Photography Styling Challenge {patterns}

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Today is my fourth contribution to the wonderful monthly Photography Styling Challenge that Redesigned By M started in June last year. 

My first submission was Morning {click here} followed by Bedroom {click here} and Order {click here}. Each theme or concept is open to interpretation by the photographer, and it has been really interesting seeing how each of us has handled the theme in a different way.

The theme for this month is Patterns, and I couldn't wait to get started photographing the pretty stationery that is on offer here in South Korea. 

The photographs cannot be edited in anyway, and only a maximum of five images may be posted. This is always difficult for me as I am tend to take so many photographs that I struggle to choose the best ones. Each one appeals to me in a different way. But, in essence this is exactly the point of the challenge...to better yourself as a photographer and stylist. One of the biggest challenges for myself this year as a photographer is to shoot with more purpose, and not to just snap away and hope that 1 out of the 400 images i capture comes out exactly as I envision it. So yes, this series has been challenging, but I've learnt a lot about myself as a photographer and about my equipment too. 

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Here are my five chosen images for this photography challenge. I styled my shoot in my bedroom to maximise the soft morning light that comes through our one and only window, and I used a piece of white foam board as a reflector and base.

I used the following settings on my NIkon d300s & 35mm 1.8 lens:

-ISO 400

-Aperture variation of 1.8 - 2.5

-Shutter-speed 320

-I had my white balance on cloudy and used only natural light (no flash was used).

I am going to start including my settings used in this challenge to give you an idea of how you can recreate the style of these images. I am constantly learning every time I pick up my camera too, but I hope these help you a little in your photographic journey.