My Photography Toolbox

I have had never seen something like this before: A game to take photographs. This could be a new way to have fun inside and outside. Next to that this game could be a help with learning some basics of photography. These all might be good assumptions, but are they true? Today is the day that I am reviewing the ‘My Photography Toolbox’ game.

At first the box is quite small, feels very sturdy and the graphical design of the packaging is very inviting. When you open the box there are explanation and game cards inside. The cards feel the same good and sturdy quality as the box itself. This is already a good start!

The playing cards have different colors on their back and different categories. You start with picking a genre. These genre cards are displaying and explaining the general genre of the photo you should take. Think about fine art, commercial and street photography. The next type of card is a fundamental card. These cards are the fundamentals of the picture. Think about texture, light or shape that should stand out on the picture. After this card you take a principle card. Principle cards explain and ask things like play with contrast, perspectives and proportions for example. The next card is an attitude. These cards let you play with how to hold your camera compared to the objects. Maybe frame it in a new way or wait way longer than you are used to. Lastly you also have composition cards, which ask for a specific composition. Think about diagonal, rule of thirds and central compositions. If you decide to play individually these are the cards to play with. You have 20 minutes for taking the best possible shot. All the categories have text cards and photo cards. Each possible text also has a card with a matching image.

If you play with multiple people the audience award cards will come into play. Everyone gets these and in the end the photo with the most votes is the winner of that round.

Sometimes the cards are explained with the use of an image and other times there will be made use of text and some deeper explanation. It is nice that this way you can interpret your personal cards in your way to create the best picture. The cards are very clear and easy to read. This makes sure there will be an easy understanding and therefore a quicker game.

You can play this game alone or together with other people, who also play individual or in teams. Because there is an option to play this game alone it is nice to learn yourself more tricks and give yourself some inspiration for new views on photography and a way of photographing.

Of course I played the My Photography Toolbox game myself too. I haven’t played it with multiple people, but I have played it on my own. I would still like it to play it with more people and different teams, because I think this will be a lot of fun.

I took the following cards:

Genre: An image of a girl in front of a pink wall, wearing headphones. It seemed to be a more commercial photo. — I used a headphone too.

Fundamentals: Texture. I had to look for visual and tactile qualities and capture them. — I used a scarf to make use of different materials.

Principles: Perspective. Play with something on the foreground. — One of the two ears was placed on the front. The other one got blurry.

Attitudes: An image of the dunes with a para glider. — I connected it to rest and simplicity and therefore kept the picture calm.

Composition: Diagonal. I had to tilt the camera and make a diagonal viewpoint. — The ears of the headphone are in a diagonal line.

And the picture above is my result. I like it that I added a shawl to add new textures to the picture. This makes the picture a little bit more playful. Next to that the diagonal aspect was a little bit hard at first, but I think I quite managed to get it into the final pictures. I am going to play this game much more, because it really inspired me and I think the combination of multiple cards will give me new insights and new inspiration! Already when I am writing down my thought during this challenge I come up with more ideas!

Would I recommend it?

Yes, definitely! I really liked the My Photography Toolbox. I think if you like photography and want to try it yourself, this game will help you discovering the things you like within photography. But also as a more advanced photographer you might like this game. I think this game offers some new views on photography and how to use different techniques. Also in combination with each other.

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