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Story Telling: Good photographers can take beautiful images of something. Great
photographers can take an
image that tells its story. This category makes use of compositional rules and
directed prompts to push you
towards not just looking at the beauty of something, but to find a way to tell that
something’s story.
Technical: Technical Aptitude is just as important as creative inspiration in
photography. With that in mind this
category is a mix of in camera and post processing techniques designed to expose
you to new technical skills and
techniques.
Artistic Impression: When this category comes up, you really have room to express
yourself. You can interpret
the assignment literally or figuratively. Unlike the other two categories that are
more focused, the idea of this
category is to let your creativity shine.
WEEK 1
The rule of thirds is the first compositional rule most photographers learn; but
most
don't know why they learn it. The rule of thirds is amazing for telling a story.
Tell a
story using rule of thirds.
WEEK 2
Technical: SOOC
Straight out of the Camera. No Photoshop. Shoot a compelling image and post it
without edits. No cheating! (Be sure and save the image file for the end of the
challenge!)
WEEK 3
Artistic: Land
Your inspiration this week is land. This could be a landscape, or an image inspired
by
the land in some way.
WEEK 4
Story: Mirror
Tell a story using a mirror.
WEEK 5
Shoot 10 shots of the same subject. Each shot should be from a different angle,
distance, and focal length. Share your favorite image from the set.
WEEK 6
Artistic: Candy
A throwback to one of the favorite weeks of the original challenge. Your artistic
inspiration this week is candy. Since this is the advanced challenge... you can't
actually use candy in the scene.
WEEK 7
Story: Forgotten
WEEK 8
WEEK 9
Your inspiration this week is Still Life. A couple of pieces of fruit on a table
won't
impress in the advanced challenge though... so really be creative.
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10
Story: Perspective
Perspective for the purpose of this challenge is the relationship of objects in the
scene. If you really want a challenge this is a good chance to use forced
perspective.
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Split Tone is an editing technique where the shadows are toned one color, and the
highlights a second color. Split toning is often used with color grading in the
media to
give a scene a desired look and feel.
Abandoned was a very popular week in the original challenge. For the advanced
challenge tell the story of something forgotten.
Imagine that it is the last frame on a roll of film, and you have to nail it. For
this
challenge only take one shot. No deleting, no 2nd shot. The honor system is in
play.
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Artistic: Orange
Story: Golden Hour
Technical: Panning
Artistic: Hard
Story: leading Lines
Your inspiration this week is orange. Either the color orange or an actual orange.
Or
both.
The golden hour is the hour before sunset or after sunrise when the sun casts
amazing golden tones. Find a way to use the golden hour to tell a story.
Use the technique of panning to capture a subject in movement. Panning is using a
slower shutter speed while following the subject with the camera to create the
sense
of movement in an image.
Your artistic inspiration this week is hard. Hard is both an adjective and an
adverb.
Interpret this how you wish.
Leading Lines are a very important compositional element that every photographer
needs to master. Use leading lines to tell a story. No train tracks.
Technical: Loop
Lighting
Loop lighting is one of the most used portrait lighting techniques. Shoot a
portrait
using loop lighting. If you don't have an off camera flash setup, get creative with
how
you light your subject.
Artistic: Purple
Your inspiration this week is purple. Purple is the color of royalty, magic, and
mystery.
Tell the story of your immediate surroundings. Give us a glimpse into your daily
life.
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20
Technical: Sky
Overlay
Sometimes the sky just doesn't cooperate. This week replace the sky in your image.
If you need a sky to use in the replacement, search flickr.com for an image to use
under Creative Commons Licensing.
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21
Artistic: Soft
Your artistic inspiration this week is soft. Just like hard earlier in the
challenge, soft is
both and adjective and an adverb. Interpret this how you will.
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Story: Geometric
Shapes
Triangles, squares, and circles. They are all very strong compositional elements in
an
image. Find a way to use geometric shapes in your storytelling.
Shoot a portrait using an aperture setting of F/8. Since this is the advanced
challenge, be sure to find a way to isolate your subject other than shallow depth
of
field.
Artistic: Green
Your inspiration this week is green. Green is the color of life, nature, and hope.
Not the movie! Tell a story with toys or about toys. (Kind of like the movie...)
Technical: Light
Painting
Artistic:
Communication
Story: Portrait as
Landscape
Technical: Water
Drop
Put your camera on a tripod at night, open the shutter for 30 seconds, and paint
your subject with light. Flashlights, LED strips, and even laser pointers work
great.
Your inspiration this week is communication. We live in the age of endless
communication, so there is inspiration everywhere.
Shoot a portrait that is posing as a landscape. Tell a story of the subject using
the
landscape around them. Fool the viewer.
Photographing a water drop is a mix of lighting, macro, and patience. There are
plenty of ways to pull this off, enjoy figuring it out!
In the last challenge you shot a family portrait. This time use family as your
inspiration. Since this is the advanced challenge no people can be in the image.
Another classic compositional tool is to frame the subject within the frame of the
image. Use this technique this week to tell your story.
HDR is the technique of combining several photos of the same scene but shot at
different exposures to create an image with a High Dynamic Range.
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Artistic: Family
Story: Frame Within a
Frame
Technical: HDR
Artistic: High Key
High Key was one of the most interesting during the last challenge. Last time it
was a
portrait; this time it is back as inspiration.
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Story: Stranger
Technical: Stitched
Panorama
Artistic: Low Key
Story: Balance
Tell the story of a stranger. Try using their environment to really inform the
viewer of
their story.
A stitched panorama is an image made up of several smaller images stitched
together during editing. For an added challenge try using the Brenizer Method.
Low Key is the opposite of High Key. Shoot an image where most of the tonal range
is on left side of the histogram.
Balance is the compositional technique of giving each area in a scene equal visual
weight. You can achieve balance using color, tone, or juxtaposed subjects.
Technical: 50mm
Learn to sneaker zoom! Shoot an image using only the 50mm Focal Length. Either
use a fixed 50mm lens or set your zoom lens to 50mm. Since this is the advanced
challenge make sure the image is compelling.
Art: Water
Your inspiration this week is water. Interpret this how you will.
Tell the story of a colorful scene. Because this is the advanced challenge, no
flowers.
Do it in Black and White.
Technical: Levitation
Artistic: Music
Your inspiration this week is music. This is wide open so have fun with it.
Story: Movement
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Technical: Magic ND
Filter
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Artistic: Cold
Your inspiration this week is cold. Interpret this how you want.
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Story: Landscape
Foreground
Many stories are based around portraits, but landscapes can have stories also. Tell
the story of a landscape by using the foreground as the subject and the background
as the scene.
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Technical: Shaped
Bokeh
Bokeh was one of people's favorite weeks. This year take it a step further and
create
a scene using shaped bokeh.
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Artistic: Bodyscape
Story: Blue Hour
Technical: Full Edit
The human form has been the study of art since art was first inspired. Your
inspiration this week is the human body.
The Blue Hour is the hour after sunset or the hour before sunrise when the sky is
dominated by amazing blue and purple hues. Use this to tell your story this week.
Use the SOOC shot from the beginning of the challenge and re-edit it to it's full
glory.
If that shot isn't available feel free to re-edit any of your past work.
Artistic: Fear
Fear is your inspiration this week. Find a way to show fear in a way that your
viewer
feels it.