or a new one, we'd love to have you join us this month!. 📷

[fatimamummy]

I very rarely wear nail polishes so this one is gonna be a bit hard but I think I can pull some photos from archive. 
These are old photos, I think from the time when I was using iPhone 8plus and was doing it just for fun. Just now before posting I realized how over exposed actual photos were so I did a little adjustment in Lightroom to make them presentable. 

[CynthieLu]

These are pretty polishes and picturesque 😍 @fatimamummy  you laid them out so nice, they made very good shots ❤

[Saradestin]

Gorgeous pictures and nails @fatimamummy ! 😍

[fatimamummy]

Thank you @Saradestin 

[itsfi]

Beautiful photos @fatimamummy! I love ♥️ that you shared these archive photos - knowing that these shots were taken when you were just doing this for fun and seeing your phenomenal photos now, it really demonstrates what a gift and eye you have always had and it’s awesome to see how you developed that even more. 🥰 

P.S. I have a couple of polishes from this brand in my cart and have taken your posting these photos as a sign I need to purchase them. 😉 

[fatimamummy]

Thank you @itsfi  It is pretty interesting for me to see my own old photos that I was so proud of at that time and now looking at them I can immediately tell what’s not right there. We learn and evolve that’s the beauty 🙌🏼

Did you end up buying these polishes? 

[itsfi]

Yes, indeed @fatimamummy! That's a true sign of how you've grown and developed your photography skills.

I did purchase a few (let's just say "a few" okay? 😆) polishes. After seeing your photo, I went back to my cart and saw it was the last hour of a sale they were having so I didn't waste any more time and went for it. I'm excited to try them out myself. I first heard of them when I was helping a friend look for a gift and have meant to try their polishes. The hardest part is narrowing down which shades to buy. 

[Samtian]

@fatimamummy Those are really pretty colors and placement!

[fatimamummy]

Thank you @Samtian 

[Titian06]

Very pretty, @fatimamummy !  I can tell you used a different camera for these, but the nail polish is the star of the pics so they still look great!  💖💖💖

[fatimamummy]

Thank you @Titian06  Difference in photo quality is amazing

[fatimamummy]

When you are about to sleep and remember you were to post a new photo here, yup that’s me. Here it is @Samtian 
Last entry to the perfume challenge. Looking forward to see December’s theme

Photo taken with Cannon Rebel EOS T7 

[CynthieLu]

This set up is fantastic! This is so professional looking 👌 @fatimamummy Your eye for this stuff is spot on!

[Saradestin]

Wow @fatimamummy ! Spectacular! 😍

[Kim888]

Such a pretty set up @fatimamummy !!!

[Samtian]

@fatimamummy I'm so glad you shared it! You should make a coffee table book ❤️ I love this one so so much!

[itsfi]

This is a work of art @fatimamummy! 😍 The placement of all the pieces in this frame works beautifully together; the fragrances of course are the stars of the photo - gorgeous! At the same time, the supporting pieces, like the books and the pretty (floral shaped?) dish with the blue gradient capture your attention as well but without taking away from the lovely collection of fragrances.