Subjectivity, such a wonderful way to bring out the creative in all of us with a theme so perfectly calculated to get those wheels spinning. With themes like this, where you are open to interpret whatever you wish to from the theme we end up with some of the most absolutely stunning submissions it blows our minds here at Fantastically Flawed. The lovely Ceri Herd of Ceri Herd Photography with is for this amazing theme and you would not believe the caliber of submissions we received. I feel as though I know you all a little better. 
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Congratulations to our spotlight artist ​Anita Cline

Ceri had this to say about her winning image: ​Anita's stunning image stopped me in my tracks the moment I saw it! The freelesnsed softness creates a dream-like texture of fallen leaves and glowing bokeh, along with creative and attention-grabbing focus on beautiful rich red tones, is magical and nostaglic. Simply perfect.

And the top 9 in no particular order:

Admin Honourable Mention: Wilhelmina Photography
This image is so absolutely stunning and full of rich textures it stopped me right in my tracks! What a wow shot from this carefully styled shoot! Well done!

Please join us on Facebook and on Instagram next round for the lovely Alicia Fethke with "Life is a reflection of what you choose to see" -Unintentional reflections- 

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WE LOVE YOU IN ALL YOUR FLAWED WONDER 
Thank you for being here with us! You all make this community wonderful! 

My Autumn! What more can I say? We loved seeing all the beautiful interpretations of all this gorgeous season has to offer, with all the colours bursting through the forests in my area it was amazing to see what details caught everyones eye in all the different places you all live. Seeing this season through all your lenses was simply a privilege. 
Admin Judge: Jade Lyf of Lyf is Grand Photography

Congratulations to our spotlight artist Janet Douglas‎​

This image is absolutely breathtaking! I am completely speechless by this incredible work of art. What a wonderful use of double exposure and texture. Amazing work! 

Top 5 images in no particular order: 

Sarah Clark Villarreal‎ ​

Selah Photography ​

Join us over at the Fantastically Flawed Instagram and Facebook page for the next theme   "Art is the colors and textures of your imagination" ~ Meghan Trainor  with our guest Judge Ceri Herd Photography 

This round we decided to do a little something different. We encouraged our community to share their favourite flawed techniques with us, and why they love them. 
So we have compiled those to share with you in the interest of learning more about what makes the Fantastically Flawed community so beautiful. Each different technique will be listed, and underneath you will see all the submissions from that category which was shared with us this round. 
We hope you enjoy this little departure from our normal routine! We absolutely did! 

Set your camera to a slower than necessary shutter speed and before the shutter closes, experiment with moving your camera intentionally to create this dreamy effect. 

 intentional camera movement
I *love* to experiment with this technique, to create abstract art from the light and tones of the scene in front of me, to capture mood rather than being visually accurate. ​Ceri Herd Photography

Remove the lens and hold it close to the body of your camera, focus to infinity and tilt the lens to create a slice of focus and dreamy bokeh surrounding the detail you chose to enhance. The lower your F stop, the smaller the depth of field and the more precise your slice will be. 

 Freelensing is my favorite because it feels like a dream, like a memory. I know some people try it and give up because they can't get a good slice of focus but to me, the really soft dreamy ones are my favorite because they speak to my soul.  Kelly Akers Photography

An image that is entirely out of focus can feel like a painting or a memory and can in fact, sometimes, tell your story more accurately without the details. This is usually achieved by focusing too close, rather than too far from your subject.

OOF Blur ‎Janet Douglas‎ ​

Using your camera, usually in manual focus mode, to focus on something unusual like a strand of hair or stray plant in the foreground causes the viewer to be drawn further into the story of the image in some cases. In other cases the use of foreground bokeh can create a dreamy effect. This is an excellent way to create a wide variety of images and feelings. 

​One of my favorite flawed techniques I used in this image was manual focus to create something on blurpose ;) I used part of the plant to create layering in the foreground while manually focusing on a part of the plant further in. I can't really pick one favorite flawed technique that I love the most .. Here I've combined manual focus, texture, OOF, soft focus, and over exposure in some areas! Taken with my Helios lens which alone provides some beautiful flaws :) | Shannon Kathleen Photography

Flares from bright light on the outside front element of your lens and also light that leaks through between the lens and the camera mount can cause this dreamy effect. 

My favorite ways of creating flawed images are freelensing, and light leaks! Bring them together and magic happens. Lauren Jensen Photography ​

Sometimes we just don't know how it happens, but a happy accident can cause a beautiful image through any number of occurrences. 

By leaving your shutter open longer than necessary you can blur parts of your image, or create the illusion that the image is in motion. Experimenting with this technique can produce some fascinating results.

People often look at my work and will openly tell me that I've not got it in focus. I lost the shot. I missed the moment. When I tell them that I actually shoot with that in mind it confuses them - especially folk who are just starting out on their photography path.
Motion blur and images which are not tack sharp are one of my favourite flaws to play with. Because freezing moments is a key part to being a photographer right? But so is shooting too reflect the mood - and this boy doesn't sit still, he is always moving, he is the blur, he is the motion and I want to capture him moving through my photograph, recording him doing his thing, for at 6 years old, he is never frozen. The Glass Narrator

This technique can be achieved both in camera and in post by taking a photo on top of another photo producing a sort of "window" appearance.

Lensbaby lenses and optics are designed to give your images a "flawed" or "unique" appearance. There is a variety of these lenses and they are very affordable.

Removing a lens and turning it around and holding it close to the camera to foucus on something very closely, a quick fix if you don't have a macro lens, also creates a very unique look.

Here is a reverse macro shot of mine! There are a lot of butterflies outside these days! Michèle Tremblay Photo 

Addition of simulated film grain or grain and texture from an added overlay, also use of actual film can add this kind of visual noise. 

Texture Overlays 
Lens Flare 
Over Exposure 
Under Exposure 
Prisming
Helios Swirl
Dramatic Black and White
Abnormal Composition/Cropping
Smudge Painting
Shooting Through
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Our current theme is -My Autumn- running through Oct 23rd 
See you there! 

These last three weeks have been crazy for everyone, between the terrible forest fires on the west coast and the absolutely tragic damage from Hurricane Urma our hearts are simply worn out from worrying about everyone affected. We decided with all the chaos to extend this theme another week. The amazing coincidence of this theme having been water was not lost on us, everything is truly connected. The absence of water on the west coast where it is usually so lush and damp has caused some of the worst fires this year than we have ever seen before, and yet, on the other side of the country there is more water than anyone can handle in the wake of Urma. Water is ever fickle and ever unpredictable, it sustains our bodies and has the power to destroy entire cities, it calms us, saves us, revives and refreshes us, and terrifies us all at once. 
Water also inspires us, and that is what we want to show you today. 
Thank you to our very own Michèle Tremblay for choosing and judging this theme. 

Congratulations to our spotlight artist Sarah Villarreal Photography

Michele had this to say about your image: "This is a perfect flawed image with so many beautiful elements in it. Child and water goes together, this wonderful scene powerfully illustrates that happy relation. The reflection of running kids in the water adds a magic touch, as well as this bird flying to meet them."

Our next theme is -Favourite Flawed Technique- it will run for 2 weeks and we encourage you to tell us how and why you use your favourite flawed technique and how it has helped you grow as an artist! 
Each admin will be showing their favourites throughout the theme so keep your eye out! Thank you for all the support and in turn we support you in any way we can. 

The theme this round was -Freelensed- brought to us by the incredibly talented Megan Boggs of honey + co. photography and the founder of The Freelensed Project. We are so excited about this theme over a Fantastically Flawed and our jaws have been on the floor for days and days with all these immaculate images flooding in! There is something so inherently unique about a freelensed image taken by an individual because it simply cannot be replicated in any way ever; and because of that we feel at FF that this theme has brought out some of the quintessentially beautiful flaws in each of us and the way we view the world, this is somewhat perfect for us so we thank Megan for joining us this round and without further adieu here are her chosen images! 

Congratulations to our spotlight artist for this round Kristina Dominianni‎ of Hello Olivia 

Megan's top 5 in no particular order:

Our next theme was chosen by our very own Michèle Tremblay Photo she has chosen the theme -Water- for the next 2 weeks, we are looking forward to seeing your flawed water themed images.
Join us on the Fantastically Flawed facebook page. Or over on Instagram use #fantasticallyflawed to be featured on our Instagram @fantasticallyflawed. 

This beautifully chosen theme has left us here at Fantastically Flawed with a sense of overt wonder. This peek into the patches on light in your lives has touched our hearts. We are an emotional lot over here, but it's the truth, we've cherished these little peeks beyond the shadows and into the place where you see the light.

 Theme chosen by the lovely Melissa of Melissa Ortendahl Photography ​

Congratulations to our Spotlight Artist Erika Brooke Franta of Erika Brooke Photography

The top submissions for this theme are as follows, in no particular order: 

We are so thrilled to see you for our next theme "Freelensed" from Megan of honey + co. photography Megan is the founder of The Freelensed Project, a freelensing community on Instagram and on Facebook. We encourage you to go and check that out!
Be Seeing You!! <3

This theme -couples- really explored the deeply rooted sense of connection people are capable of and every entry touched our hearts so thoroughly. 
Prepare for some of the sweetest images you'll ever see.
 

Congratulations to our spotlight artist Erika Brooke Franta‎ 
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Brianna had this to say about the winning image: "I believe love is blind and love is pure. As a social worker myself, I am a true witness to the REAL and genuine love that individuals with intellectual disabilities truly have. These kids are heaven on earth and truly deserve to come out on top for this couple theme! Because this little couple melted my heart and won me over!"

Brianna's chosen top 9 in no particular order: 

Admin Honourable Mention: Studio412 Imagery 
Sometimes here at Fantastically Flawed we come across an image that just takes our breath away completely, this is one of those times. 
Simply stunning image, thank you for sharing this with us. 

What a wonderful set of submissions, just melts my heart every time I see any of them. 
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The next theme is "finding the light" with Melissa of Melissa Ortendahl Photography. We are SO excited to see you there! 
And as always we are accepting weekly faves ongoing and keep your eye out for our first monthly weekly faves post coming up soon! 

This Theme "Blue" was meant to be completely open to interpretation as I wanted to adventure into how you all see the blue in our world, in your world. The submissions were as varied as each soul who took them and I couldn't have had a more difficult time choosing a spotlight artist for this one.
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Theme chosen and judged by Jade Lyf of  Lyf Is Grand Photography

Congratulations to our spotlight artist Aseel Aziz-Gomez of Zoombug Photos - Lexington KY

I had a truly difficult time choosing a winner for this theme, there were a couple of images that I kept coming back to but this one has an air of nostalgia for me that I can't deny. Truly a perfect image of summertime with friends or family, encased in clear blue water and soaked in fun and sunshine. Wonderful.

​Earth Angels- Angela Juhasz Photography

​Soul Chasing Photography

Amazing images all the way through right? 
Well you're in for another treat as our next theme "Couples" has been chosen by the lovely Brianna Waltman of Breezy Photography and we simply can't wait to see how she judges these new submissions. 
Head over to our facebook page and leave your theme submissions and your weekly favourites too! 
Love you Flawed people, one and all. 

06.21.17 through 07.06.17
"summer"
I wanted to celebrate the first day so summer by being surrounded by amazing images of summer around the globe.  You did not disappoint!

Theme and judging by Ashlee Krammes.

Congratulations to our Spotlight Artist Mike Wade of Rural Life Photography

I adore the frozen action and the way the water droplets are suspended in the air like crystals.  Though both boys' faces are completely ob‎scured, you can still feel the joy that only summer can bring to childhood.  Thank you Mike for sharing this with us!

Thank you again for sharing your art with us.  We are always so amazed and inspired!  Join us for our next theme brought to you by Jade of Lyf is Grand Photography

7.6.17 - 7.20.17
"blue"
ongoing
"weekly fave"

Post up to two photographs per theme onto Fantastically Flawed's facebook page for a chance to be featured.

These past two weeks at Fantastically Flawed have seen a lot of changes and so we decided to go with something a little different to keep things simple and have a "weekly favourites" open theme. 
You guys absolutely blew us away, as always. 

Theme Judges this week are Admins Ashlee Krammes and Jade Lyf

Congratulations to Spotlight Artist ​Alicja Pietras

This image is deeply moving, there is so much feeling tied into it with the monotone and the blur, the textures and the grain it feels very much like a memory. Simply Stunning. 

Admin top 9 images in no particular order:

​Babs Lambourne Photography

​Sonia Epple Fotografie

​Danielle Kilgore Photography

Congratulations to our featured artists for this period! See you over at the Fantastically Flawed social media platforms for the next theme "Summer" in all it's flawed glory!