Monthly Assignment Ideas Thread

[Pea-n-Me]

I loved them and learned so much from them.

For those of you newer to this forum, Handicap18/Kyle, used to run them. His life got very busy with three young ones and such, so understandably, he couldn't do them anymore.

Each month's "assignment" included exploring a different photography concept, such as aperture, shutter speed, depth of field, etc. All skill levels and camera types could participate, with newer photographers learning from the seasoned folks, and all having fun, the whole idea being just to get out and use your camera.

At the beginning of each monthly thread, there was some basic information about the subject matter for that month.

Here's my dilemma. I'm happy to begin the monthly threads and keep them going. But I'm not sure I'm "qualified" to "teach the lesson" at the beginning. I suppose I could quote a qualified source from somewhere on the web. Another possiblity would be to work in conjunction with someone else who is qualified. (Or anyone else want to take a shot at it?) The other thing is that I'd like to get ideas from people on what would be good assignments.

Someone else (I'm sorry, I can't remember who), used to run a monthly assignment for colors, ie "photograph something blue". That was fun, too.

Your thoughts and ideas, please.

ETA: I've changed the name of this thread from "I'd really like to bring back the monthly assignments" to "The Monthly Assignment Ideas thread" in order to collect more ideas.

Additional Ideas Thread

 

[JoeDif]

Sounds like a good idea to me....I'll help out in any way I can ( with what limited information I have )

 

[handicap18]

I've been thinking about them again as well, but I'm not sure how long I'd be able to keep them going. Your right things are a little on the tough side on my end of the computer these days.

I'd be happy to help out and consult if you want to do them. I'll certainly add what I can when I can and there are more than enough experienced regulars here to offer additional tutelage along the way as well.

I definitely think we should have the monthly assignments. I too enjoyed them and we got a lot of participation.

Let me know where I can help.

 

[annnewjerz]

I'd love to have monthly assignments! Shutter speed is something I definitely need to work on----but I think the whole idea of shooting a particular subject matter for the month or week is fun too. A local photography club that I joined (but never actually went to) has monthly assignments of things to shoot like "emotion" or "silhouettes" etc.

I think it's a fantastic idea---and lord knows I'm on here enough. I'm willing to help however I can.

Maybe mix is up. One month, do something more technical like shutter speed and another month do something a little more creative and subjective like emotion, family, nature, something like that.

Looking forward to seeing what comes of this!

 

[hjd0411]

I think it's a fabulous idea Linda! I would be a very happy and willing participant - unfortunately I have no knowledge to share...!!!
But I will be eager to gain some!
Thanks.. and I will keep watching...

 

[tripodjw]

I do something similar with some friends in a flickr group.

We don't have a lesson given out as such, but if we learn something we share that through the discussion and ask each other questions about how a certain shot was achieved.

We set a rule of fresh shots only unless there are really good reasons why a new shot can't be taken (like the topic is "sunny days" and it has rained solidly for the duration of the challenge).

We do have a vote at the end (only those with an entry can vote) and the winner gets to choose the next assignment topic. That way there is no pressure on a single person to keep coming up with topics and to "run" the assignments.

 

[scoot241]

I'd be interested in participating; always looking to improve my photography.

 

[tiger95]

+1 on participating. I think it would be fun to do.

 

[jann1033]

i'd like to participate as well...

my thoughts,
if we really want to learn something, it's easy to find a ton of info on pretty much any topic( ie shutter speed, composition etc) online if we don't know much about it so not really any need for a lesson, imo if you need to do research and do it you are bound to learn more.. maybe we could post some links to different photo info sites in the rules if some don't already know of them.

i don't like a contest just because i think sometimes it is more intimidating therefore less posts since this is more a "learning" experience.

to help the learning aspect,
maybe it would be nice to have like a 3 week or so period to post a photo or two to fit the topic then a week or so for discussion of what we would do differently next time, what problems or solutions we found etc.

i do think it should be new photos, not just a photo we dug up that fits the topic being covered. even in bad weather it would help force us to be creative.

 

[pdmedic]

I would like to participate as well.

 

[EnnEss]

This would be really fun. I agree that it wouldnt need to be taught per se. Just picking a subject or something like that and then researching and posting helpful links would be great. I dont mind at all if there's a poll, I like seeing all the other ones that are really good and striving for that kind of artistry. We could do ones with photoshop, or without, ones of certain things, hdr shots, etc and forever on.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Thank you for all your thoughts and comments. I've been pondering this since yesterday.

I'm not going to make it a contest, as I don't want it to be intimidating or pressured in any way and I want everyone to feel comfortable participating, regardless of camera or skill level. I also can't take on the work involved in running a contest.

I don't mind beginning the threads each month, but I would love to continue to get a stream of ideas for upcoming subjects.

I like the idea of commentary about the pictures themselves, or what it took to get the pictures, problems involved, etc. It could be throughout the thread (in the interest of simplicity) - I know my schedule can get hectic sometimes and I might not always be posting much the last week of the month, etc. I'll also ask that EXIF data be included whenever possible.

I think I will vary it, as in some months it might be "learning", and some months it might be just be whimsical or seasonal, etc. On the learning months, I could always include some helpful links, and if someone skilled wants to take a shot at helping explain concepts somewhere in the thread, that would be welcome.

Since the whole idea is to get out and use your camera, old photos should not be used (with rare exception, such as, say, to show an example). We need to get out and take new ones!

I found one of Kyle's old threads to show the format he used: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1263766

Seeing as we're about to start a new month, I'll plan on starting them up again July 1st and we'll see how it goes.

Please share more ideas for monthly subjects so I can keep them here where I can find them.

 

[JoeDif]

I spoke to the mods at another photo forum I belong to and they have gratiously allowed me to suggest a few themes used on their site for a similar challenge:

1) Elements Of Composition - Color, Texture or Lines

2) Inspiration - Abstract Photography

3) Composition and Creativity - Look For Patterns

Their challanges work just like Linda proposed - Not a contest, try to use photos taken only during the challange to encourage all to get out with their cameras, hopefully get everyone discussing why they photographed what they did and how they did it.

 

[bocabryan]

Photography is also a hobby of mine. I think In the blink of the eye would be a great and interesting topic. It would be about really fast things, that you can't really see with the naked eye.

 

[annnewjerz]

I don't know if these have been covered, if anyone else has any interest in learning more or what----but here are some suggestions on things I would be interested in learning and/or shooting:

- White balance, this is a biggy for me. When I shoot people in shaded areas, sometimes their eyes look blue-ish but the rest of them looks fine. When I try to make the WB warmer, the person looks orange but their eyes look whiter. UGH.

- Selective coloring. I don't know if post-processing can be an included topic, but A. I don't know how to do selective coloring and B. I know it's subjective, but I'm never really sure when it's appropriate to use.

- Shutter speed, another biggy for me. Sometimes I luck into the right shutter speed for the situation, but I'm interested in learning more and what speed is appropriate in which situation. I.e. to get tail lights streaking in darkness, I know you will need a longer shutter speed, but what if I just want to get a slightly blurred background on BTMRR or Teacups to imply motion while keeping everything else clear and sharp? AND---is there such a thing as a shutter speed that's too fast if you are just taking a picture of something that's not moving? Will a faster shutter speed (1/1000 v. 1/100) result in a clearer image?

- Macro photography, techniques, etc. I have a macro lens, and will be buying "Understanding Close Up Photography"---but still haven't been successful in getting any decent macro shots.

- Rule of Thirds. I know what it is, I know how to use it, but I still find myself cropping a lot in PP to get things where they "should" be according to the Rule of Thirds.

Some fun topics for shooting might be:

- Emotions
- Silhouettes
- Holidays
- Running water
- Everyday objects
- Black & white
- Landscapes

Hope that provides at least a little bit of a starting point for things to discuss/shoot/whatever.

 

[GoofyontheHiSeas]

I would love doing this as well. I like the ones that Ann has suggeted. Here are some others that I thought of.

Panning
Candlelight
Portraits
Motion
Reflection
Food
Sepia
Converging lines
Sunrise/Sunset
Symmetry

 

[fitzperry]

i do think it should be new photos, not just a photo we dug up that fits the topic being covered. even in bad weather it would help force us to be creative.

I agree with this. If the point is to practice and try new things, then shouldn't it be limited to photos captured for the "lesson" or "challenge"?

 

[wenrob]

I'd participate too! Really love some stuff on flash photography particularly Fill Flash outdoors.

Ann brought up "Selective Coloring." Being a digi scrapper I have a pretty good idea of how to do similar things and would be willing to "teach" those. (as long as the requests are ones I solidly know, lol!) Also I've learned a lot about improving jpgs (since I have 1,000s from before I learned RAW) with layers so that you're not moving pixels around.

Ann- if you don't want to wait for an assignment, pm me and I can walk you through a very easy method of selective coloring.

 

[YesDear]

Homework! I hate Homework!!!

Sounds like fun though!

 

[handicap18]

The original idea I had when I was doing them a few years ago was to tie it into Disney. It kinda grew from there. Also the idea was got get people out there using their camera's now. Try something different, go someplace new or someplace that you wanted to go even if it was in your local town or region.

I think we did the following: Water, Portraits, Flash, Low light/nighttime, Spring, Winter, Sports/Action, Buildings/structures/cars, Holiday, depth of field, autumn, color. I think thats the list that we ended up doing.

Using those again and adding to it would make a great list for a good long time.

Personally I always felt that a month was a good amount of time. I know that someone did a weekly assigment last year sometime and I know I was almost never able to find the time to get out there in a given week. But, Linda, if your going to take it this time, then feel free to set it how you'd like. I still say that its a grea idea and a great way to get us out there using our camera's. After all we didn't buy them to sit in a camera bag in a closet.