2020 Edition

In the next year we will challenge ourselves as photographers and artists. Setting goals is the first step in that journey. Right now in this moment think about what you'd like to achieve. Are you hoping to get better at portraits? Maybe you want to be able to document your travels more coherently? Maybe you just want to give yourself a new hobby and artistic outlet.

For our first week, set a goal and make a photograph which shares and documents that goal. We will revisit this midway through and at the end of the year.

We can control how much of an image is in focus via our depth of field. With shallow depth of field, only our subject element is in focus with the rest of the frame in blur. Both the subject's distance from the background and the chosen aperture (wider aperture, smaller number) help to create and enhance shallow depth of field.

For this week, choose a subject element and appropriate settings/placement to show shallow depth of field. Can't control your aperture? No problem! Take this as an opportunity to practice subject distance!

Last week we focused on shallow depth of field, on the opposite side of the spectrum is deep depth of field. Here we're trying to get more in frame in focus - from the foreground, to the mid ground, to the background. Using a smaller aperture (larger number) will allow for a deep depth of field.

Choose a scene with multiple levels and depths. Use the appropriate settings to showcase a deep depth of field. Can't control your aperture? No problem! Take this as an opportunity to practice subject distance!

Find a vista or sweeping scene. Decide if it's more appropriate in that scene to showcase as much in focus, as little, or something in between. Choose your settings accordingly.

Light trails, blurred commuters, soft water. Just a few ways to show motion. How do we do it? With a slow shutter speed. You'll need a steady hand, tripod, or just a solid surface to keep the camera still. A tip: using the self-timer or a remote control for non-handheld shots will take out the risk of camera shake while pressing the shutter button.

Find a moving subject and show its motion with a slower shutter speed. Can't control your shutter speed? No problem! Take this opportunity to think creatively. How else can you show motion?

Stop a bird, plane, or even Superman in their tracks with just this one easy step! Using a fast shutter speed will freeze motion. No need to worry about those shaky hands (of which I suffer), nor do you need a fancy tripod/stable surface.

Find a moving subject and stop its motion with a fast shutter speed. Can't control your shutter speed? No problem! Take this opportunity to think creatively. How else can you freeze motion?

Using your shutter speed as your first adjusted setting, photograph a scene with either harsh (re: bright) light or low light. Can't control your settings? No problem! Look for strong and interesting compositions in either harsh or low light.

Pixel peepers rejoice! This week we're trying for nice sharp photos. Minimal grain allowed here. For this prompt, set your ISO to the lowest value allotted by your camera, and adjust the other two settings accordingly.

I personally love to embrace the grain. Find yourself a scene which maybe does not have the ideal lighting and put your ISO to the test. Worry not about those pixel-peepers from last week, but only of the interest of the scene itself.

Find a scene which elicits emptiness. Use the settings you've practiced in the previous weeks to create the atmosphere you wish.

One of the more difficult things for a photographer to master is guiding the viewers eye to the intended subject. A method for this is creating a frame within the frame around the subject, making it almost painfully obvious where the viewer should be looking. There's the old standbys of doorframes, window panes, etc. But you can branch out from this and try less obvious framing elements.

Let's lead the viewer's eye once again to our intended subject, this time by using lines. The human eye naturally follows lines within a scene, so use this to your advantage and place your subject at the convergence point.

Showing how large or small an element is can be made easily by using an element which any viewer would know the size of. Think a person in front of a large waterfall or overlooking the Grand Canyon. The element of the person tells the viewer how large that scene actually is. If you really want to go crazy, try out some forced perspective which plays optical illusions on the viewer.

Some scenes are benefited by a little context. Is that just any old cup of coffee, or are you in some perfectly appointed bookcase-lined cafe? Show the scene in its entirety so that the subject element is supported by its surroundings.

Oftentimes the subject stands on its own. When this is the case, isolating it will really allow it to shine. Find an element of interest and make it the prime directive of the image.

Whether it be a crowded city street, or a quaint neighborhood diner's sign, there's something unique about where you live. Find that element of interest and highlight it with either context or isolation.

People (and animals!) more often that not freeze up when aware that a lens is pointed at them. Get those natural expressions by photographing a candid moment.

Set up every aspect of this image. It could be a posed portrait, still life, macro shot of your beloved Lego set. Whatever it is, carefully place each element visible in the image.

Show your home - your immaculate interior decorating skills, your fat cat, a collection you've carefully curated, etc.

We're halfway through! Congrats on making it this far! How are you going on your initial goal from week one? Often times challenges like this one will lead you off your initial track and make you reevaluate what your goal is. On the other hand, you may have become even more dedicated to your original goal. Both are okay!

The image this week should be a revisit of that original goal. If you want to do a full-on remake of the original, that's great! If you'd prefer to start over with a whole new vision, also great!

Let's do portraits! Find a willing model (yes, your dog will do just fine) and work to capture their personality in the image.

Oh no. The dreaded self-portrait. Listen, I'm the first to hate having the lens turned on myself. That said, years back I forced myself to become comfortable with it by doing a 365 day self-portrait project. And I learnt a lot. For this week you are the subject. Be as literal or creative with this as you'd like.

Controlling natural light can be daunting as it is at first thought, well, uncontrollable. But, spoilers! You can control natural light. Find open shade, use a reflector/poster board, create shadows with your own hand. The possibilities are as boundless as your creativity.

Now I know not everyone has studio lights or even an on camera flash. But guess what, artificial light is any light that isn't natural. That could be your desk lamp, the neons of your local bodega, street lights, anything that isn't that fiery ball of gas in the sky. For this challenge I'd like you to focus on artificial light you can have some control over, however.

Learning to read light will help any photographer immensely. For this week go looking for the light and use it as it is, without interruption from yourself.

We're going to get experimental here. Soft focus can lead to some really etherial imagery. Have some fun with this one and put a bit of cling wrap or filter over your lens. Alternatively you could take a plastic bag, pop a hole in it and wrap it around your lens shooting through. Make your subject visible, but in soft focus.

Maybe something in your scene seems to not quite fit. How does that make you feel as the photographer? How would you like the viewer to feel? Out of place elements often bring a feeling of unease. This is your chance to create a subtly (or extremely) unsettling image.

Surrealism seeks to release the creative potential of an unconscious mind. This often comes from that feeling of something just not being quite right that we explored last week. Make a surreal image this week. Need inspiration? Check out some of the masters: Man Ray, Rene Magritte, Dali.

See it as it is, and show it as it is. This week is all about being literal.

Opposite of last week. Your image should be a representation of something else.

For this week we're going to go full abstract.

What you see is completely unique to you. I am not a tall lady, so I see the world from behind shoulders and low angles. This gives me my own viewpoint. How do you see the world? For this challenge position yourself in a way which adds visual interest. No straight on shots this week!

This week we're going to cut out all the distracting elements of a scene and really focus in. Find an element of interest and have it take up the entire frame. Get in close and be sure to look at every edge of your frame to ensure it's completely filled with the subject element.

The opposite of last week - allow for a lot of breathing room around your subject. Negative space can elicit feelings of vastness, loneliness, calm, etc. Frame up your subject in a way which allows for a lot of emptiness around it on all edges of the frame.

I'm saving one of my favorites for near the end. Anyone who has followed my work and/or endless ramblings knows how I feel about color theory. This week I want you to make an image with one color scheme in mind.

Last week you learnt that monochrome doesn't exclusively mean black and white, but this week that's exactly what you're going to do. There are times where even I can admit that color can distract from the intended final image. With this in mind, go make an image where color is not a factor and create a strong composition that does not need the (however beautiful) frills of the color wheel.

When I think 'sameness' my mind immediately goes to 1984 by George Orwell, and for whatever reason that elicits strong reds to me. Maybe sameness to you is a group of businessmen out to lunch together in Midtown, or a monochrome scene. Share your visualization of 'sameness.'

For those who participated in 2019, this may be familiar. It is also completely up to interpretation. What does 'seasonal' mean to you? To me it means Glühwein and Christmas markets.

Explore something new you learnt in the past year of weekly prompts.