It’s time for the first Monthly Challenge of 2010! In addition to the 2010 Challenge, we will have monthly challenges every other month during the year. Everyone is welcome to participate in these challenges.
"White Raspberries And Fig" by libraryman
The theme for the February Challenge will be “I Ate This”. Each day, take a photo of something you ate, and post it to the photochallenge.org pool on Flickr. When you add it to the pool, be sure to tag it “februarychallenge2010″.
"Yet Another Sushi Roll" by moofbong
If you have never tried food photography before, now is your chance. Or you could use this opportunity to explore some new types of cuisine. Get out there, show us what you ate, and above all have fun!
It’s almost a new year, and that means it’s time for a new yearly challenge!
In 2009, we were challenged to shoot one photo every day, on a theme that changed every day. This was quite a challenge. A lot of people participated during the year, some for the whole year, and some as they could during the year. We recognize that shooting and posting every day is not for everyone, so for 2010 we will be doing something that will be a little easier for everybody to keep up with.
"November 27: Cello Lesson", by sarahbest
Some of you may remember that in 2008, the yearly challenge was to shoot a photo per week documenting your community. A photo per week is quite a bit easier to manage than a photo per day.
So, for 2010, we will be combining the ideas from the 2008 and 2009 challenges. During 2010, the yearly challenge will be to shoot one photo per week, on a theme that will change every four weeks! This will give us a schedule that is much easier to keep up with, but will still provide a variable theme to keep things interesting. The first four weeks will begin on January 1, 2010, and extend through January 23, 2010. The theme for the four weeks following will be announced on the first day of the next four weeks, January 24. You can post your weekly shot any time during the week. When posting, please add your photo to the photochallenge.org pool on flickr, and tag the photos with “2010challenge” and “2010challengeXX”, where XX is the week in a two digit format (01, 02, 03, etc). Of course, you are welcome to join in at any time, and if you miss posting during one week, just make it up the following week. This is about having fun and challenging yourself to become a better photographer, so the rules are guidelines. You won’t be punished or banned from the group if you miss a week or make up a shot.
"Boston Waterfront - Charles River "Evening Jog"", by David Paul Ohmer
Since the first week of 2010 is so short, you will only have a couple of days to get your first weeks shot of the theme. Are you ready? The theme for the first four weeks of the 2010 Challenge is RESOLUTION. What are you resolved to do in 2010? What do you see others around you resolved to do? For the first four weeks of 2010, let’s see one photo per week of a resolution!
You may be wondering what will happen with the monthly challenges. Don’t worry, they are not going away. We will take a break in January so that everybody can get into the swing of the 2010 challenge. The monthly themes will start in February, and every other month after that.
"Relax and travel...", by Ferran.
Also, we are happy to announce one more change for 2010. Steve Troletti will be joining the volunteer staff of photochallenge.org! Steve has been an active participant in the challenges, and will be helping out as a moderator in the flickr pool. Some of you have probably noticed that there are some photos being added to the pool that are obviously not part of the challenges. Steve will help make sure that photos in the photochallenge.org pool are photos that were submitted for the challenge, and that the photos were tagged correctly. Welcome aboard, Steve!
"The Halls of Stanford", by Akash k
One more thing. If you need a reminder as to what the theme is or when the theme will change, just look at the 2010 Challenge Themes page. Now get ready for a challenge!
As the PhotoChallenge community continues to grow, even if it’s ever so slowly, we’re seeing an increased level of activity on the PhotoChallenge.org Flickr Group. Usually the discussions are question oriented, and someone rises up and hooks it up with the solution. However, this past year we’ve seen a massive increase in those participating on a regular basis. There’s enough folks submitting to the Group Pool that every so often, I realize I’ve never seen a photographer’s work before. That’s a cool realization, BTW.
Every so often though, I see a submission that makes me think, “How does this photo fit the challenge?” Sometimes I may be wrong. This dilemma is kinda scary. No one wants to say, “Hey, that doesn’t fit”, only to find out that the photographer is simply more artistic than you thought. Unfortunately, Jeremy and I can’t hover around on Flickr, waiting to pounce on someone spamming our Pool.
I’m getting to it…
We’re looking for a couple of folks, who have already demonstrated their allegiance to the PhotoChallenge.org community by actively participating in our challenges for at least the last half of this year, 2009. We would like to promote you into the vital role of “Moderator” on the PhotoChallenge.org Group. Do you have what it takes? Are you already viewing the majority of the submissions, even commenting on them too? Then that’s probably you!
Jeremy and I will take a look at how many are interested, and talk amongst ourselves for a bit. We’ll let you all know, and maybe even post something here as an announcement.
It’s time for another super exciting Monthly Challenge! This will be the last Monthly Challenge for 2009, and it’s going to be a lot of fun. For the month of November, your challenge is to shoot and post one photo per day, using your mobile phone!
"Greeted By The Fog" by Jeremy Brooks
Here are the guidelines:
Each photo must be taken with a mobile phone.
All editing (cropping, image adjustments, effects, etc.) MUST be done ON THE MOBILE DEVICE!
The photo can be uploaded to Flickr using any means, but you MUST NOT change the appearance of the photo after it leaves the mobile device.
"Point of entry 16/365" by jøhn ƒaher†y phø†øgraphy
Depending on the mobile device you use, you may have quite a few options open to you when it comes to editing. Even if you use a mobile phone that does not have fancy editing available, give the challenge a try! You will most likely find that you can capture interesting and unique images using whatever technology you have available.
"Long boat" by dave_apple
If you use an iPhone, you might want to check out these apps:
Best Camera ($2.99) Provides effect filters and a crop tool. Filters can be combined to get different effects.
AutoStitch ($1.99) Simple to use app for stitching together multiple photos to form one large panorama photograph. Samples can be found here.
Photogene ($2.99) Provides crop, sharpen, histogram, exposure, contrast, saturation, color temperature, straighten, rotate, mirror, and effects.
Photoshop Mobile (FREE) Provides very good crop tool, rotate, flip, exposure, saturation, tint, black and white, filters, and various effects.
Flickr (FREE) You can use this app to upload and tag your photos directly from your iPhone. You can also browse Flickr.
Camera Bag ($0.99) Filters to emulate various classic camera and film looks. Normally $1.99, but currently on sale for $.99.
There are many, many more applications for the iPhone that are geared toward photography. Just search for photography in the app store to find them, or browse the Photography section of the app store on your phone.
If you use an Android based device, check out these applications:
PicSay Pro The award winning photo editor for Android. Spice up the pictures on your mobile phone and share them with your friends.
Snap Photo Pro ($0.99) Snap Photo Pro has a stability feature that only snaps the photo when you’re holding the phone still. Very nice! And Android let’s you replace it as the default camera app.
"Walkway in a Winter Wonderland" by Daniel Greene
No matter what device you use, it’s probably worth your time to check out thebestcamera.com, which is the site associated with the Best Camera app. You can also look at the Flickr groups “Photos Taken With An Apple iPhone” and “Cameraphone“. There are some fantastic examples of what can be done with relatively simple cameras.
As usual, please add the tag “NovemberChallenge2009″ to each photo you upload for this challenge so we can find them. Then add “NovemberChallenge2009-01″ to each day’s submission, making sure to update the last number for each day. In addition, please add each photo to the photochallenge.org group on Flickr.
"Here's my ride!" by Daniel Greene
This is our last monthly challenge for 2009. Let’s make it the best one yet!
I bet you all thought I had forgotten about the September Challenge!
Nope, I’ve got Jeremy keeping me on my toes.
You know, these monthly challenges were the bread and butter of PhotoChallenge.org, in the beginning. Yeah, the very first challenge I cast was in the month of October, in 2007. The actual challenge was for everyone to focus on one area of photography that they wanted to improve upon. I chose black and whites. I shot only black and white, all month long. It was a great challenge! I learned a whole lot too!
After that, we did another challenge in December, and the every-other-month pattern stuck. So here we are at the next month, ready for a new challenge. But, we’re already shooting a fresh challenge, EVERY SINGLE DAY! Yes, yes, I know. Several of you will do both, maybe even trying to blend each challenge. Others of you will try one or the other. That’s cool too.
Whatever you do, keep shooting! I’ve been a bum lately, only shooting occasionally. However, this September Challenge, I’m gonna shoot!
Ok, let’s get to it. Since that first challenge taught me so much, I want to spread the wealth. I want to see you all shoot a black and white each day. For the truly top notch among you, I’d love to see a commitment to shoot only black and whites, all month. Can you do it? I think so.
The basic important stuff is that you need to tag your work properly on Flickr. Just make sure to add the tag, “SeptemberChallenge2009″ to each shot. Then add “SeptemberChallenge2009-01″ to each day’s submission, making sure to update the last number dor each day.
Hey there! I hope you’re having a good weekend. Over the past week or so, I’ve been toying with a handful of ideas that I believe will help increase our contribution to your growth as a photographer.
There are so many wonderful blogs and websites dedicated to helping your grow. Most are specific, and sometimes generic. I consider myself a self-taught photographer, and this is mostly due to these great websites. So the challenge for me is to try and be different.
Our primary focus here at PhotoChallenge.org is to be the number one place for challenging yourself to take your photography to the next level. No matter what level photographer you are today, our hope is that tomorrow you’ve grown just a bit more. That’s why we do all these challenges. We’re less interested in a winner, or even the best shot. We’re more interested in you pushing yourself to grow creatively and technically as a photographer.
Increasingly today we’re finding that many really top notch photographers were not traditionally trained. Many of the most exciting names in photography learned the way most of you and I have learned, online and with a few books.
So I set out to chat with a few of those photographers. I wanted to get a peek at what makes them tick and what sets them apart. Sometimes it takes a close study of someone, to see their special traits. So, let me introduce you to a handful of photographers, with the hopes that you’ll take a closer look and see what they have to say that resonates with you.
Over the next few weeks, Jeremy and I will be interviewing and posting articles about some really great photographers. Keep coming back for more, and we’ll do our best to introduce you to some new names and faces.
It’s time for another monthly challenge! The January monthly challenge was to shoot a self-portrait every day. A lot of you participated, and got very creative with your ideas.
In March, we will be doing night shooting! The goal is to post three photos per week. You can shoot the three photos in one night shooting session, or head out several times to get your three shots.
"Noche de luna llena - Full moon night" by *L*u*z*a* lack of inspiration
To get good shots at night, you will need to learn how to use some of the manual features of your camera. Learn how to set long shutter speeds so that you can gather enough light. Make sure you have a tripod, or plan to set your camera on a sturdy surface so that it will not move during the exposure. Use a remote shutter release or your cameras self-timer so that you don’t move the camera when triggering the shutter.
"North Tower Revealed" by MumbleyJoe
There are many subjects that are interesting at night. Bridges are often lit up, and the reflection in the water beneath adds interest to the shot. If it’s wintertime where you live, try capturing the snow at night. Look for an intersection and capture the light trails with a long exposure shot.
"dore avenue exit" by pbo31
If you need some inspiration, do a search on Flickr for “night” and see what you can come up with. Once you are ready to upload your shots to Flickr, be sure to add them to the photochallenge.org pool, and tag them with “marchchallenge2009″.
For those of you that have wanted to subscribe to by email, to our posts, I’ve taken care of it. Take a look on the sidebar. Just below the photo of Jeremy and Trevor, on the right, you’ll see “Email Subscribe”. Just enter your email address, choose Subscribe, and click Send. Then go check your email, you’ll be sent a confirmation. Click on the link included and Presto! Now, if there’s every a problem, or you wish to no longer get the emails, just come back, and reenter your email, and choose Unsubscribe.
Today’s topic for the 2009 Challenge is pretty broad: Music
What does Music mean to you? How do you capture something that cannot be seen in a photograph? Shoot your interpretation of Music and upload it! Don’t forget to tag the photo with “2009challenge” when you upload it. Here are some examples to get you going. Now get out there and shoot!
"bandsman with sheet music" by florriebassingbourn
For those of you that have wanted to subscribe to by email, to our posts, I’ve taken care of it. Take a look on the sidebar. Just below the photo of Jeremy and Trevor, on the right, you’ll see “Email Subscribe”. Just enter your email address, choose Subscribe, and click Send. Then go check your email, you’ll be sent a confirmation. Click on the link included and Presto! Now, if there’s every a problem, or you wish to no longer get the emails, just come back, and reenter your email, and choose Unsubscribe.
