52 Week Photography Challenge:
We first ran this challenge in 2018. Each challenge is designed to be fun but presents an opportunity to explore a technical or creative aspect of photography. There is an added advanced part of each challenge to stretch your abilities even further, should you wish. You only compete with yourself on this challenge, so you can dip in and out of them as you want. But do award yourself a point for each challenge completed – and two points for every advanced challenge. Join the challenge any week, and feel free to play catch-up. Do send us your images mentioning the week number and subject, and we’ll add them to a 52-Week Challenge gallery.
COMPETITIONS:
There will be monthly print competitions on the days indicated. Bring one print (up to A4 in size, unframed and unmounted) ready for display at the Haven Arms by 7pm on the particular night. The theme of each competition will be based on the challenges from the previous weeks. So, on Wednesday, 28 January, the print entered can be from any prior challenge in that month, i.e., Selfie, Tiny (Macro), Lighted Match, Water, or An Egg. A prize (worth £15 – £20) will be won by the photographer deemed to have the best image, as chosen by popular vote.
#52WeekChallenge
Week 1 – Selfie.
A selfie with attitude!
Take a selfie of yourself showing a strong emotion.
Advanced: Take your selfie in silhouette – but we still need to know it’s you!
Week 2 – Tiny (Macro).
Take a picture of a small object as close as you can. Fill the frame so it looks massive.
Advanced: The ability to capture the finest detail is essential in your photo
Week 3 – Lighted match.
Lighting a match has drama; ignition, flare and the settle. Capture this and publish your best photo.
Advanced: Three photos capturing each dramatic point.
Week 4 – Water.
Water moves, boils, steams, freezes… in your picture, interpret ‘Water in Action’.
Advanced: Two photos that represent different ‘states’ of water.
Week 5 – An egg. COMPETITION WED 28 JANUARY
Whether a food project or a work of art – we want your best photo of an egg!
Advanced: Show some movement in your egg photo.
PRIZE PRINT COMPETITION
28 JAN 7pm at Haven Arms £2 Entry
Week 6 – Rule of Thirds.
Learn and then show in a photograph the ‘rule of thirds’.
Advanced: Your photo should use the rule to demonstrate drama and interest.
Week 7 – Monochrome.
Black & white week. If you can, turn your camera to black and white only. And this week, any photo you like!
Advanced: Try monochrome that ISN’T black and white!
Week 8 – The eye.
Focus on an eye or eyes – show us what you see!
Advanced: We want to see the details and highlights of an eye!
Week 9 – Bubbles. COMPETITION WED 25 FEBRUARY
Bubbles. Pay attention to what you can see inside the bubbles.
Advanced: Water bubbles may be a bit easier – so only lighter-than-air blown bubbles in your photo, please!
PRIZE PRINT COMPETITION WED 25 FEB HAVEN ARMS 7pm £2 Entry.
Week 10 – Reflections.
Mirrors and reflections. Be observant, note and record something and its reflection.
Advanced: What is real? What is reflection? Can you fool the viewer!?
Week 11 – A light bulb moment!
Light bulb moment. As a main subject, we want to see a light bulb in your photograph.
Advanced: Go vintage! We want to see the light bulb filaments glowing.
Week 12 – Frame within a frame.
A compositional tool is to frame your subject using a frame within the image.
Advanced: Use this technique to tell a story!
Week 13 – Portrait. COMPETITION WED 25 MARCH
Portrait: Take a portrait shot – but tell a story with it too.
Advanced: Try a faceless portrait.
PRIZE PRINT COMPETITION WED 25 MAR HAVEN ARMS 7pm £2 Entry.
Week 14 – Triptych.
Triptych: Show us three photos of the same scene. One to set the scene. One as the main subject. And one to highlight something we may have missed!
Advanced: We want the three photos in the same frame.
Week 15 – Patterns.
Patterns. Find some interesting patterns in the local landscape or architecture.
Advanced: Repeating patterns.
Week 16 – Panning.
Take a picture of a moving subject whilst moving the camera so that you blur the background to show movement. Shutter speed and handling your camera are crucial here.
Advanced: Your subject should be crystal clear, and your background a spectacular blur!
Week 17 – Abandoned!
The theme is abandoned. Your photo might depict something forgotten?
Advanced: Convey a message in your photo – a call to action, perhaps.
Week 18 – Landscape. COMPETITION WED 29 APRIL
Use a tripod and a correct exposure to capture immaculate detail in a scene.
Advanced: Same as above. But capture some movement in the composition..
PRIZE PRINT COMPETITION WED 29 APRIL HAVEN ARMS 7pm £2 Entry.
Week 19 – One shot only!
You’ve got one shot only (imagine it’s a film camera) – with no chance for a second shot! Think of this challenge when you next take a photo. Show us this, your first shot (even if you do sneak off a few more).
Advanced: We mean it! Your first, one and only shot!
Week 20 – Leading lines.
‘Leading lines’ is a compositional technique in which lines in your image guide the viewer’s eyes to the main subject of the photograph. Discover such lines in the natural environment or urban landscape.
Advanced: Your lines in your photo should add depth and perspective to an image.
Week 21 – SOOC.
Straight out of the camera (sooc). Take a great shot and publish straight from the camera. No editing allowed. Use RAW? Just auto convert to a simple JPEG.
Advanced: Leave the sooc image alone! But tell us in the comments how you would improve it.
Week 22 – Levitation! COMPETITION WED 27 MAY
Whether a camera trick or an editing illusion, your photo makes us believe in levitation.
Advanced: Think about props, accessories and expressions that will make us really believe that your subject is defying gravity!
PRIZE PRINT COMPETITION WED 27 MAY HAVEN ARMS 7pm £2 Entry.
Week 23 – Sugar and Spice.
Artistic. Interpret how you like.
Advanced: A still life.
Week 24 – Random bird.
Your challenge this week is to get a good picture of the first wild bird you see while out with your camera. See a wood pigeon? That’s your bird – go get the shot!
Advanced: Your bird should be in flight.
Week 25 – Make a splash.
Take a close-up of a droplet splashing into water. It’s an old favourite photography project, but there is a lot to learn every time you do it.
Advanced: Use liquids other than water!
Week 26 – Celebrate your halfway journey. COMPETITION WED 24 JUNE
We’re halfway through this challenge year. Make an image with text that shows us what you feel you have learned so far.
Advanced: Use the photo only. Use no text to describe your photo. It should be obvious from the image what you are celebrating. You can answer questions in the comments.
PRIZE PRINT COMPETITION WED 24 JUNE HAVEN ARMS 7pm £2 Entry.
Week 27 – An explosion of colour!
Your photo should assail the senses with vibrant colour. Any saturation of the colours in editing software should be avoided.
Advanced: This is really advanced… depict a really colourful scene… in black & white!
Week 28 – A bug’s life.
Get in the garden and take a photograph of a butterfly, insect or bug. Whether you show its environment is up to you.
Advanced: Try a Macro, or a moving/flying subject.
Week 29 – Candid Camera.
Street Photography. Show us a slice of life in your neighbourhood, village, town or city centre.
Advanced: Candid means candid – try not to get noticed!
Week 30 – Cool down.
A glass. Ice. A drink. Create an image that will cool us down on a hot summer’s day!
Advanced: Ice, creating a splash or a drink being poured into a glass, offers such artistic scope. Explore and enjoy!
Week 31 – Wheels. COMPETITION WED 29 JULY
Whatever the vehicle or subject, capture the patterns and motions. Use different shutter speeds to blur or freeze the action.
Advanced: Look for something different…
PRIZE PRINT COMPETITION WED 29 JULY HAVEN ARMS 7pm £2 Entry.
Week 32 – A startled portrait.
Take a portrait shot that captures an expression of alarm, surprise or concern in the subject. This challenge should bring out the Director in you.
Advanced: Include a wider-angle shot that shows the cause.
Week 33 – Atmosphere.
Whatever the weather, record its drama, mood and effects this week.
Advanced: As an enthusiast, shoot your photo at dawn or dusk.
Week 34 – Filters.
This is filter week. Whether it’s a coloured sweet wrapper over your lens, a big stopper or something else – use a new or borrowed filter to create an effect.
Advanced: Should be a filter you have not used or seldom use.
Week 35 – Mono flower. COMPETITION WED 26 AUGUST
Record the beauty of a flower in black and white.
Advanced: Do it studio style, even if on your tabletop. Think of composition, lighting and sharp focus where it counts.
PRIZE PRINT COMPETITION WED 26 AUGUST HAVEN ARMS 7pm £2 Entry.
Week 36 – Faces in strange places!
Take a picture of something you discover that unintentionally resembles a face. No people allowed.
Advanced: As above.
Week 37 – Make us laugh!
Capture or create a scene that depicts humour or one that will actually make us laugh!
Advanced: You REALLY need to make us laugh!
Week 38 – Bokeh.
Google ‘bokeh’ to discover what it is. Create an image with a shallow depth of field with beautiful bokeh.
Advanced: Create shaped bokeh.
Week 39 – Toy Story.
Tell a story with toys or about toys.
Advanced: Create a ’tilt-shift’ effect for that ‘toytown’ look.
Week 40 – Minimalism. COMPETITION WED 30 SEPTEMBER
Keep things simple. Make an image with one strong element. Keep other components of the picture down to a minimum. Remember the saying ‘Less is more!’
Advanced: Be aware of other composition rules and the use of complementary tones/colours.
PRIZE PRINT COMPETITION WED 30 SEPT HAVEN ARMS 7pm £2 Entry.
Week 41 – Isolate your subject.
Open up your aperture (low number) to isolate your subject in perfect focus and create an attractive blur effect in the background.
Advanced: Isolate and make your subject pop, yes! But that ‘bokeh’ should be pretty dramatic too!
Week 42 – Decay.
Make an image that shows something coming to the end of its natural life.
Advanced: Use texture to demonstrate the detail of the decay.
Week 43 – Red or Orange.
Anything goes as long as it is red or orange!
Advanced: Red AND orange, please.
Week 44 – Golden hour portrait. COMPETITION WED 28 OCTOBER
The sun at sunrise or sunset makes a great backlight for a portrait. Use some fill-in flash.
Advanced: Use three light sources for that perfect back-lit outside portrait.
PRIZE PRINT COMPETITION WED 28 OCT HAVEN ARMS 7pm £2 Entry.
Week 45 – Intentional Camera Movement (ICM).
Not an excuse for camera shake, but a deliberate movement to create an artistic effect.
Advanced: Try an ICM and a double exposure to create a work of art!
Week 46 – Light in the dark!
Night-time photography with very slow shutter speeds. Try light painting. Catching light trails from traffic. Creating ghostly effects.
Advanced: Try creating light orbs.
Week 47 – Window.
Include a window in your photograph as a prominent feature that helps tell a story.
Advanced: A ‘through the window’ scene, or reflection in the window? You decide how to convey the story.
Week 48 – Guess the Film. COMPETITION WED 25 NOVEMBER
Create a scene and publish an image that depicts a film.
The film should be easy to identify, perhaps with a few clues in the image!Advanced: Film noir, low-key image. The film should be easy to identify, perhaps with a few clues in the image!
PRIZE PRINT COMPETITION WED 25 NOV HAVEN ARMS 7pm £2 Entry.
Week 49 – White.
Is it snowing or frosty yet? Whatever the weather, your theme is white!
Advanced: Time to create a ‘high-key’ image.
Week 50 – An image of two halves.
Show us a photograph with half the image in monochrome and half in colour.
Advanced: Diagonal to diagonal. The photo should depict ‘opposites’ or subjects or themes of high contrast.
Week 51 – Seasonal food.
This should be your best festive photograph of the week – with a food theme.
Advanced: A Christmas still life.
Week 52 – Selfie update. COMPETITION WED 6 JANUARY 2027 – PRIZE PRESENTATIONS
WEEK 52: How have you changed over the year since your ‘selfie’ in Week 1 of this challenge? Update or take a new ‘selfie’ in a way that reveals your photographic improvements 🙂
PRIZE PRINT COMPETITION WED 6 JAN 2027 + PRIZE GIVING HAVEN ARMS 7pm £2 Entry.
- Three photography books.
- 35mm Film Camera loaded with B&W and spare colour film.
- Camera microphone set
- Greenprint Gift Voucher £20.
- Two 7 x 5 EasyBook photo albums.
- 32gb memory card.
- 2tb flash drive.
- Retro style camera strap.
- Fotospeed inkjet papersTest Pack.
- 200 6×4 photo album.
- 3 Legged Thing Wrapz (safer carrying in your camera bag)
- Olight LED lighting strip.