March 2022

Welcome March, a month that brings with it a change of seasons. Whether you are heading into spring or into fall, the world will start to look different this month. The light will change and the colors around us will change. As photographers, those things invite us to see from a new perspective.

Too much change at once can be disconcerting, but as long as we are embracing change, this may be the month to try some new or different things with your daily photos as well. Maybe you have a lens that you haven’t used in awhile. Put it on your camera and use it for a week. If you feel like you are getting bogged down in daily activities and daily photos are becoming burdensome, shoot with only your phone or allow yourself only a few shots to accomplish your picture of the day. Stepping outside our comfort zone every now and then ultimately will help us grow and improve our skills.

For those of us in the northern hemisphere, March brings us spring. The earth will start to explode with all the colors of the rainbow. You may think it unfair of us to have chosen black and white as the color of the month. To create a black and white image, most people convert an image shot in color. Another thing you may want to try this month is actually shooting in black and white. If you are using a DSLR, your camera likely has a monochrome or similar setting. Removing the “distraction” of color from the frame when composing your photo changes what you are drawn to in the frame. Texture, balance, and the play between light and shadow become the prominent features in the image. If you haven’t taken many black and white photos or don’t think you enjoy shooting without color, try to keep an open mind. You’ll be amazed at how beautiful spring flowers can be even in black and white!

We are looking forward to seeing what this change of seasons looks like where you are!

“The only way that we can live, is if we grow. The only way that we can grow is if we change. The only way that we can change is if we learn. The only way we can learn is if we are exposed. And the only way that we can become exposed is if we throw ourselves out into the open. Do it. Throw yourself.” ― C. JoyBell C.

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Each month is broken into 4 weekly themes: Picture You, Picture More, Picture Color and Picture Style. These are meant to fuel your imagination, keep you engaged, and challenge your creativity. They give you the opportunity to see the same things in different ways.

PICTURE YOU

Possibly the biggest challenge, but it allows you to chronicle your life and to be included in photos for loved ones who want to have photos of you, even if you don’t like how you look that day. You don’t HAVE to be in the picture every day, but we would love to see you.

During Picture You week you will notice some sub-challenges:

Sunday Selfie
Sunday of Picture You week you’re encouraged to take a selfie, nothing fancy, just your wonderful face.

Picture My Hands
What are you doing today? Show us what you’re doing or holding from your point of view and be sure to include your hands.

Picture the Alphabet
Have you seen the letter “E” in a fence or “O” in a ferris wheel? Find letters in your world, or, if you can’t find them, make them even with just a piece of paper and a marker. Let the letter stand out! You will see two letters for the prompt. We want two photos in a collage for your daily photo. By the end of the year, you will have 26 letter photos to make words.

Picture My World
This is a quarterly challenge. We are hoping you can return to the same spot 4 times on these days to document the changing seasons in your world or in your life.

PICTURE MORE

Let’s get technical! This will challenge your creativity with a technical agenda. In these weeks of your year, you will look at repetition, triangles, diagonals, textures, centered photos (to name a few)! Don’t be shy to ask for clarification, camera settings or any tips and tricks. We aren’t magicians here; we share our secrets!

PICTURE COLOR

We will focus on a specific color chosen by the Creative Team for these weeks. You can include a little of the color, go completely monochrome or anything in between. You will likely find that this is one of your favourite weeks.

PICTURE STYLE

Landscape, food, golden hour, still life, street, minimalist are just some of the styles you will be encouraged to play around with to try out something new. Some of these might be a little out of your comfort zone. Our hope is that by the end of the week you may have discovered something you love. You might find style in your original photo or add some style in post-processing.

EXTRA CHALLENGES

Along the way you’ll notice a few added monthly challenges sprinkled in to give you extra inspiration.

Macro Monday
For this prompt we encourage you to get in close. Grab your macro lens, macro filters or just crop your photo in post-processing. This is where we can focus on the little details.

Scavenger Hunt
A quarterly challenge where instead of one prompt, you have 9. Take the 9 photos and make a collage. If a scavenger hunt is a bit beyond you that day, see if you can challenge yourself to fit 3 prompts in three different photos, or all nine in one. Make it work for you and your day.

Picture Recreate
In this challenge, all we want you to do is recreate an existing photo, whether that’s a Pinterest photo you’ve been wanting to try, a photo from a fellow 365er you loved, or a photo of you and your siblings in the bathtub when you were 5. As always, you can be as creative or literal as you want.