Welcome to yet another edition of the monthly Photography Styling Challenge. I cannot believe we are halfway through the challenge already. It seems like yesterday that I chanced upon this challenge on M’s blog and decided to play along. I cannot tell you how much fun it has been and how much I have learned along the way.
This month’s concept is Order/Organization. It opens up such a wide range of options, yet I found myself stumped trying to decide what to shoot this month.
Then one day, I spread out a blanket on our living room floor and got to work. I had fun coming up with ideas for the shoot. I experimented with different objects that can work with both this month’s theme Order and next month’s theme of Chaos. I tried with rows of objects, my jewelry box, random baskets and catch-all bowls, but somehow failed to be fully satisfied.
I finally decided on a shot of my handbag with the contents neatly arranged nearby. I have seen this particular idea floating around the web, so it is not the most original of ideas.
1. Ladies’ Handbag
The state of my handbag is a running joke between hubby and me. He says I can survive with that thing alone for quite a few days. Well ladies, can’t we all?! I guess you can find out what a woman’s priorities are just by going through her purse. Right now, mine has juice boxes, snacks and even little toys. ‘Be prepared’, is what the Girl Scouts has taught me!
All my cards, receipts and money are nicely arranged in a wallet and cosmetics in another little bag. I cannot believe that just a couple of years back, I was toting around tons of diapers and wipes too! Now, if only my bag was this organized all the time.
I was not very satisfied with the other shots and decided to post just one image this time.
2. Wildcard Entry
Then last weekend, we were all huddled inside the house on an awfully cold and wet day. Boy was playing on the living room floor. Now, I like to think I may have passed on my somewhat ‘orderly’ gene to him. He created a little play scene with his toys. It is supposed to be a railway track going around a farm. Slowly other items accumulated, yet somehow there was an ‘order’ to it.
Only a child’s imagination can come up with an air control tower and fire engines in a farm! I simply started clicking and somehow felt compelled to share them here. To my eye, there is a sort of order and discipline here. I hope you agree.
When he was done, the animals were gently scooped up and transferred to their bin. Good job, Boy! (This particular picture may not say much about ‘order’, but I couldn’t resist those chubby fingers!)
Now his absolute favorite pastime is creating neat little rows of matchbox cars.
Sometimes he arranges them by color and/or size, but I wanted candid shots and did not think to direct him in any way. I think this picture captures the essence of both this month’s concept and his personality as well!
While I usually have an idea (in my head) on what I want to shoot for each concept, I am happy with how the wildcard entry photos turned out. It is somehow counter-intuitive to this month’s theme, but I hope it’s okay!
As I write this, I realized this is the last challenge for this year. Whoever coined the term “Time flies” was not kidding.
Before you go, be sure to check out the other posts at these participating blogs.
As always, please leave your feedback, let me know what I could have done differently, and be sure to check out next month’s post on the concept ‘Chaos‘.
And remember, it’s never too late to join in the fun! Click on the Photography Styling Challenge button in the sidebar if you’d like to take part in future challenges.
To recap, here is last month’s post on the concept Bedroom.
To see all my previous challenge posts, please visit my Photography Styling Challenge page.
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vaish says
sigh, I wish I could carry a handbag and if I did, it was as organized as this :-/
Good post, Anjana!! 🙂
Anjana @ At The Corner Of Happy & Harried says
Haha… bet you could in a couple of years when you are done with diapers, wipes and bottles!
CityGirlSearching says
Lovely photographs Anjana! I like all of them 🙂 Especially the shot of all the toys surrounding the train tracks, that definitely shouts order to me! Well done x
Anjana @ At The Corner Of Happy & Harried says
Thank you, Roxy! Something about the scene spoke to me about order and hence, I decided to shoot it. Glad it worked.
Supriti Chauhan says
Hi Anjana! The last picture reminds me of the time when my son was no more than 5 years old. He too would line up all his toys and admire them all day long! He is 17 now and he still has his dinosaur collection lined up on his study! Boys never grow up, do they? BTW lovely shots!
Anjana @ At The Corner Of Happy & Harried says
Thanks Supriti! Yes, boys and their toys!!
Dillon Kin says
Agreed with M. I love the pic of the cars lined up. I can’t believe a kid can be so organized. I was definitely on the other end when I was a kid.
Anjana @ At The Corner Of Happy & Harried says
Thank you, Dillon. He can be messy alright. Sometimes he just likes to park his cars and admire them!
Namrata says
Hi Anjana, I like the way you placed your bag contents. Makes a good ‘orderly’ picture. The second pic is my fav. In spite of not being placed in a straight organized manner, the shot speaks volumes in Order. A truck towing a car is cute, wonder if you had taken a close up, would it make a better picture? Just a thought.
Anjana @ At The Corner Of Happy & Harried says
thank you, Namrata!
In spite of not being arranged in an orderly manner, the way in which the farm scene was contained within the tracks, just captivated me.
The handbag shot happened when I was over-thinking the shoot (which I tend to do a lot of), and the play-time pictures is just me getting lucky. I think I have to learn to let go more often and see what I can come up with.
Off to see your entry now!!
Redesigned By M says
I love that photo of Boy’s cars lined up in a row! It fits the theme perfectly and I just adore the shallow field of depth in the photography. Way to demonstrate that kids do not always play messy! I can’t quite remember which category I fell into as a kid… ~M.
Anjana @ At The Corner Of Happy & Harried says
Thank you, M! The last one is my fave too.
Haha… you should see how ‘messy’ he can be sometimes!!