I began my 30-day Photography challenge on the 3rd of August 2020, where I decided to practice creative photography for thirty days, trying a new style each day. I’ve just reached the 21st day of my challenge. Honestly, I am proud of my perseverance. Working from home had hit my creativity the hardest. However, this challenge was a breath of fresh air.
It not only taught me the patience to learn and apply new techniques but also gave my photography a boost. If you’ve missed the first ten days of my challenge, follow this link to see how I achieved my results.
I found the next ten days harder than the initial ones. The techniques were hard, finding the right prop or subject became tricky because of the lockdown. However, it taught me to make the most of what is available around me. My observation skills improved, and I started innovating composition methods.
Here’s what the next ten days look like of my 30-day photography challenge:
Day 11: Landscapes
It is one of my favourite styles of photography that ranges from shooting vast and infinite spaces to tiny elements with nature being the most vital part of the composition.
Learning: Prefer the golden hour to capture your landscape images. The light is soft and brings out beautiful tones in your image. Also, don’t forget to keep your aperture the lowest to capture all the elements.
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Day 12: Dynamic Tension
Dynamic tension was a fascinating discovery as I had never heard of this technique before. It is a way of using energy and movement available in various features of the frame to draw the eye out of the picture, in different directions.
Learning: Observe your surroundings and spot patterns and lines that run in different directions.
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Day 13: Light painting
Light painting is a technique where light is painted into the photograph using a handheld light source during a long exposure. It is tricky because you do not see what you are doing until you finish taking the photo. But it is fun to see the outcome.
Learning: Light painting often requires a light source like a torch, led tubes etc. However, in the absence of these products, you can use your phone’s flashlight or screen light to create gripping effects.
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Day 14: Colourful water drops
Water droplets create stunning effects under a controlled environment and are one of the best kinds of creative photography to practice at home.
Learning: You can either use colourful pebbles or wallpaper as I did for the backdrop and place your drops on a glass table. Also, make sure to click on the highest aperture.
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Day 15: Self Portrait
A self-portrait is a picture of oneself. It is a style where the photographer allows to connect the audience to themselves than the image. Personally, it is one of my least favourites styles in photography. However, keeping my feelings aside, I decided to understand the depth of this technique.
Learning: Ideating your composition is very important as that will play a vital part in your storytelling process. Also, look for a good light source and background to add a dramatic effect to your photos.
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Day 16: Balance
Balance determines whether the photo is pleasing and harmonious or uncomfortable and unresolved to the eye. It can be achieved by following the basic rules of composition like the Rule of Thirds.
Learning: Try shifting the frame and comparing subjects within it in a way that the objects, tones, and colours appear of equal visual weight.
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Day 17: Unbalance
Unbalance is the opposite of Balance in photography, where the aim is to create visual harmony. Here the motive is to build tension. Dynamic tension is a type of photography that creates unbalance in the composition.
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Day 18: Frame within a frame
It is a great technique to draw viewers’ attention to a particular focal point in an image. One of my favourite styles when it comes to architectural photography.
Learning: You can use the foreground framing technique, where the foreground is off focus, and the background remains the centre of attention to create a beautiful composition.
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Day 19: Panorama
Panorama, also known as wide format photography is a technique of photography that uses specific software to capture images with horizontally elongated fields of view.
Learning: It is great for outdoor photography. However, if you’re trying to click panorama at home, try clubbing with cloning to achieve stunning results.
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Day 20: Depth
Depth is a captivating concept to add to your photos. It can be achieved through various composition techniques like the Rule of thirds, frame within a frame, converging lines, dynamic tension etc. The main idea is to play with the background and foreground to create a deep depth of field.
Learning: While composing your shot, add layers to create depth.
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Pin this image to start your photography challenge!
The next ten days focused on new creative photography techniques that gave a boost to my photography skills.
I will keep sharing my learning from this challenge on Instagram, as well as here. Till then keep snapping!
