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Try a Photography Challenge to Improve Your Creativity!

Potomac River and Georgetown at Sunset from the Kennedy Center Rooftop Terrace

Even the best photographers work on improving their skills continuously to refine their craft.

Skills are like muscles — you need to flex them regularly, or they become weak due to underuse. Although you think you’re already comfortable using a camera, it’s always beneficial to learn new tricks and techniques to build your skillset. So to “pump up” your creative muscles, try a photography challenge!

A photography challenge is a regular exercise that helps you develop more creativity in photography. By participating in a photography challenge, you will learn how to take photos in just about any situation since each challenge compels you to try new ideas and techniques that you wouldn’t normally consider doing, which pushes you out of your comfort zone.

There are challenges that make you photograph different subjects every day or ones where you have to find the same subject but in different settings or environments. The challenges can stretch from a short period of time such as a day or a weekly or monthly challenge, all the way up to 365 days, but most photo challenges last for thirty days. For those who are dedicated to learning photography there are challenges where you use your camera daily for a year. It’s quite a commitment, but definitely worth trying!

Improving your skills is key to becoming a great photographer, and photography challenges not only help you become more creative, but your portfolio benefits by becoming more diverse, too.

As part of your photography challenge, take your camera everywhere, even if it’s only your smartphone. You never know when the perfect subject might appear in front of you.

Here are some suggestions for a photography challenge:

• Black & White
• Texture
• Rule of Thirds
• Silhouette
• Sunset
• Sunrise
• Landscape
• Dynamic Tension
• Frame within a Frame
• Panning
• Light painting
• Experiment with Depth of Field
• Architecture
• Night
• Symmetry
• Asymmetry
• Abstracts
• Flash
• Motion Blur
• Multiple Exposure
• Intentional Camera Movement
• Use a disposable film or an instant film camera
• Photograph the same subject from different perspectives

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