PhotoChallenge.org

So it’s been a month since we finished the April and May Challenges, back-to-back. I kinda felt bored with my photography in June. Not only did I not get much done, I didn’t get out and shoot very much.

Now, I know that I need to take a break from the monthly challenges, occasionally. Every other month is the best pattern. I get a month to rest and develop the next exciting challenge, then off we go! Shooting all month long then becomes exciting and fun. Seeing what you’re all doing only challenges me even more. So far we’ve shot daily challenges and weekly challenges. We’ve even done one in the middle. I’d say that I actually prefer the daily challenges. It gets me out and shooting on a regular basis. Making the effort every day isn’t really that hard. When we’ve shot weekly, I find that I procrastinate until the end of the week, and I come up with lower quality work.

So, we’re going to shoot daily, again. Don’t like it? Too bad! (he, he)

For July, I want you to go out there and shoot all the lighting fixtures that you can find. Shoot desk lamps and floor lamps. Shoot street lights and head lights. Shoot flood lamps and brake lights.

I’m looking for you to capture the actual light. The fixture is also important, but don’t forget the light it produces. I’d prefer for the light to be lit, but this isn’t a requirement. I’m not interested in what the light is illuminating. That’s not the focus of this challenge. I want us all to grow in our ability to manipulate how we capture the actual light being cast. I’ll follow up this post pointing you in the direction of some sound wisdom about how to do just this.

Below are a few ideas to get you started. I found them with a little search work on Flickr.

We’ll shoot one a day, all month long, for July, 2008. I want new photographs. Make sure to tag your submissions correctly…

• “photochallenge”
• “julychallenge2008″
• “photochallenge.org”

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For the regular challenge participants, you were expecting a June Challenge. Unfortunately, as I’ve looked at the rest of my year, I knew that I’d need to change up the current pattern. Last year I started with the October Challenge. Then we shot portraits for the December Challenge. Then came the February Challenge, and now we’re shooting for the April Challenge. I have really enjoyed the every-other-month pattern, so far. Generally speaking, I’ll be keeping that pattern. However, I need to mix it up just a bit.

So, today I’m announcing the May Challenge. On the last day of April, we’ll shoot and post our last entropy shot. Then, the following morning, we’ll awake to discover the beginning of the May Challenge. What will we shoot? What do you have to look forward to learning and trying that’s new and challenging?

I missed out on Neil Creek’s first Iron Chef Photography project, called “fork”. Neil’s projects are a little more contest like, however we can learn from them. Basically, participants shot a fork, for the purpose of fine art. The results were awesome! I was disappointed to miss out on that project. Neil’s current project is called Share the Love. I’ve already planned a submission for this one.

The Fork project got me thinking. I started considering what a challenge would look like that forced everyone to photograph the same object, but give it their own twist. Then I thought about how we would all grow if we had to photograph that same object multiple times.

Now, don’t freak out. I’m not suggesting that we photograph one object all month. That would become very boring. However, I am telling you that each week, I’ll select a new object of our aim.

Additionally, I won’t let you plan ahead. I’ll announce each week’s object on Sunday, beginning each week. I have already selected 2 of the objects. If you’d like to make any suggestions, please comment below. I’d love to consider your ideas!

The same system will apply to this challenge. We’ll each submit our daily shot, carefully tagging it on Flickr. This time, I’d like to include the year, so pay attention. We’ll tag them all with “maychallenge2008“.

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So, I’m reading my regular daily blogs today and I stumbled upon Darren Rowse’s recent post at his ProBlogger.net. He very simply posted all the places he can be found on the internets. So here I go…

I’m sure that there are a few new readers who may have wandered over here from a Google search or a link somewhere else. We live in a ‘net connected time where there are many places to connect with each other. So you may not be aware of the many places I exist.

Social Networks

• Facebook
• Pownce
• Twitter
• Flickr
• FriendFeed
• Digg
• Upcoming.org

Blogs

• TrevorCarpenter.com
• PhotoWalking.org
• PhotoChallenge.org
• CamarilloWalk.com

Various Groups

• Facebook: Photowalking Group
• Flickr: Photowalking Group
• Flickr: Ventura County Strobist Group
• Flickr: ZEX Group
• Upcoming: Photowalking Group
• Flickr: PhotoChallenge Group
• Facebook: Trevor Carpenter Fan Club

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So, I stumbled through the February Challenge, and many of you did a great job. Thanks to all of you who remained committed.

It’s mid-month now, and I’m gearing up for another Challenge, for April. This time, I’ll make it a bit less confusing, we’ll submit one shot a day. I went back and saw that many more participated in the portrait-based December Challenge, than did for the color-based February Challenge. I’m sure there are many reasons why less participated, none-the-less, I think it was simply easier to remember that you had committed to shoot once a day.

This Challenge will focus on all things entropy. Entropy, as defined by the American Heritage Dictionary is…

• A measure of the disorder or randomness in a closed system.
• The tendency for all matter and energy in the universe to evolve toward a state of inert uniformity.
• Inevitable and steady deterioration of a system or society.

Or, more simply put:

• Devolution

What I’m looking for this month is a daily image highlighting all things broken. Even one block off of the perfectly landscaped fronts in Las Vegas you’ll find examples of the real world around us. This is a wonderful experiment in seeing the varied communities we all live in and around. It doesn’t matter if you live in a sprawling metropolis, the most remote and private cabin, or amongst the backbone of our civilization in a rural town, there are brokenness and devolved things to be seen. Please join us and share yours!

Don’t forget, I need to be able to find your work, so make sure to tag it properly. Use “aprilchallenge” and “photochallenge” and I should be able to gather all the submissions. Also, feel free to join the Flickr group and submit each image to the pool.

Below are a few examples of what I’m looking for you to shoot. If you are having a hard time understanding this Challenge, feel free to comment or shoot me an email (trevor {at} photochallenge {dot} org.

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I want to just come out and say it…

I am a looser, and I did not effectively participate in my own challenge!

There, now I feel better. This month turned out to be a poor choice, for personal reasons. Everything is fine, I just did not have the time, motivation, or energy to accomplish the February Challenge, like I wanted.

So, many of you did an awesome job of shooting with a color theme each week. I saw that a lot even shot more than the basic 3 shots, but chose your own favorites to blog about. Well done.

I’ll gather up the majority of your shots, and blog a recap here, in a few days. I already have an April Challenge planned, and I’ll be announcing that in a week or so. Hopefully, I can get this back on track.

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OK sports fans, it’s time to get ready for the February Challenge. I know you’re all working hard on the 2008 Challenge, shooting your communities each week, but this is different. Last October we chose to shoot black & white all month, challenging ourselves to grow and understand the beautiful complexity of B&W.

Then in December we shot a portrait a day, all month long. This challenge forced me to grow to love portraiture so much, that I’ve adapted my own business plan to focus primarily on shooting portraits. I’m now working to get equipment that is better suited for taking portraits.

So, following the every-other-month pattern, February 2008 is the next month for a challenge. I’ve worked hard the last few weeks developing some ideas and even bouncing them off of a few wise photographers I know.

I’ve decided to pursue a Color Theory challenge. What is Color Theory? Well, for our purposes it is basically making a concerted effort to capture an image with one single color overwhelming the majority of the image. Basically, your photo should be primarily one color. Be creative though, I’d love to see photos that capture a color in a new and unorthodox way.

For fear that I’m not getting it across to you, I’ve included a handful of great examples below.

Now, here’s where it gets tricky. I want three images a week. Not bad, no? It’s not one a day, but not one a week. Additionally, I want you to choose the same color for the whole week. Then, a new color for the following week. Since February spans 5 weeks, you’ll need to have 5 different colors, with 3 images each. Get it?

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