Last month I announced the November Challenge, which challenged you to take a variety of photos in a small area, edit them and upload them to instagram. I was really impressed by all the different styles, the variety of photos submitted, and the creativity that was shown. I hope it allowed you all to stretch your creative muscles a bit and begin to see more opportunities for beautiful photos even in a small area.
I compiled all the photos which had used the #inspawrationchallenge hashtag, and those which were shared in stories that tagged me. As I say at the start of the video, if I didn’t manage to include yours, please don’t take it personally – it’s just that I’m one person, who can struggle with organising and remembering things, and who has a very busy instagram account. Unfortunately sometimes things slip through the cracks. I believe you will get a TON of useful information from the video below, even if I somehow missed including your image.
In the (very long!) video below, I go through most of the entries and offer quick critiques and feedback on them. If you find this useful or helpful at all, it would mean so much to me if you spread the word on your socials about what I’m doing, and/or subscribed to my mailing list to get informed of when I run other challenges or feedback sessions, or am giving out other free advice or information about my courses. Just pop your email address in below, and you can opt out any time.
The Feedback
I know I talk really fast in this video so please use the automatic captions or subtitles if you need them. I HAD planned to only do the feedback for 15 mins but let’s just say that sticking to time limits is NOT my strong-suit. I will post my favourites at the end of this blog, and will be contacting them to organise their prize (a discount for access to my membership or courses, or discounts on a private lesson. Haven’t decided yet!)
December Challenge - Puppy Fever!
Is there anything cuter than puppies? I don’t think so, and I WILL fight you on this point.
But they grow up so quickly, and it’s just not fair.
This week, my sweet baby Journey turns one. ONE! Already!! I refuse to believe that he’s technically considered an adult now and as such I want to spend the whole of December surrounded in adorable puppy memories of my baby Journey.
So the December challenge is an editing challenge. Below, you will find links to 9 image files, available in both .TIFF and .JPEG, so you can edit them like normal RAW files (more or less). There’s a variety of images there, I tried to give you as much selection as possible to suit different moods, different editing styles and so on. They’re far from “perfect” photos, but taking pictures of a very young puppy by yourself is quite a challenge!
Here’s the rules of the challenge!
- You can enter MAX 2 images in the challenge. You’re welcome to edit as many as you want, but only 2 will be entered into the challenge. You may enter only one, if you want as well.
- You must tag @breathofwildair in the photo and use the hashtag #inspawrationchallenge – this is how I find your entries. If you don’t use the hashtag, I probably won’t find it.
- The photo needs to be uploaded to your feed. If you have a pet account (eg., it only features your dog) you can put the image in a carousel, but it would be better if not.
- You need to make it clear that the image was taken by me, and being entered for the challenge.
- I still retain all rights and copyright over the image, so no entering it in competitions, making calendars with it, using it for promotion or commercial purposes, or basically for any other reason outside of this challenge without my express permission.
- If you enjoy the challenge, it would be lovely if you could share it in your story, too 🙂
- Entries to the challenge close on the last day of December.
Make sure you grab the large, high-res files from the link above, rather than from these preview images.
Things I Will Be Looking For
- Light is balanced, or used well to enhance the image
- Baby Journey’s coat colour is correct
- The image is “dynamic” and draws attention to Journey (eg., purple backgrounds which are distracting will not get extra points for being purple).
- Attention to detail
- Image isn’t over-sharpened or “over done”.
November Challenge Top Entrants
These are my favourite entrants from the November challenge. I discuss what I like most about them in the video above.