Monthly Assignment Topics

hark

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
I'm curious to see what suggestions members have to offer for the monthly assignments. Although there are all kinds of photography suggestions/lists available online, I'm just wondering what the people here might specifically be interested in photographing. This is a way for even the beginners to weigh in. It doesn't mean we would use all of the suggestions, but it would be nice to offer some challenges that are wanted by our members. What would you like to see become a monthly assignment? :confused: Please keep in mind not everyone is experiencing the same seasons or holidays across the world.
 
Needa

Needa

Senior Member
Challenge Team
What I would find useful is a list of up coming topics, maybe quarterly.

For a topic old buildings.
 
Dangerspouse

Dangerspouse

Senior Member
The local camera club I recently joined does a Monthly Challenge, and last week it was "What I Did This Summer". We were all supposed to submit 10 pictures that told a narrative when seen in sequence. Everyone had a lot of fun with it, and it resulted in some very creative pictures and collections. I imagine that with a bit of format tweaking it would be enjoyable in an online club like this as well.

For myself, I think I'd enjoy seeing a "Straight Out Of Camera, No Post Processing" challenge (and dedicated folder). I think it would be neat to see how we all get on with handling exposure and composition on our own (no cropping, even!) Plus, and maybe this is my own failing, I have to admit I'm rather put off by the trend to over sharpen, over saturate, over contrast, every. single. picture. often to the point where it no longer looks like a photograph any more. It's just, "shoot wide angle, then crop! crop! crop! and adjust - Lightroom and your 50-jillion megapixel sensor can make you look like you know what you're doing!" Lol...ok, it's not that bad (not here anyway, of course), but...I am sick of fringing. So, yeah. I think an OOC assignment would be a breath of fresh air :)
 
cwgrizz

cwgrizz

Senior Member
Challenge Team
But........ I thought the idea behind the weekly and monthly challenges was to get you out of your comfort zone and try new things. Develop new skills. :encouragement:

However, keep the topic suggestions coming. Anything that will get more participation, I am all for it.
 
Woodyg3

Woodyg3

Senior Member
Contributor
Some I'd like personally

Sports
Fire hydrants
Nighttime street/city/highway scenes
Nostalgia
Ships/boats
Farm animals
Airplanes
Coins
Zoom with slow shutter speed effect
Shadows

I don't know how many of these have been done in the past, but I thought I'd throw out some ideas.
 
Needa

Needa

Senior Member
Challenge Team
Dangerspouse said:
The local camera club I recently joined does a Monthly Challenge, and last week it was "What I Did This Summer". We were all supposed to submit 10 pictures that told a narrative when seen in sequence. Everyone had a lot of fun with it, and it resulted in some very creative pictures and collections. I imagine that with a bit of format tweaking it would be enjoyable in an online club like this as well.
Click to expand...

Could do variations on this too, two, three etc.

Dangerspouse said:
For myself, I think I'd enjoy seeing a "Straight Out Of Camera, No Post Processing" challenge (and dedicated folder). I think it would be neat to see how we all get on with handling exposure and composition on our own (no cropping, even!) Plus, and maybe this is my own failing, I have to admit I'm rather put off by the trend to over sharpen, over saturate, over contrast, every. single. picture. often to the point where it no longer looks like a photograph any more. It's just, "shoot wide angle, then crop! crop! crop! and adjust - Lightroom and your 50-jillion megapixel sensor can make you look like you know what you're doing!" Lol...ok, it's not that bad (not here anyway, of course), but...I am sick of fringing. So, yeah. I think an OOC assignment would be a breath of fresh air :)
Click to expand...


I think the term "Straight out of the camera" is a term that needs to be retired. There are so many settings within the camera which control the output. Look at all the settings just under picture control. What if you shoot a sunrise in daylight white balance or cloudy. It would imo a big job for the Admins.
 
Woodyg3

Woodyg3

Senior Member
Contributor
Dangerspouse;712356 For myself said:
shoot wide angle, then crop! crop! crop! and adjust - Lightroom and your 50-jillion megapixel sensor can make you look like you know what you're doing![/I]" Lol...ok, it's not that bad (not here anyway, of course), but...I am sick of fringing. So, yeah. I think an OOC assignment would be a breath of fresh air :)
Click to expand...

SOOC in RAW would never work. The whole purpose of RAW is to ensure proper processing of the picture is possible. SOOC in RAW would mean relatively low contrast, low saturation, and slightly unsharp in almost every case. A shot in jpeg will be affected by camera controls, and really IS a processed picture. I totally understand what you are getting at, and I agree that many pictures are processed in a very heavy handed manner.

As far a cropping, I almost always shoot slightly wide to leave room for leveling if needed, and to crop to certain print sizes. Wildlife, sports, and other action type shots frequently need to be cropped because it is often impossible to position yourself properly to fill the frame. Again, I get where you are coming from. It's best practice to fill the frame and compose in camera as much as is possible and practical. It's the possible and practical part that will get you. :)

Just my two cents, for what it's worth. :)

I love the What I Did This Summer kind of idea. That would be fun.
 
Dangerspouse

Dangerspouse

Senior Member
Apparently my lack of experience has led to another idiotic idea. Photography is turning out to be just like marriage! Lol, ok then. I respectfully withdraw my (good intentioned but eye rollingly bad) suggestion of an OOC challenge, for the many and valid reasons listed by others. Smart others :)
 
Woodyg3

Woodyg3

Senior Member
Contributor
Dangerspouse said:
Apparently my lack of experience has led to another idiotic idea. Photography is turning out to be just like marriage! Lol, ok then. I respectfully withdraw my (good intentioned but eye rollingly bad) suggestion of an OOC challenge, for the many and valid reasons listed by others. Smart others :)
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No, no, no. Not idiotic at all, man. It's just that it would be hard to do for a challenge. Trying to get the best exposure and composition in camera should definitely be a goal for us all. You are TOTALLY on the right track! :)
 
Andy W

Andy W

Senior Member
Dangerspouse said:
Apparently my lack of experience has led to another idiotic idea. Photography is turning out to be just like marriage! Lol, ok then. I respectfully withdraw my (good intentioned but eye rollingly bad) suggestion of an OOC challenge, for the many and valid reasons listed by others. Smart others :)
Click to expand...

I think it's a good idea. Some of my shots look better (to me anyway) SOOC.
 
TwistedThrottle

TwistedThrottle

Senior Member
I joined Nikonites MAINLY for the weekly and monthly assignments. Not to enjoy my comforts with photography, but to use the experience of others for inspiration and to expand my understanding of photography. If I were to suggest a few topics, they may include techniques like Motion Blur, Astrophotography or Flash Photography - on camera or off. That is, using your camera a particular way. Other areas that would be fun to consider would be simple - open- to- interpretation- things like Artificial, Natural, Abstract, Macro, etc.
 
Andy W

Andy W

Senior Member
Here is an example of a SOOC shot that looked fine to me. NEF converted to Jpeg, no adjustments.

untitled shoot-5546.JPG
 
Marcel

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
I second Dawg Pics for Light painting. This is something that hasn't been done in a long time.
 
NestorStura

NestorStura

Senior Member
Dangerspouse said:
Apparently my lack of experience has led to another idiotic idea. Photography is turning out to be just like marriage! Lol, ok then. I respectfully withdraw my (good intentioned but eye rollingly bad) suggestion of an OOC challenge, for the many and valid reasons listed by others. Smart others
Click to expand...

I have been shooting only in RAW for the last year or more. After doing it only in JPEG and later trying RAW and learning how to develop. And I feel very comfortable with it now. Nevertheless somtimes I also find that at dev time I just open it and export to JPEG.
We should agree if we will do the dev directly in the camera (shooting in JPEG) or passing the RAW through a software without touching it.
In summary I agree with your idea.


Finally I have seen very interesting and new topics from Woody and Daw ...
 
Woodyg3

Woodyg3

Senior Member
Contributor
Andy W said:
I agree but I'll have to confess that I don't get abstract. At all.
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LOL. Yeah, that's one of those things people seem to either like or not, with very little middle ground. Kinda' like whether you like Bob Dylan's voice or not. :)
 
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