In the words of Finnish children’s writer & illustrator Tove Jansson, “August is the border between summer and autumn; it is the most beautiful month I know.”

Welcome, my sweet scrappy friends, to the month of August! Perhaps you’re fitting in one final getaway before the summer ends. Maybe you’re getting ready to send your kids off to school. It might be that you’re bracing for an empty nest as you send a child off to college. Or maybe it’s life as usual in your neck of the woods. Whatever the case may be, don’t let this month go by without picking up your camera!

Here at the Sweet Shoppe, we’re spending each month of 2024 with a Baker’s Dozen of photo prompts to ensure we’re being purposeful about recording this sweet life we live. So here are thirteen new prompts to inspire your photography in the coming month.

August’s Photo Prompts:

A Little Inspiration…

Here’s a few ideas from my camera to help you get started.

Golden Hour

The Golden Hour is the period of time when the sun is between 6 degrees below and 6 degrees above the horizon. (Depending on where you’re located on the Earth and what time of year it is, it’s roughly one hour before sunset and one hour after sunrise, which is why it’s called the Golden Hour.) When the sun is just above the horizon, its rays hit the Earth at a low angle and have to travel through more of the atmosphere to reach us. “On their way to the Earth’s surface, they encounter atmospheric particles such as dust and water droplets, which filter the sunlight, ultimately making it less bright. This process also adds more indirect light to the mix, softening contours and reducing the contrast.” (source)

During Golden Hour, the sun’s natural light creates long shadows and interesting textures; it’s a soft light that creates beautiful lighting for portraiture. But in truth, everything you shoot during Golden Hour looks good, from portraits to landscapes and wildlife to still life.

Calculate Golden Hour for any location on Earth using this online Calculator and check out this article for more information about Golden Hour photography.

Entrance

If you’re traveling this month, keep an eye out for buildings with interesting or eye-catching doors. This is a particularly fun focus for architectural shots, like this one I captured of a local church:

And remember, doorways often provide the perfect backdrop for photographs of people, too!

Purple

This month, we’re keeping an eye out for the color purple. Where will you spot it and capture it in a photo? I was visiting a friend’s home and noticed the way the light shone through their front door and its purple decorative wreath, and I quickly grabbed my camera.

Low Angle

You can create some truly eye-catching photographs when you change the angle from which you’re shooting. This month, get down on the ground and frame a few shots from a low angle. This is particularly good for capturing pets and small children.

Cold Drink

Whether you record the big tumbler you use to ensure you’re drinking enough water or chronicle a friend or family member enjoying their favorite beverage, capture a photograph of a cold drink. Here, my niece was enjoying an IBC Root Beer on a hot day. Just look at the condensation on the outside of the bottle!

Supplies

School supplies. Office supplies. Building supplies. Craft supplies. Getting-ready-in-the-morning supplies. There’s lots of ways to interpret this prompt – how will you photograph it?

Texture

Keep an eye out for the texture of your world. It could be the weave of a blanket, the grain of a wooden table, or the sand beneath your toes. Take a photograph of it, and use your macro lens or the close-up setting on your phone camera to really capture the detail.

Something New

This is another prompt that’s wide open to interpretation. New school clothes? A new haircut? A new job or hobby? Something new you bought or something new you made … all of these would be great ideas to photograph for this prompt. Here’s a new project I tried – making 3d plushies for the first time – and the new stuffed dinosaurs I created for my grandson.

Yummy

Whether you’re traveling and enjoying the local cuisine, cooking your favorite dish at home, or dining out and indulging in a not-good-for-you-but-delicious-treat (hello, Awesome Blossom – I’m looking at you!) capture a photo of the yumminess and record the moment.

Join us (you could win a free kit!)

I hope you’ll play along with this month’s Baker’s Dozen of photo challenges. Remember, it’s all about being more purposeful about our photography and capturing more images in 2024. As always, I encourage you to share them where you feel comfortable doing so. If you post them on social media, use the hashtag #ssdphotochallenge – and when you scrapbook them, be sure to share your completed layout with us in the Gallery.

We’ve also set up a thread in the SSD Challenges forum for everyone to share their images – and as a bonus, for each photo you post, your name will go in a drawing and one person will win their choice of a kit or template trio or quad from the Shoppe! Congratulations to Scrap-therapy, our winner for the month of July.

Who will be next to win their choice of goodie from the Shoppe? It could be you when you join us in the forum in this thread for August and start sharing your Baker’s Dozen images now. I’ll see you there!