The Takes On Challenge, 2016/2017

[sirch]

Over in the 52 discussion thread
TP 52'ers Class of 2016 Discussion thread

we started hatching a plan for a new challenge, as if we haven't got enough on our plates.

The idea is similar to the 52 in that subjects are selected at random but the subjects are all common-place things, such as a car, a tree, a shop, a hat, a cake, a bridge etc., things to which everyone in the challenge has access and the aim is to make a photo that says something about the subject, so for example not necessarily a photo of just a car but a photo involving a car. It would of course be open to interpretation and personally I am quite keen on the “no rules” approach to these challenges but the spirit of it would be to use the selected subject as a key part of the composition.

As @d00d so succinctly put it:

so nouns ... a car, a tree, a shop, a hat, a cake, a bridge, instead of adverbs, adjectives, words open to interpretation. And the creativity is in the composition!

Doing this as a monthly challenge seems like a good idea and so far @susiejb, @Winter, @pjm1, @Downton Mini and @d00d have expressed an interest. If we are going to get this going we need a name for it and a list of things as subjects. It's open to all so express interest and suggestions below.

 

[simon ess]

I might be interested in this.

Common, everyday things are a major theme in my photography.

 

[sirch]

Here's a starter list

a car
a tree
a shop
a hat
a cake
a bridge
bicycles or cyclist
a rock (that's a definite )
pets
knives
cheese
a flower
farming (is that too broad?)

 

[Nostromo]

I need a challenge and everyday items i think will help to involve more people. As they're obviously more accessible.

 

[Nostromo]

Here's a starter list

a car
a tree
a shop
a hat
a cake
a bridge
bicycles or cyclist
a rock (that's a definite )
pets
knives
cheese
a flower
farming (is that too broad?)

Farming maybe to broad, but gardening is more common (nothing to do with the fact that I work as a gardener, honest).

 

[simon ess]

Farming maybe to broad, but gardening is more common (nothing to do with the fact that I work as a gardener, honest).

Would it be best to stick to common nouns.

So, farm and garden.

 

[d00d]

... sounds good.

I'm already thinking "a car" those curvy, shiny things .... best avoided.

OMG did I really sign up to this?

 

[pjm1]

How about the noun challenge... or the Thing challenge? Since that's what it is

Loving the idea by the way!

More noun ideas...

Haystacks
Mammal
Child
(Grand)parent
Stranger
Hole
Bottle (sorry, couldn't resist squeezing a lighting one in there )
Path
Insect (for all those macrophiles out there)
Cloud
Star (including Sun)
Fence (this could be a challenge in its own right)
Hill (I was good and didn't say mountain!)
A thought (here's a arty challenge for people - but @susiejb, @Carl Ayling and I can just wheel out our lightbulbs again!)

etc.

 

[Nostromo]

Just some things that have come to mind, don't know if this is the sort of thing you mean.
Bells
Buttons/knobs
Doors
Books
Hands
Windows
Shoes
Food

 

[DowntonMini]

I'm in! (I really need me head looking at

 

[Nostromo]

Would it be best to stick to common nouns.

So, farm and garden.

Agreed

 

[pjm1]

Would it be best to stick to common nouns.

So, farm and garden.

Can't we have posh nouns instead?

So tenant and estate.

 

[susiejb]

It's looking good, lots of excellent ideas for topics. Not sure about a title ....The Word Challenge

 

[sirch]

Can't we have posh nouns instead?

So tenant and estate.

Some good suggestions there, I had thought about child/children but if you don't have your own or close relatives it could be hard.

I also wonder (having suggested it in the first place) if things like farm are just too big/open. The idea was common-place things to which everyone taking part has access and the challenge is to interpret the item and use it in a composition.

Not sure I've got any bells, but I guess I could find something if I wandered around a bit.

 

[Nostromo]

Not sure I've got any bells, but I guess I could find something if I wandered around a bit

Blue bells maybe, old fashion alarm clock or telephone.

 

[susiejb]

Agree there Chris about not making it too broad. ....I think specific objects give it more focus.

 

[Manxmaid]

Sounds good - I'm interested.

 

[ianp5a]

Paper
Rock
Scizzors

Flower pot, Garden fork, shed, hose, watering can.

Water. Air. Earth, Wind & Fire.

 

[d00d]

... more fundamental everyday objects in the singular .... fork, cup, bottle, pencil ... and we could shoot them in unusual surroundings, from unusual positions.

will be fun, but not as much fun as the current 52s, I think the open-ended themes there are brill.

 

[pjm1]

... more fundamental everyday objects in the singular .... fork, cup, bottle, pencil ... and we could shoot them in unusual surroundings, from unusual positions.

will be fun, but not as much fun as the current 52s, I think the open-ended themes there are brill.

I agree - the 52 really works well, hence it's longevity. But that hasn't stopped people doing a 52 and another challenge (sometimes even a 365!) so something like this alongside is unlikely to detract from the 52 for the vast majority.

 

[DowntonMini]

I like the idea of it being a monthly challenge as it would (should) give us more time to come up with ideas for our images

 

[susiejb]

It definitely won't detract from my 52, but it will be something for when I'm all done and tapping my fingers waiting for the next topic.

 

[sirch]

What have I started? It's great to have such a positive response.

A bit of sleeping on it and I was thinking of titles like "interpretations of" and "riffs on" and I got to the Takes On Challenge which I like so unless anyone has strong objections or better ideas I'm going to go with that. Each month I will start a thread titled "Takes on [a thing]".

Here's what I think the current list looks like and again I'm open to suggestions but I'd like to stretch it beyond just simple objects but keep the intended subjects fairly unambiguous. In particular if anyone intending to do this can't access any of these please let me know I don't want anyone to be excluded.

a car
a tree
a shop
a hat
a cake
a bridge
a cyclist
a rock
paper
scissors
knives
cheese
a flower
a stranger
a hole
a bottle
a path
clouds
a star
fences
a hill
mammals
insects
digging
wine
a relative
a church
shopping

 

[Nostromo]

I might struggle with a stranger and shopping, as these are things i try to avoid

 

[sirch]

OK, some people might be a bit uncomfortable with street style photography but shopping could be out of hours, out of town, it could be a shopping bag?

 

[ianp5a]

There are some plurals in there. Is that intentional?

 

[sirch]

Yes they were but I am open to changing that. It's hard to avoid thinking what I might do when looking at items in the list and so I suppose it is a bit of a fudge because I was unsure about those subjects. I'll fix it later.


Except scissors

 

[Dark Knight]

I like the idea of this one... but struggle to keep up with the 52

I'll keep an eye on how things progress

 

[sirch]

I like the idea of this one... but struggle to keep up with the 52

I'll keep an eye on how things progress

It's only once a month, plenty of time.

 

[susiejb]

Will it be one photo per person per month ?

 

[pjm1]

Will it be one photo per person per month ?

Personally, I'd prefer fewer rules rather than more... assuming it's not a competition (which, frankly, I'd prefer it not to be!)

 

[susiejb]

I agree there Paul but as its only one thread I just though it might get a bit jammed up if we all put loads on .....perhaps just use our common sense

 

[pjm1]

I agree there Paul but as its only one thread I just though it might get a bit jammed up if we all put loads on .....perhaps just use our common sense

That's something I've occasionally heard people talk about. Should I google it?

 

[DowntonMini]

Will it be one photo per person per month ?

If it's a monthly thing I don't see why it we couldn't do as many images as we could come up with.

Personally, I'd prefer fewer rules rather than more... assuming it's not a competition (which, frankly, I'd prefer it not to be!)

I agree it should be a bit of fun to encourage us to get out an take photos.

 

[sirch]

I think post as many as you want, I like the idea of these being mini projects but I agree it could get a bit confused and I've been wondering how to manage that. One thought was that you could edit the same post and add new photos but then it could be many pages away from the end of the thread. Another idea was simply to hold off posting until you have the set you want but meh! who wants to do that? I guess there is nothing wrong with repeating images, i.e. posting all images to date, next time you add one post all plus the new one, or posting a link to a flickr album. I'm sure people will find whatever they are comfortable with.

Anyway are we ready for a try-out??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

I'll try to get a final list on here later today and if everyone is happy with it I'll kick things off.

 

[DowntonMini]

Maybe we could release the theme at the beginning of the month and post any images in one post at the end

Ready Yep Slightly Tapped Most Certainly In need of medical help possible

BRING IT ON!

 

[susiejb]

Mark I think that might mean a huge flood of posts to churn through ...whereas if we post anytime it gives us time to savour each image , you can always make changes as we go if necessary Chris.

Yep camera in hand ....I'm ready

 

[sirch]

OK, here's the list which I hope is now OK. I'll wait until tomorrow (evening probably) for any last minute alterations and then kick something off.

a car
a tree
a shop
a hat
a cake
a bridge
a cyclist
a rock
paper
scissors
a knife
cheese
a flower
a droplet
a hole
a bottle
a path
clouds
a star
a fence
a hill
digging
wine
a relative
a mammal

 

[DowntonMini]

a boat
a train

 

[Winter]

(Sorry been busy the past few days so haven't had time to properly look at this thread until now.)

Um... I'm not sure I can find a cyclist, and I'm not sure I know how to photograph a star (or sun). I tried photographing the sun last month and all I got was hurt eyes and a lot of rubbish photos.

But don't remove them on account of me if anyone really wants to do them. I'll find ways. I suppose it's good to challenge your limitations.

May I suggest a few more words:

chocolates
a candle
a toy