The "I Have to Shoot What?!" 52-Week Challenge

About The "I Have to Shoot What?!" 52-Week Challenge

The Basics

We started this group in January of 2011 as a challenge to each other, and our friends, to keep ourselves challenged and entertained throughout the year. We built a long list of possible topics, added a few tricky ones that we knew would push everyone’s photographic comfort zones, and went to work. Our debut year was extremely successful, with over 50 members in the group by the end of the year, quite a few of whom who contributed a photo every single week. And being the year-long photo project addicts that we are, we decided to keep it up for another 52 weeks!

The Weekly Challenges

Every week, on Sunday night, we’ll send out an email through the Google group that tells you what that week’s theme is going to be. You then have from 12:01am Monday until 11:59pm (in your local time zone) the next Sunday to shoot a photo that fits the theme and upload it to the group pool. Photos added to the pool must be taken during the time frame for the challenge, and you may only submit one photo per challenge.

You might notice that the group technically allows for two photos to be added each week, but this is to account for Flickr’s “day” changing in the middle of our day here in the U.S. As mentioned above, we will only allow one photo to be added to the pool from each participant. That said, we encourage you to keep shooting for the challenge all week and if you decide you got a better photo than the one you already posted (and it’s still before the deadline!), you can remove the earlier shot from the pool and add the newer one.

What if You Shot 14 Photos for This Week’s Challenge?
(or You Shot Something Last Month That Would Fit This Challenge Perfectly)
(or You Missed the Challenge Last Week, but Are Making Up for It This Week)

Every challenge will have an Outtakes thread in the discussion area, so if you have more than one shot you want to share, you can post the extras in there. Also, if you miss a week and want to go back and shoot that theme, you can post the results there, or if you have an existing image that fits the theme that you want to show us, you can post that in Outtakes, too.

Interpreting the Theme

We encourage you to interpret the weekly theme however you like, and be creative. A “Home” challenge, for example, might get some people to photograph the home in which they live, others to photograph something like a bird’s nest, and still others to photograph the “home” square in a board game. As long as you make some sort of connection to the theme, you’re good to go. We do also request that you note--in the title, description, or comments--which theme a given shot is for, and suggest that you create a set in your photostream for all your IHTSW photos.

What If You Just Can’t Shoot That?

We know that sometimes life gets in the way of photography, and as such, no one is going to come banging on your door if you don’t submit a photo for a particular week (or weeks). However, as those who have completed a year-long challenge before know (and there are at least four 365ers among us!), there is a tremendous amount of satisfaction that comes from getting through the entire project. And to make it just that much more attainable, we allow one “mulligan” week. If there’s a challenge that you simply can’t figure out a shot for, you can use your mulligan and shoot anything else you like (though it still must be shot within the challenge time frame). No matter the challenge, we hope you won’t skip it because you “don’t want to,” since pushing your boundaries is exactly the point of the group. If inspiration is the issue, or you wish you knew more about your camera, contact us or someone else in the group; many of us have probably looked for the same information in the past and will be glad to help!

What Not to Shoot

For the most part, you’re free to shoot whatever and however you want within the confines of each challenge topic. However, because the group has an Open/Public status, we don’t allow any “restricted” photos. We don't intend to hamper anyone's creativity, but to allow the group to retain its status, no photo should include nudity.

Get Out and Shoot!

In addition to 48 themed challenges throughout the year, there will also be four “Get Out and Shoot” challenges. Those are designed to get you to, well, get out and shoot! Go somewhere you don’t normally go and have at it. If there are other IHTSWers in your area, it’s always fun to go with a group, but you can also head out on your own if you like. We’ll always give you a heads-up a couple of weeks before a Get Out and Shoot, so you have a little time to plan your outing. For those group members in the Chicago area, we usually post a thread in the discussion area with info on where/when we’re going, so others can join us.

Participation Makes It More Fun for Everyone

And finally, we want to encourage you to really participate in the group. Don’t just shoot for the week and post your photo. Go look at all the shots posted by your fellow group members and comment as much as you can. One of the best parts of this group is seeing everyone’s take on the theme, and of course, we all love getting comments. (One caveat, though--remember that we have all skill levels in the group, from beginners to pros, so unless someone is specifically asking for constructive criticism, let’s keep comments kind.)

This group utilizes an email list for weekly announcement of the topic and other correspondence. If you wish to be on the list, send a message either to Nanley or TEFennell4.

Happy Shooting!