Last year I participated in several year-long challenges to – yes, you guessed it – challenge myself.
One of the challenges was a 52-week photography challenge held by a Facebook group for Photographers.
There were no cash prices. Instead, your picture could be picked to be the header of our Facebook page for a week, and then you would select the next week’s winner.
I was never selected as the winner, but I submitted all 52 pictures.
Some weeks it was easy to submit a picture, other weeks I had to work hard to get a decent shot – and some weeks I almost ripped out my hair because I could not come up with one decent picture.
So, why would I do such a thing?
1. The challenge themes gave me new ideas, and inspired me.
Some themes like Faceless Portrait were so out of my character, I would never even have thought to attempt such a picture, but in the end those were the pictures I like the most.
2. They challenge me. I know that’s obvious, but still,…
For some themes like Sun, Landscape, Water, Macro, or Nature, it was really easy for me to come up with an idea, but some like Children’s laughter, Better together, Spooky, Faceless Portrait, or Giving Thanks, pushed me out of my comfort zone. I had to stretch, get creative, and sometimes think out of the box to find a good shot or the models for it.
3. It expanded my portfolio
The whole challenge added not only 52 new pictures to my portfolio – but many more. The weekly themes challenged me to pick up my camera, get outside or downstairs (to my little studio setup) and start shooting. More than once, I ended up shooting way more pictures at the locations I had picked and I didn’t stay focused just on the theme. There was so much more to shoot. Now, I have a whole new slew of interesting images to use for posters, digital posts on Facebook Instagram, or here on my website.
4. I learned a lot from my fellow challengers.
I excitedly waited to see what photographers of other cultures, countries, genders, or age groups submitted. We all interpreted the theme however we saw fit and it was very interesting to see what people came up with. I remember, in January we had the theme Sun. I was struggling because that week the sun kept hiding behind heavy clouds. Then I saw the submission of a fellow photographer; facing the same problem, she wrote SUN on a piece of paper, scribbled a sun next to it, held it up into the grey sky and took her shot. I laughed hard for a few minutes, and next thing I knew all the tension and pressure to get a great shot were gone. The next day, I captured my image when I peeked out my window to see the sun coming up. It was there for about 5 minutes, but I was ready.
5. I had a lot of fun and learned new things.
Despite some struggles, it was mostly fun to pick up my camera and get out of the house or down to the basement. I bought roses, went to the zoo, explored abandoned buildings, learned to shoot speed for the Motion challenge, dipped my toes in black and white photography, tried out HDR photography (I wrote about my first look into HDR in this post, Learning new skills) and much more.
Conclusion –
It was a great experience for me to participate in this challenge. Would I do it again? Yes!
In fact I’m already on it. This year I’m even doing two different ones.
Here are my favorite shots that I took for the 52 Weeks Photo Challenge 2017
There are many photo challenges, if you are interested and want to participate, here are the links to the two challenges I am partaking in this year
Cole’s Classmates WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE
(this is a closed Facebook group, but you can ask to be included)
Photo here and if you want to vote for my submission, please click here
How about you? Do you participate in any challenges? Please let me know below in the comment section…