Now we have a new Facebook page where updates from this website will automagically appear. So if you’d like to be updated about new Challenges through Facbook, please “like” that page.

As ever, you [...]]]> For some time now we’ve had a Facebook group where I mainly would forget to post updates about new Challenges.

Now we have a new Facebook page where updates from this website will automagically appear. So if you’d like to be updated about new Challenges through Facbook, please “like” that page.

As ever, you can also follow the Photo Challange on our Twitter feed, our RSS feed, or by signing up for email alerts.

There will be a bit of a delay in posting the results of this weeks challenge, your usual challenge dictator (Jonathan) is moving house so doesn’t have internet to speak of. The deputy challenge overlord (Me) was due to post up all the results in his place.

Unfortunately, my other half has [...]]]> Hi all,

There will be a bit of a delay in posting the results of this weeks challenge, your usual challenge dictator (Jonathan) is moving house so doesn’t have internet to speak of. The deputy challenge overlord (Me) was due to post up all the results in his place.

Unfortunately, my other half has gone into hospital so I’m spending a lot of time in and around Haywards Heath hospital and the internet access is patchy at best (hurrah for starbucks) so – either Jonathan or I will post the results at some point, but there may be a delay.

To help you cope with the delay, here’s a video of a chicken riding on the back of a tortoise.

Looks like the email system got clogged up and the messages never quite made their way out. I’ve unjammed it, and now it seems to be working as normal.

Sorry for the inconvenience!

In the Challenges that I set, I try to provide inspiration and ideas that are equally applicable to to beginners and professionals. It’s up to you if you want to snap something on your camera phone, or if you want [...]]]> I’ve been thinking a little about the Photo Challenge, what we do, and why.

In the Challenges that I set, I try to provide inspiration and ideas that are equally applicable to to beginners and professionals. It’s up to you if you want to snap something on your camera phone, or if you want to spend a whole day setting up the lighting to match your vision. What’s important is that you get your camera out, and have fun.

As well as providing inspiration and an excuse to take photos, I try to set Challenges that encourage people to have a go at something they haven’t tried before. I think this is the best way to increase knowledge, experience and to stretch your own ability, following Stu’s principle from the original Tuesday Challenge.

Some of the Challenges are themes where I present an idea for the subject of a photograph, and others are more like concepts where I suggest a technique that should be used – and the photographer chooses the subject.

Other weeks, the Challenge is whatever you, the readers and photographers, might have suggested

It’s tricky to find the right balance. If the Challenge is too easy, the participants might not think about it very much, or get much from the experience (although at least they would get their cameras out!). If it’s too hard, I tend to find people are put off and there are far fewer entries.

I could, I suppose, take it to the next level of weirdness. In Russia there was a photo challenge that specialised in setting bizarre themes, which were very specific. Entrants had to follow them exactly. Here are some example:

• A Cheating Wife: You need to make a photo of a man, “a lover”, hanging outside the real window. The window should be not lower than a third storey of a multi-storey building. “A husband” should lean out from another window with a gun, aiming at “the lover”. From yet another window “the cheating wife” should look out in despair.
• The Waiter: A man dressed like a water should crawl out of a refuse chute in some multi-stored building, right from the disposal opening. He should hold a tray with some servings and a towel in another hand
• A Zombie: A man, rolled up in bandages should crawl on his stomach at a pedestrian crossing. He should have a knife sticking out of his back. Another guy should chase him with a working chainsaw
• The Pickles: Make a photo of many jars of pickles. Some of them should have pickled cell-phones. Not less than five cell phones in each jar please
• A Pyramid: You should have a three level pyramid on the photo. The first level is some random truck, the second is a passenger car and some two-wheeled thing on the top of “the pyramid” please.

You can see the results of these strange challenges here.

Back to relative normality. Does anyone have any thoughts on what they enjoy about the Photo Challenge, and what type of Challenges they find the most satisfying?

It doesn’t matter if you’re not a regular contributor – add a [...]]]> When the Photo Challenge was back on Stu’s blog, I think we had an “introduce yourself” post. Quite a few people have joined the Challenge since then, so I think it would be a good idea for us to do it again.

It doesn’t matter if you’re not a regular contributor – add a comment on this post, say hi and maybe where you’re from. I’ve included a map, to the closest town. It’s centred on England, since most of the contributors live there, but there are also markers in Canada and the USA.

Just as soon as I’ve sorted these films and then found my film scanner (still moving house, you know!) then the results will be published.

I was moving the Photo Challenge website to a new server, which should mean it’s now faster and more reliable. There’s a ton more storage space, so keep sending in your photos!

If you spot anything wrong with [...]]]> Apologies for the brief interruption this afternoon, which one or two people contacted me about.

I was moving the Photo Challenge website to a new server, which should mean it’s now faster and more reliable. There’s a ton more storage space, so keep sending in your photos!

If you spot anything wrong with the site*, please drop an email to photos@jonathangazeley.com and I’ll have a look at it.

* Other than the camera logo in the top-left corner, which seems to have disappeared during the move. I’ll put that back later on…

So how have we been doing? According to the magic graph, we’ve [...]]]> It’s now been near enough 7 months since I took over the reins of the Challenge from Stu. In this time, 28 Challenges have been set (and 27 have been completed – still time to get your entry in for Whose Hand?).

So how have we been doing? According to the magic graph, we’ve only once had the number of entries in double figures.

I recall back when Stu used to run it, the number of entries would usually be in the teens, and sometimes more than twenty. I know everyone’s busy but it would be super-brilliant if you could find the time in your week to take a photo for the Challenge! Better yet, tell all your friends!

We now have a Facebook group, a Twitter feed and automatic email notifications when there are new Challenges, so there’s no excuse for forgetting

I don’t really know what kind of readership this website has outside of the participants, but this next graph shows that we are getting quite a few hits each week.

The vast majority of hits are coming from the UK, with some from the USA – but we’ve also had hits from Germany, Japan, Uganda, Czech Republic, Israel and India.

So there you have it. The Photo Challenge summarised in graphs and numbers.

If you think the Photo Challenge is fun and/or useful, please do tell your friends. We welcome photographers of all standards, so it’s an ideal way for a beginner to get to grips with their shiny new camera. If you have Facebook, Twitter or a personal blog, post about the Challenges.

The more people we have, the more fun it is!

Thanks all for your continued support!
Jonathan

If you’re on Facebook, please do join and give your support to the group.

There are also some other ways to stay up to date with happenings at the Photo Challenge: