Welcome 2025 and everyone joining us!  I am an outdoor body, love to be out in nature and when I am I usually have my camera with me - rain, sleet or snow.  Show us how you are welcoming in the New Year.

Choosing a word for the year can help you set your intention and focus for the year to come.  Take a moment and reflect on what went well last year and what your hopes are for the year to come.  What one word best describes what you want out of 2025.

For this year I have chosen "Adventure" as my word for 2025.  I want to say yes to any adventure that is put in front of me.  I adventured to Churchill, Manitoba last year to hunt for polar bears.  It was an experience of a lifetime and I decided I wanted to pursue more adventures and experiences like that throughout this coming year.

What will you choose as your word for 2025?

When was the last time you were curious about something? As a child, I was curious about everything! As an adult in the technological age, sometimes my curiosity gets stiffled with instant gratification and knowledge. I snapped this photo of our granddaughter many years ago. She was peeking in the window of the American Girl Place. Can you capture a curious image today?

Soup is a favorite meal at our house. Often it is made with leftover whatevers so I can never make it the same way twice.  Do you have a favorite soup recipe?  If so, give yourself a two-for-one on today's to-do list.  Throw on a pot of soup for dinner and take today's picture of the day!  And remember that a pot of homemade soup deserves a loaf of homemade bread!

If spending your Saturday in the kitchen doesn't sound like fun, stop by your favorite deli or restaurant and let them do the hard work.  Then, all you have to do is have fun taking a photo!

Do you have some dried flowers hanging around your house, I do, and these were actually all grown in my garden.   I added some overlays to the photo to give it some texture.

Think of the composition and what is around the flowers.

What dried flowers do you have in your home?

The first Monday of each month is designated as Macro Monday! Take this opportunity to immerse yourself in the small wonders of nature and everyday objects, revealing textures and forms that are typically overlooked. 

I took a quiet moment to check out the details of this latest beach find. 

If you don't have a specialized macro lens, don’t worry! You can still capture stunning close-up shots by zooming in or applying a tight crop to your images. Many cameras and apps also feature macro options. 

Doors are such fascinating things.  They are of course a barrier to keep people, pets and temperatures in or out.  But, they are also symbolic of beginnings and endings.  I found these old lava rock garages and loved the doors on them.  What door attracts you today?

The one thing about photographing trees is that they look different depending on the time of year you are photographing them.  The colours change, the foliage changes and falls, and snow can fall on its branches.  Find some trees in your area and show us what stage they are currently in.  If you are currently experiencing winter it's likely that your trees will be covered with snow.

I loved the way the trees lined this road all the way down both sides.  I converted the photo to black and white as the scene was rather muddy looking in colour.  I think the black and white makes for a more pleasing photo.

We have a new monthly prompt this year! "A picture is worth..."

For this prompt, we are going to include words or letters in our photo. You can use a letterboard, or scrabble letters, print a message, or find a sign. How you execute is up to you!

Just remember to "stay calm!"

I know.  Garlic is a root vegetable, not a spice; but in Texas it is considered a spice because nearly everything has garlic in it...and cumin, but garlic is much more photogenic!  Is there a particular spice that is your go-to?  Or, is there one that is a staple of your favorite cuisine?  Shine the light on your favorite spice today.

This is the first technical day of the year, so we will keep it easy.

I want you to think of your composition and also your placement of your subject, I want you to notice!

Think of placing your subject on a third, have an odd number of subjects, you might have to edit your photo to make sure that everything is horizontal, vertical or is on the third.

What will you notice today?

Get ready! Color Week is back by popular demand, and this week we're focusing on WHITE! 

We will reveal the new color on Sunday. After that, you can choose how to incorporate it into this week's prompts—whether for just one day, two days, or even the entire week. We’re excited to see how you embrace this new challenge and make it your own!

Today is a blank canvas for which all of the other prompts have prepared you.

Keep your eyes open and have fun!

Every January I set a reading challenge for myself.  I'll decide how many books I would like to read during the year.  For every hard cover book I read, I decide which bookmark I want to use with it.  I decided to photograph them today.  I have a fair collection of bookmarks.  I also tried to ensure that as it's colour week, I included some white in my photo.

We make a countless number of decisions throughout each of our days.  How can you photograph one of those decisions?  Bonus if it includes a touch of white!

One of our repetitive monthly prompts this year is "In your hands." Each month we want you to include your hands in the image. Today we want you to look for something cotton to hold. It could be literally "cotton" or something made of cotton..  yarn, string, cotton balls, or anything else made of cotton that you can find. This week's extra challenge is to include the color "white." If you aren't participating in the extra challenge, whatever cotton item you find can be any color.

Today's prompt is journey.  And, we are still challenging ourselves to use this week's color, white, in our daily photos.

Journey is defined as traveling or passing from one place or stage to another.  We are all on a journey through life.  Living as a person with albinism (Here is the white part of the prompt. :-)) my journey is an interesting one--not worse, not better than anyone else's, just different.  What does your life's journey look like?  How can you show this in a photo?  In thinking about how to include the color white, think about light or white clothing or vanilla ice cream.  Let your imagination run wild on a journey of its own.

It was a chilly day when the example photo was taken.  

If you haven't got any chilly weather, then think of a chilly drink, or a red hot chilly with a white background if you want to do the extra challenge! 

Try to remember to use the rules of third.

You can always find a seagull hanging out on the beach with his beak wide open, waiting for a snack!

What will you find that is open today?

Did you know there are 134 synonyms and antonyms for the word adjust?  We made some adjustments to this old stereo turning it into a cabinet for a modern sound system.  We put the adjustment knobs back on for looks, it does make you want to adjust the dial for that radio though.  What will you adjust today?

This year we will be returning to a quarterly seasonal challenge.  Once a quarter, starting with today, you are asked to choose a spot in your hometown that you can return to once each quarter and photograph it.  If convenient, pick a spot where changes are noticeable as the seasons change.  It's always fun to look at what spot others have chosen and to see the changes captured throughout the year.

This spot is a pond near my house and I have chosen it for my seasonal photos.  It's accessible all year round and the landscape changes quite a bit with each season.  I'm looking forward to seeing the differences in my photos from quarter to quarter.

I can't wait to see what spot you have chosen for this year.

What is happening today? Right now? Is it early morning or late afternoon? What's the weather? What are you doing? What are you wearing? Who are you with? 

Capture the "now"...  the way you want to remember it!

Do you have a favorite character in your life?  Lego?  A bobblehead?  A stuffed animal?  This year we have added a prompt category encouraging us to photograph a beloved character.  This should be fun as these characters are usually much more cooperative than our human subjects.

This is BlueperB.  Most of the time he likes to have his picture taken.  Although in this one, he was a little unhappy because he prefers to wear t-shirts, not sweaters.  And, you can't see his orange horns.  I explained to him that it is January and its cold, and also that this month's photo asks us to focus on eyes.  He agreed to this month's photo as long as his horns aren't hidden next time.

Have fun photographing and introducing us to your favorite character today.

How do you manage your time during the day?

Do you have a routine that you have to manage, show us how you manage to get all the things done you want in the day.

Words with multiple meanings definitely make us up our game! 

There can be so many creative possibilities which makes it all the more fun to browse the day's photos and see all the unique ways everyone interpreted the prompt!

Which direction will the prompt take you? Will it be all fun and games? Will you be on the lookout for wildlife? maybe you've got game with a cool skill? 

The surfers were getting there game faces on to brave the chilly January ocean! 

Contrast refers to the variation in brightness and color between different parts of an image. The stratified rock layers along the riverbank are striking. In photography, contrast is used effectively to emphasize a subject or element.  Show us some contrast you found today.

Today is our first challenge prompt for this year.  Each monthly challenge prompt will have a photo that you are asked to recreate while adding your own twist.  I think this month's challenge will bring a smile to your face.

Today we will be capturing refraction.  When light makes its way through water it changes direction.  Take a glass container and fill it with water.  Place your face, someone else's face or an object behind the glass and photograph it through the water.  I bet the result will make you smile.  

A tisket, a tasket, a.....

Do you have a beautiful basket? Do you have a basket filled with fruit, or knick knacks? Be on the look-out for a basket... it can be empty or filled; you choose!

The example was a welcome basket from our Airbnb Host in Cortina d'Ampezzo! 

The secret to photographing steam is having a black background and light from the side.  Place your camera on a tripod is helpful as well.  A teapot that continually produces steam is a easier to photograph than a steaming cup of coffee or bowl of soup that cools quickly.

The crop on my photo is a little tight because I did not have a big enough dark background, but I think you get the point.  Give photographing steam a try.  Hopefully it won't leabe you needing to blpw off a little steam yourself!

Can you leave your photo to the finish of the day light, if you can you can sometimes get some great sunsets.  The best thing about this time of year here in Europe is that the sunsets are early, so you don't have to wait up to get the photo.

What finish will you find today, something that you have been working on or just the finish of the daylight?

Snap a photo that describes a bit of your day!

Descriptive photography focuses on giving viewers a sense of the moment, allowing them to see what's happening in a quick glance.

I've resided in this region for the majority of my life but only discovered this side of a local dam a few years ago. It has since become a cherished spot for my photography pursuits. To say that I had previously overlooked this area would be an understatement; it offers abundant opportunities to capture diverse textures, birds, and wildlife. Walking across the elevated spillway, at eye level with the water, is particularly fascinating. Have you ever discovered a place that, upon reflection, presented unexpected photographic possibilities?