Inspire me. A photo-a-day challenge - IDEAS

[primesuspect]

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Snark and I had an idea tonight.

In this thread, post an idea for a photo, one a day. Each day, we'll pick tomorrow's subject.

Anybody who wants to participate can then take photos of said subject, and post their best shot in this thread's companion (http://icrontic.com/forum/showthread.php?t=84641).

The idea is not to compete to see who has the best photo (it's all subjective anyway), the idea is to inspire this community's photographers to go out and practice, shoot something, push their boundaries, and experiment.

Sometimes all we need is a little inspiration. :vimp:

[TiberiusLazarus]

Theme suggestion for 7/14 - purple

[Canti]

7/15 - Trees

[Gnome Queen]

7/16 Computer parts

[shwaip]

7/17 water!

[Nate_LapT]

7/18 slurpies/Frozen Drinks

[DrLiam]

Will you post the link here to the companion thread? What resolution are we looking at max?

I think I'd like to get in on this. :) Maybe I can invite some of my more photographically inclined friends as well.

[primesuspect]

Posted!

Resolution shouldn't matter; whatever works for you. I'd suggest using a photo hosting site for the actual photo (I'll be using Flickr, for example) and just posting a smaller version in the thread, no more than, say 900px wide, so we don't end up with a weird ugly thread.

[UPSLynx]

so wait, are we suggesting for a specific day, or rather making a pool of suggestions, and then the next day's topic is being pulled from said pool?

Either way, I suggest 7/22 something mechanical.

*Edited for date

[shwaip]

also post anything you do in post-processing (crop/contrast/color/etc) along with your photos. maybe post what lens/camera/etc you shoot with as well.

[Snarkasm]

Just check the exif, nub. :p

7/19 - musical instruments - any kind. Anything you can "play music" on.

[Nate_LapT]

/me pulls out the bongotits

[Thrax]

Just check the exif, nub. :p

7/19 - musical instruments - any kind. Anything you can "play music" on.

It'd be great if Keebler didn't post pictures of the skin flute.

thx.

[Kwitko]

I think a themed week is better than a themed day. You might not, for whatever reason, be able to get out to take a picture. Giving someone a week to come up with their best shot is better. And let's think more abstract for the themes. The more open for interpretation the better the shots.

[Snarkasm]

You're not required to participate in every day's event, and I'm a fan of the picture-a-day because it's going to require you to think on your feet more. If you can whip up a good picture on a day's notice, you can whip up a good picture on a week's notice.

Just my thoughts. Jackie's considering doing it once weekly, since she just found an old film camera of her mom's that she'll be playing with. Nobody has to enter every day.

Also, I'm making it a point to try to take whatever the theme is and abstract it as much as possible, but we have requested pretty generic suggestions. It's hard to strike a balance between not too specific, but not so generic that the theme is "wildlife" or something too broad.

[Kwitko]

Regardless how you do it- daily or weekly- I'm in.

[CB]

I would love to participate. Photography was once a great hobby of mine, and while I have no advanced equipment, I like to think I can still compose a nice shot with my $300 camera. :)

my idea for theme: timepiece 7/22

Doing this daily, however, will quickly run out of themes, methinks.

[Kwitko]

Doing this daily, however, will quickly run out of themes, methinks.

That's the other reason I'd go with weekly.

Also, CB, the photographer makes the shot, not the camera. You'd be surprised how many amazing photos I've seen that were taken with point-and-shoot cameras and even iPhones.

[Snarkasm]

CB, can you mark your theme with a date?

We're going to work on getting a calendar created, since it'll become tiresome to come back to subsequent pages to see whatever today's theme is.

We can also reuse themes, or specify or broaden old ones; part of the fun of abstracting everything is that you can get 18 different images out of one theme. It can certainly be revisited if we see that need or are running out of options, though. Pulling from such a large group of Icrontians, I wouldn't be surprised if we could come up with several years' worth of themes.

[CB]

Edited.... Sorry, I took the OP description to mean that we were posting ideas, and you were deciding which day to put them on (so that we can't take the photos days in advance (even just seeing them here, makes me start thinking already about what I would do for each one))

[Snarkasm]

That was a thought, but this is a nice compromise between those who wish it was once a week and those that see it fine at once a day. Now you can plan for several days in advance, but you can plan for multiple, or just your one at the end of the week or what have you.

You're somewhat at the mercy of the submitters as to how far into the future you can look, of course, but so it goes.

[primesuspect]

I don't think we'll ever run out of themes.

Snark, a calendar is a brilliant idea.

[ReyRey]

I'm game! Can't wait to see what everyone comes up with!

[UPSLynx]

Timepieces shoot is going to be AWESOME.

[Gate28]

7/23 - Living things

[Snarkasm]

Gate, we're missing an entry for the 21st - mind if we move it up there?

[Black Hawk]

I guess I'll try and do as many as I can.

[MAGIC]

damn, i need to get a camera.

[chrisWhite]

7/24 - Paper

7/25 - Exercise

I love this idea and this is totally the community I'm excited to do a photo-a-day with. Let's rock this!

[ReyRey]

I was trying to think of a purple pic for tomorrow and I am drinking red wine...my husband replied with " keep drinking that wine and I'll take a picture of your teeth". LOL! Thought I'd share ;o)

[Canti]

A reason to actually use my crappy little digital camera? I'm in as soon as I have a cable to connect it to my PC. (It's insanely hard to find one that fits my camera.)

[Bandrik]

Sounds like an amazing idea - I'm in. Photography is one of my bigger hobbies, so I'm quite excited to see what people come up with.

My theme request is...

July 25th: Fire


Edit: If I'm allowed to double-dip, I'll also add:
July 26th: Crystals

If not, just the first one would make me quite happy as it is.

[fatcat]

barns

[primesuspect]

I've got my purple idea lined up and ready to execute.

[chrisWhite]

I have no idea what I'm going to shoot tomorrow, but shoot I will.

[Snarkasm]

Calendar has been updated with the next requests, and the first entries have been posted in the results thread. Let the game begin!

To clarify for everybody, we're considering the theme's date to be the end date to submit pictures for it - in other words, by tomorrow night, pictures pertaining to the purple theme should be up and in the thread so we can ogle them.

Have fun shooting!

[chrisWhite]

Oh, okay, thanks Snark!

[Gate28]

Gate, we're missing an entry for the 21st - mind if we move it up there?

Go for it.

[Thrax]

Spoons.

[Nate_LapT]

Spoons.
[DATE] [Subject]

[Snarkasm]

Assigning to the 28th.

[chrisWhite]

[DATE] [Subject]

I love seeing Thrax get some flack for not following the forum convention ;)

[Gargoyle]

7/29 - Something abandoned.

[Snarkasm]

Abandonment! I like it. Added.

[chrisWhite]

Snark, does the Google Cal at the top happen to have an iCal feed that I can embed into my desktop calendar?

[Snarkasm]

Chris, try this:

http://www.google.com/calendar/ical/c20ufco07puohsn3ceajb5q3t4@group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics

[Nate_LapT]

we may want a limit on idea timeframes, Im wanting to do photos for two weeks away, next they will be 2 months away :P

[chrisWhite]

Fantastic, thanks man!

[Marushka]

Im new :) Im shwaip's girlfriend.

Here is a theme that might be fun: thwarted.

What do you think?

[primesuspect]

I think a lot of things.

One of them is: Good idea. Added.

[Nate_LapT]

7/30 Good Ideas

[Thrax]

I love seeing Thrax get some flack for not following the forum convention ;)

[DATE] [Subject]

[GHoosdum]

Do the photos for that day's theme have to be taken on that day only? Not before?

[primesuspect]

They can be taken before.

The purpose of the thread (and the ideas) are simply to inspire. If you get really super inspired by July 30th's photo idea, then this thread did its job. There's no protocol or rule about when the picture is taken: Only that it was inspired by, and taken specifically for, this project.

[Snarkasm]

They can be taken before, they just need to be posted by the end of the theme's day. By tonight, the purple pictures should be all put up so we can ooh and aah. :D

[ReyRey]

K..My purple was lame...what's up with the calendar?

[primesuspect]

Calendar works for me? Tomorrow is trees.

It wasn't lame! Purple Discussion (http://icrontic.com/forum/showthread.php?t=84664)

[DrLiam]

My camera decided to hid on me. :[ But there was some amazing purple pictures I think! Especially the first one, Royalty.

[primesuspect]

It's tree day!

[ReyRey]

Is there a "tree discussion"?

[RyderOCZ]

http://icrontic.com/forum/showthread.php?t=84687

[ReyRey]

Thanks...I had found it ;o)
Still learning my way around here!

[Bobby1211]

Idea for inspiration:

Epic Fail or Win

-Bobby

[Mr TRiot]

IDEA: Ruined Computers


I know what my comp looked like after my video card melted. I can't imagine what Icrontic photographers could come up with :wink:

[Snarkasm]

It's a little specific, but added.

[Nemikan]

A bit common.... but still curious on what sweet pictures people will come up with...

Pick one: Sky, Clouds, Sun, or Moon.

[Nemikan]

Mirrors / Reflections

[drasnor]

What's for dinner?

[patrickcabenjamin]

can I choose a theme?
if so:
-PEOPLE!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3627/3638864196_7738fe9396.jpg?v=0

[GnomeWizardd]

I got one, Sound

[MAGIC]

8/8 Churches

[chrisWhite]

8/9 - Spaceship

Get creative :)

[Koreish]

8/10 Flowing
8/11 Colors of the wind (This'll be fun)

[shwaip]

But how will I convince Vanessa Williams to have a photoshoot?

[Gargoyle]

8/12 - Text

But how will I convince Vanessa Williams to have a photoshoot?

You've got a couple weeks. Sheesh, figure it out.

[Snarkasm]

Colors of the Wind seems a little specific, but I'll put it on the calendar unless a bunch of us have a concern about it. Added and added.

TEXT. I really like this one. Added.

[primesuspect]

8/13 - Shoes.

[Koreish]

Little specific my ass. That's really wide open to interpretation. Also Prime we have an entire thread dedicated to that fetish of yours.

[primesuspect]

Oh like you didn't know I was going to unleash this on you all.

08/13 - SHOES

[Gargoyle]

8/14 - HAIR

[Snarkasm]

You're both ridiculous. Somehow I think I'll be boycotting those days.

[Gargoyle]

It'll be a good way to encourage people to try human subjects.

[primesuspect]

It's a good way to break the human contact barrier. You'd be very surprised at how willing people are to pose.

[Zanthian]

8/15 Flight

[Gargoyle]

8/16 - Half-Megapixel Challenge

Stick with me on this, I know this is a little different from what we've done so far:

My last cell phone was a generic flip phone with a pretty awful 640x480 (0.3 MP) camera. But I loved taking photos with it. Part of the reason is that I always had it with me, and so when I thought about taking a photo, I always could. Then I started to actually appreciate some of the blurring, noise, and distortion in certain situations. These kind of cameras certainly aren't appropriate for all (most) photos, but for some, particularly closeups, I think they can fit a certain style.

So I propose the half-megapixel challenge. Ideally, you'd use a cell phone camera or web cam.

If you only have access to a regular camera (and thus way more megapixels), an alternative would be to crop out a section that contains less than 500,000 pixels - without resizing the photo first. This is important, because resizing the photo before cropping would utilize the full badassery of your fancy camera's sensor. While there are numerous ways of doing that, one of the easiest that works in pretty much all editing software is to create a new blank image at a low resolution, and then paste in the larger photo, dragging the photo around until you have the small resolution window on what you want. Feel free to add noise, wash out colors, destroy contrast, or do anything else with post-processing.

For reference:
640x480 is 0.3 MP
800x600 is 0.48 MP

What do we think? I've been thinking about this for awhile, and was reminded by a story (http://www.npr.org/blogs/pictureshow/2009/07/in_your_face_big_pix_from_a_ti.html?sc=fb&cc=fp) of a guy doing portraits with a 0.3 MP cam. Attached are some of my favorite cell phone pics, mostly close-ups. When it comes to getting a candid photo of a cat, cell phone camera FTW.

[Buddy J]

oooh, lo-fi day! I like it.

[Marushka]

I like it too. really neat idea.

[primesuspect]

Great idea!

[Gnome Queen]

8/17 - Cars

[CB]

August 18: Succulent

19: Introspection

20: Elastic

21: Knapsack

22: Arsenal

23: Zipper

[Marushka]

8/24: something older than you
8/25: different/unusual light source

[patrickcabenjamin]

Great! Broken computers on my birthday... :Pwned:

[Snarkasm]

Was that a suggestion?

[Marushka]

Skylines
bubbles
books
neon
candy

Hey, peeps, you are more creative than me! If you have cool ideas shout em out! I just figured since the challenge didnt have any more ideas on hand and I want to keep taking pics, I will put my topics out there. Im sure people would much rather shoot pics for YOUR themes though! Maybe prime can mix these suggestions into some new ideas that come out.

[Nate_LapT]

swans
Sandals
SURPRISE!!
There you are!!
Working
Thinking
Falling
Lost
Shade

[Snarkasm]

Prime, psh. I CONTROL THIS CALENDAR.

Added.

[Marushka]

CD cover.

You are a rockstar. Bigger than the Jonas Brothers. Make your debut CD cover.

[RyderOCZ]

CD cover.

You are a rockstar. Bigger than the Jonas Brothers. Make your debut CD cover.Kinda like this, only with your own pic? http://icrontic.com/forum/showthread.php?t=69376

[Marushka]

oh i didnt even see that! Im still working my way around the website. If people think it's been done, then that's fine. It might be cool to do with whatever creative freedom you want! And plus I want to be a rockstar and thus I need a sweet album cover. The music will come to me later, im not worried about it :)

[Snarkasm]

Added. It's different enough (you're supposed to take the picture, not steal one off of flickr) to count.