Photo challenges are a great way to get the brain and creativity flowing. Even if you’re feeling stuck or not in a creative mood. Picking up your camera and trying to create something for a specific reason will help you get over that mood.
What do you want to learn or work on?
The challenge: Create an image of what it is you want to work on or learn photographically.
Maybe it’s a technique, using a new piece of equipment, or different post-processing. It can be anything you want to learn, get better at and work on for a period of time. A year, a month, or however long you think you’ll need.
Will your initial image be great? Possibly not. But, it will serve as a marker and starting place and a reminder for what you wanted to learn to improve your photography.
Go for a walk without your camera — Now that’s a challenge!
Head out for a walk but don’t grab your camera. After you return, head back out and create one photo of something you noticed along the way.
What does this challenge do?
I think if you know that you are going back to capture what you noticed that you’ll be much more aware of what you are seeing during your walk.
I feel like it’s freeing to NOT have the camera sometimes. You don’t feel as compelled to create images. This isn’t a bad thing. Sometimes we need to step away from the camera (and technology) and be present in the world around us.
Did you find yourself noticing more during your walk without the camera? Did you remember what you noticed? Was this easy or difficult?
Color in black and white
This can be a bit of a mind-bending exercise for you the creator and also for the viewer of the image you create.
Photograph a color in black and white.
Create an image in black and white that depicts a color. Think about how you would photograph the color red without actually being in color. When you share your images don’t tell your audience what color you were depicting; let them guess. Depending on what you choose to photograph it could be relatively easy or quite difficult.
Or, you can go a whole other route and think outside of the box of crayons.
A weekly challenge
Join us in the Photofocus Community and you’ll get a new photo challenge every Monday.
Great article! Black and white photos are super hard to nail when you are a beginner. They are great practice for going beyond your comfort zone in photography, and they help you learn a lot about using what you are given.
Thanks very much, Marcus. I will likely be sharing a few challenges like this every month. We can all use them in my opinion!
Great comment!!