A 52-Week Photography Challenge
A 52-Week Photography {Prompt} Challenge
Have you ever considered participating in a photography prompt challenge?
Participating in a photography prompt challenge can be an incredibly rewarding experience, offering a host of benefits for both budding and seasoned photographers. These challenges provide a structured and creative framework, sparking inspiration by giving you a specific theme or topic to focus on. This can help break through creative blocks and push you to explore new ideas.
Photography prompt challenges foster a sense of community. Sharing your work with others who are also engaging in the same challenge allows for feedback, encouragement, and the opportunity to connect with fellow enthusiasts. It creates a supportive environment where you can learn from others, exchange tips, and build a network of like-minded individuals.
Moreover, these challenges promote consistent practice, helping to improve your technical skills and artistic vision. The regular commitment to producing images based on different prompts encourages experimentation and growth, leading to a more diverse and developed portfolio over time. Overall, photography prompt challenges are a fun and effective way to enhance your skills, connect with a community, and infuse a fresh sense of creativity into your work.
Week 1: Side Window Light
Every parent knows that look when their child spots something within reach they know they shouldn’t have. He has a toy right next to him but he’d rather play with the plant mister. 🥰 I’m participating in Hobbs Photography’s 52-week {prompt} project to get me to pick up my camera for something other than books. This week’s prompt was side window light and I chose my most difficult subject: a squirmy, unpredictable, unsteady, and fast one year old. With one hand I’m keeping him from falling off the chair and with the other I’m trying to compose a shot. I see a lot of things I would change about the composition, framing, and camera settings. I also see my shortcomings as a photographer. But I suppose that is the point of participating in this project: to practice and get better.
Week 2: Perspective
I took this shot from the perspective of a discarded or lost toy under the sofa.
A 52-Week Photography Challenge | Perspective
Week 3: Faceless
I captured a quintessential father/son moment, or more personally, a photo of Eric teaching Miles about one of his interests, computer engineering.
A 52-Week Photography Challenge | Faceless
Week 4: Senses
Photography primarily utilizes only one of our five senses: sight. This week were prompted to focus on the other four senses and to create an image that evokes hearing, taste, smell, or touch. I found this prompt to be more challenging than the previous three. I didn’t have an immediate idea for what to shoot, instead I took time to brainstorm a list of photos I could take for each of the senses and narrow it down from there. Any guesses which TWO senses I was going for here? (Because I’m nothing if not an overachiever… ha!)
A 52-Week Photography Challenge | Senses
Week 5: Silhouette
I am so proud of this photo. I really made an effort, and asked a lot of my family, and I am relieved it paid off. In addition to a prompt each week, Aimee and Jenna provide a mini-lesson. In this week’s mini-lesson on silhouettes, they mentioned that sunrises and sunsets are GREAT for this kind of photography. The type-A, teacher’s pet in me always wants to get started on the photo right away and submit it as early as possible. This week I had to wait (All. Week. Long.) until the opportunity to get my family out for a sunrise finally rolled around. I really owe Eric for this one - it was cold and it was early - but he and Miles were such good sports.
A 52-Week Photography Challenge | Silhouette
Week 6: Myself
I was initially inspired by Vivian Maier, a self-taught street photographer whose photographs were discovered in an auction of her Chicago storage unit. Her life story and the story of her work receiving recognition posthumously fascinates me. If you’re not familiar with her work, check out the documentary Finding Vivian Maier. The idea of photographing myself in a window reflection comes from her - she was a master at it. To make it my own, I wanted to photograph a retail store window to reflect on my past life working in and teaching fashion; I also wanted to include my family to reflect my current life as a wife and mom.
This is my most ambitious photo yet. My goals were butting up HARD against my photography skills. Taking photos in a window reflection is not easy, I bow down to Vivian Maier and what she was able to accomplish *on film!* But I don’t hate what I accomplished. Considering how much I struggled with lighting and camera settings, I think the photo(s) turned out pretty damn good.
A 52-Week Photography Challenge | Myself
Week 7: Gestures
Yay! 👏 Oh no. 🤦♂️
With a 15-month-old, it feels like my world revolves around gestures. How many times have I heard that babies should know 16 gestures by 16 months? Too many to count. What happens if Miles only knows 15 gestures by the time he turns 16 months? Is he doomed for the rest of his life? Sometimes it feels that way. What if he gets that 16th gesture the day AFTER he turns 16 months, is that okay or still doomed? I started a list of gestures Miles knew months ago so that I could keep track of them. That’s when I realized I couldn’t think of 16 gestures to teach him, so I googled what gestures babies should know and I have to admit that some of the gestures that count as one of the 16 hardly seem like gestures to me. Waving, clapping, signing “more” - those make sense. But take “holding an object up” for example. Is that really a gesture? By definition a gesture is “a movement of part of the body, especially a hand or the head, to express an idea or meaning.” I’m pretty sure Miles was holding an object up at 3 months, but what meaning was he trying to express? I think it was just an object in his hand and…
OMG who am I? When did I turn into this person with so many thoughts about gestures? Parenthood is weird. Anyway, this week was not about pushing myself technically or having a perfectly-composed shot. It was just about capturing those sweet gestures that we’re working so hard to develop now but will someday be unremarkable.
Week 8: Out and About
The purpose of this week’s prompt was to get us to take our cameras out when we normally wouldn’t. Rather than sneaking quick shots with our cell phones, we were encouraged to take our time with our cameras - get the settings right, frame up the shot, then shoot.
Oh I feel like this prompt was made for me this week! We’re on vacation in Cabo and I bought a new pancake lens so that I would be encouraged to take my camera around with me. And I did! I took it everywhere with me, much to my husbands embarrassment, I think, which is why my dad is pictured instead of my husband. I also tried to apply some of the previous prompts including: gestures, myself, perspective, and silhouette.
Week 9: Get Close
“If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough.”
A 52-Week Photography Challenge | Get Close
Week 10: Reflection
Hobbs Photo and Film gave us the {reflection} prompt weeks ago, and I STRUGGLED. Someone in our group submitted this epic photo of kids jumping in a puddle, the reflection was so good and so crisp, I was immediately intimidated. I also felt like I needed to compete with the reflection photo I took of myself. All this pressure was paralyzing and I submitted a photo to the group I was less than thrilled with in an effort to move forward, but the prompt kept plaguing me. I knew I could do better. Fast forward to this week, I’m snapping photos of Miles just for practice when his reflection comes into view in our backyard door. Snap. This photo not only represents the {reflection} prompt, it also captures the love Miles has of watching the “busses” (usually just cars) drive by. And I’m reminded a lot of photography is about patience.
A 52-Week Photography Challenge | Reflection
Week 11: Words
This week we were challenged to use words as inspiration for a photograph: lyrics to a song, a poem, children's book, metaphor, a phrase your grandmother used to always say, etc. Since this week was St. Patrick’s Day, I chose an Irish toast: "My dear friends, they're the best friends, each is loyal, trust-worthy and able. But now it's time for drinking, so lift all of your glasses off the table!" I’d love to find the group of friends sitting on top of this bridge and share this photo of them. They seem so happy, they look like they’re having so much fun. I hope they remember this day for years to come and look back on it fondly.
A 52-Week Photography Challenge | Words
Week 12: Capturing Motion
My husband and I agree that each stage Miles enters is better than the last. My favorite part about *this* stage is his curiosity. He’s very curious about rocks, he loves to inspect them, pick them up and roll them around in his hand, carry them around with him. Then he spotted this garden bell and was curious about the sounds it made and then the sound a rock made when tapped against it. But mostly this stage is about Miles being on the move - it’s go go go all the time, which is perfect for this week’s prompt to capture motion blur.
A 52-Week Photography Challenge | Capturing Motion
Week 13: Genuine Smile
Some kids play doctor, some kids play teacher. Our son? He plays consultant, like his daddy. And just look at that {genuine smile} from Eric as Miles pretends to talk on the phone. It’s a wonder his first words weren’t “It depends.” IYKYK
A 52-Week Photography Challenge | Genuine Smile
Week 14: Ages and Stages
Thanks to those who voted on which photo I should submit for Hobbs Photo and Film {ages and stages} prompt. There are so many nuances to each stage of life, it’s impossible to capture them all in a single photo but I somehow narrowed it down to four. These two tied for first, and since my husband voted for the swinging shot I decided to let his vote count as the tiebreaker (perk of being Miles’ dad.) But I can just hear Miles saying “up up up” in that second photo.
Week 15: Golden Hour
We caught the tail end of morning {golden hour} on Sunday. I think my photos do a good job of capturing Miles’ personality in beautiful lighting, but in our mini-lesson this week Hobb’s Phot and Film discussed backlight (I tried, but failed…) and lens flare (which I totally forgot to even attempt.) I’ll want to try to capture golden hour again, but in the meantime I’m happy with these photos. I’m impressed we were able to get up, dressed, fed, and out of the house in time to capture golden hour. That by itself is an accomplishment. 😜
A 52-Week Photography Challenge | Golden Hour
Week 16: Artificial Light
And just like that I’m no longer scared of taking photographs with artificial light. This week I learned about the white balance setting in camera that helps adjust to artificial lighting, a feature I’d never used before and hadn’t known existed. It still isn’t my favorite light to photograph in, but so much of life occurs indoors with artificial lighting that this opens up more opportunities for me to capture everyday life that makes up most of our beloved memories. Take this photograph, for example. Miles was home sick with a fever for the first time. He didn’t have much of an appetite but would slowly nibble away at graham crackers. He didn’t have much energy, either, as evidenced by him laying his head down mid bite. It was a tough few days as his little body fought off a virus, but we had some really wonderful mother/son snuggles during that time.
A 52-Week Photography Challenge | Artificial Light
Week 17: Shooting Through
I have fond memories of this classic gumball machine as a kid. It started out in my bedroom, moved to my playroom as I got older, then spent years in my parent’s basement collecting dust. When we were rebuilding after a house fire, I wanted to fill our home with things that brought me joy, things that had history and fond memories, to help make up for all the things we lost. This gumball machine was a non-negotiable, much to the chagrin of my husband. But it has brought smiles to a lot of faces as a quirky and unexpected piece in our dining room. Before they moved away, our neighbor kids would pop in for a gumball and now Miles is looking at it with curiosity. Although he is too young for the gum still, he enjoys the parts that spin and flip open and will often walk by and say “ball!” with enthusiasm.
A 52-Week Photography Challenge | Shooting Through
Week 18: Monochrome
“When you photograph people in color, you photograph their clothes. But when you photograph people in Black and white, you photograph their souls!”
A 52-Week Photography Challenge | Monochrome
A 52-Week Photography Challenge | Monochrome
A 52-Week Photography Challenge | Monochrome
Week 19: Neighbors
The purpose of this week’s prompt was to get out of the house, talk to people, and get to know our neighbors. Talking to people doesn’t come as naturally to some people as it does to others, and I am unfortunately in the group of people it does NOT come naturally to. I could never be a family photographer because the idea of chatting with strangers and directing them how to pose sounds truly awful. I wanted to skip this week, but instead I cheated just a little by asking the neighbors we know best if I could snap some pictures of them at our local farmer’s market. Our sons are about the same age, so we’ve met up a few times for playdates and to attend street festivals together. Still, it felt awkward to text them and ask if I could take their photo and even more awkward to ask if I could share them. Lucky for me, they looked past all of my awkwardness and graciously agreed to let me practice my photography skills on them and share the photos with all of you.
A 52-Week Photography Challenge | Neighbors
Week 20: A Daily Ritual
I make a better cup of coffee than most coffee shops. A bold claim, I know, but it is true. And brewing that perfect cup of coffee is my favorite daily ritual. The aroma awakening the senses. The methodical pour of hot water over freshly ground beans. The anticipation of that first, hot, rich sip. The swirl of cream as it blends with my brew. It's a ritual of mindfulness, setting the tone for the day ahead with warmth and satisfaction.
Here’s what you need to make Ashley’s Perfect Cup of Coffee: a kettle with precision temperature control, a coffee scale, a pour-over glass coffee maker and filters, a coffee grinder with adjustment settings that allow you to tailor the grind to your preferred brew, filtered water, and most importantly, really good coffee beans. We subscribe to the Roaster’s Choice box from Onyx to get a variety.
Could I improve on this ritual? Yes. Every once in awhile I reevaluate what is working and what can be improved without compromising the joy I get from making this pot of coffee each morning for my husband and myself.
A 52-Week Photography Challenge | Daily Ritual
Week 21: Animal Love
When I was in the hospital recovering after giving birth to Miles, a nurse asked if he was our firstborn. I said no, Miles had a big “fur brother” at home. The nurse laughed and said our dog was about to become “just a dog” once Miles got home. Needless to say, she quickly became my least favorite nurse. Huxley will always be my firstborn. His life looks a bit different these days, just as any only child’s life changes once a sibling is introduced. But he’ll never be “just a dog”, whatever that is supposed to mean.
Huxley gets up with us each morning to greet Miles when we get him out of his crib. We have to coax him out of Miles’ room when it is time for Miles to nap; he hates to leave any member of the pack behind. He’s never far when Miles is eating, hoping Miles will toss him some food (which happens more often than we’d like—they’re definitely in cahoots). And Miles adores Huxley—nothing gets him to giggle harder than a kiss from Huxley. When Miles pets Huxley, he says “tull,” which is how he says “gentle” because he knows he should be gentle when petting dogs. Huxley isn’t “just a dog” any more than Miles is “just our son.”
A 52-Week Photography Challenge | Animal Love
A 52-Week Photography Challenge | Animal Love
Week 22: Panning
This is my ode to Chicago CTA in response to the {panning} prompt from Hobbs Photo and Film. Panning is a skill I hadn’t heard of or practiced before. And it takes A LOT of practice to master. The idea is to set a slow shutter speed and move the camera in time with a moving subject so that the subject is clear and the background is blurred. As you might imagine, getting the subject in focus is tricky. I’m glad I had the opportunity to play with this skill but I’m also glad to move on to the next prompt. 😜
Week 23: Hobbies
A lot of my hobbies are on hiatus as I stay home to care for Miles. He’s at an age where he needs pretty constant monitoring as he’s developed a love of climbing and has an affinity for eating anything he finds on the ground. 🫠 But it appears he’s observing me as well. I caught him “watering” the plants and it occurred to me this is a hobby I’ve been able to maintain through early motherhood. I’ve scaled back the number of houseplants I have and I don’t propagate them as often, but I found it really endearing that Miles picked up on the joy plants bring to our home and is imitating this task.
A 52-Week Photography Challenge | Hobbies
Week 24: Water
Oh my goodness, who knew water was so fun to photograph? My parents were in town this weekend and we all went to the park to let Miles run around and play and explore the splash pad for the first time. He was a little apprehensive at first, but decided he was willing to be brave with Papa nearby. Over the hour or so we were at the park, Miles went from having a death grip on Papa anytime they got close to the splash pad to bravely inching his way closer to the water on his own.
A 52-Week Photography Challenge | Water
A 52-Week Photography Challenge | Water
Week 25: Layers
Coming soon…
Week 26: From Where I Stand
Coming soon…
