Need help thinking of a great New Year’s resolution? We got you covered with this Photography Challenge. To finish the challenge, you have to photograph 52 specific subjects in 2017. Taking on this challenge can be a simple way to push your creativity and expand your photography portfolio and skills in the new year. It’s like Project 365, but set up to take one photo per week. A 52 week photography challenge allows you to put more planning and creativity into each image, without disrupting the full-time schedule you might already have outside of photography.
Download our printable list and check off the subjects as you go. The order of the subjects doesn’t matter, just get the list done by the end of the year.
You may see that only 50 are on the list, but the last topic is a series of 3 images/subjects used to create a triptych.
Post your pictures in our Flickr group, tag @thephotoargus on Instagram, or share them with us on Twitter and we’ll repost our favorite shots.
Click the image below for a printable PDF.
For inspiration, check out the following images for each subject, chosen from our Flickr group.
Clouds
Above or below, day or night, sunrise or sunset. A perfect cloud can happen anytime, anywhere.
Philippe ABOULIN – Clouds
A Beautiful Landscape
Open fields, desert canyons, dark forests, and towering mountains are just a few examples of landscapes that can be stunning. Take a road trip and discover a landscape you’ll never forget.
Ken Browne – Sunrise over a poppy field near Wherwell, Hampshire.
Something in Your Kitchen
This could be an appliance, the sink, or even the messy crumbs around the toaster. Whatever catches your eye.
Yane Naumoski – Golden Flakes
Flowers
Flowers are one of the most frequently photographed subjects, and yet they still draw attention. You don’t need to reinvent the standard flower picture; you can simply focus on capturing a flower you think looks especially beautiful.
jordan parks – untitled
A Baby or Toddler
If you’re usually out roaming on barren landscapes, consider this an opportunity to channel your inner newborn photographer.
jordan parks – finnegan
Coffee or Tea
A cup of coffee or tea may be such a common part of your life that you’ve never photographed it before. Or maybe you’ve photographed it so often that the challenge here will be discovering a fresh perspective.
jordan parks – the burp and slap method
Something Weird
You can create all kinds of weird photos using programs like Photoshop, but you can also find plenty of weirdness ready-made in the world.
Handy Andy Pandy – 17/365: Andy is Lemon
A Sunrise
Half the challenge of this one might be getting up early enough to see the sunrise. Or, if that’s a step too far, you can stay up all night instead.
Greg David – This morning
Your Favorite Fruit or Vegetable
Some are more photogenic than others, but with a little creativity, you can make any fruit or veggie look good.
Julie Rideout – Grapefruit
Something You Think is Boring
Turning it into a photography subject might make it more interesting.
Francisco Villalobos – White Pages
A Cat or Kitten
Maybe it’ll go viral.
Silvio Prahl – Bruno
A Dog or Puppy
Though not as famous as Internet cats, dogs can be just as fun to photograph (if not more fun).
Greig Reid – Ziggy 27 weeks old
Someone You Love
Children, family, lovers, friends, or even yourself.
jordan parks – finn and winnie
A Stranger
Go out and meet someone! Or, if you’re too shy, a distant silhouette could also work.
Danny Santos – Stranger #7
Something That Makes You Feel Nostalgic
It could be a toy from your childhood, a place you used to go on vacation, or even a set of pictures you took last year.
Carsten Osterwald – Flight To The Sun
A Beach
This is just an excuse to go out walking on the beach.
Elizme – ~ Dreamscape ~
A Family
It doesn’t have to be your family, or even a human family. A duck with ducklings could count, too.
Amine Fassi – WilPrZ Family :)
A Rainy Day
From umbrellas to rain drops, the worst weather can inspire the best photos.
Konstantinos B – Sunday Morning
An Empty Road
A classic.
R Casey – the brief moment of color
Books
Go out and find an interesting book store, or stay home and cozy up with a pile of books and your camera.
Cat – taking a journey through words
Toys
Whether your camera gear counts is up to you.
pixlilli – Love !!!
A Skyscraper
You could get your first awesome cityscape, or if you’re an experienced urban photographer, try visiting another city to get a fresh set of skyscrapers to photograph.
Lidija Bondarenko – New Building on Park Ave-56 st
The Night Sky
Read these tips to get started.
Marco Romani – Northern Magic
A Meal You’ve Made
It doesn’t have to be fancy.
Pablo Reinsch – 0 % cholesterol…
An Insect
If spiders are beyond your comfort level, there are always butterflies.
Alex Greenshpun – Take to the Sky
Negative Space
Effectively using negative space (or white space) can really make your photos stand out. It’s a fun technique to experiment with, too. Sand dunes are a great place to start, but you can use negative space with almost any subject.
Alex Greenshpun – Love Letters from the Rain
A Bicycle
Even old, rusty bicycles have a kind of beauty, if only for their silhouettes.
Iordanis Keramidas – daydream…
Beautiful Architecture
Classic or bizarre, newly built or falling apart, there’s a wide range of what people call beautiful with architecture. Find a building you love, and get an awesome photo of it.
Ximo Michavila – CPH Architecture #34
A Tree or Leaf
Go big or go small–either way can be striking.
James Drury – tree
A Reflection
Some places to look: a lake, puddle, mirror, window, fountain…
Zed The Dragon – Paris, La Pyramide du Louvre
Something That Makes You Laugh
You might want to use a tripod to keep the camera steady as you’re shooting.
Sarah Bourque – Goofy Walter at the beach
A Dress
If you’re stumped, try adding wind or water.
Berit Alits – 2014
Cars
You can experiment with time-lapses, or head to a parking lot to discover an interesting composition.
Dennis – Speed of Light
Something You’ve Never Photographed
You could make this a quick snapshot or plan an entire trip around it, going somewhere you’ve never been to get this one picture.
ilirjan rrumbullaku – A Quiet Morning in Paris
A Wild Animal
It could be as simple as a bird outside your window or as difficult as a fox you spot in a field.
Nate Hughes – Bull moose in the mist IV
A Close-Up of a Face
It doesn’t have to be a person.
Anuma Bhattarai – My eyes are an ocean in which my dreams are reflected
A Panorama
If you’re using a smartphone, check out the apps out there for creating panoramas.
Darren Pettit – Fortress Hohensalzburg
A Candid Moment
If you struggle with making yourself invisible enough to get candid shots, check out these tips for getting candid photos.
Fabio Boer – They Are Watching Us
A Sunbeam
Windows are a good place to look, but you can also find sunbeams outdoors on a cloudy day or breaking through the leaves of a dense forest.
James Drury – still life
A Sport You Enjoy
If you don’t like popular sports like football, think outside the box to competitions like dancing or “mind sports” like poker.
Matthew Coughlin – 117/365 Billy Baller
Something You Fear
Possibly going back to insects…
Nicho Gustav – Spider
A Hand
Holding something or not.
Greig Reid – Pine Tree Cones
A Long-Exposure
Shoot a small stream, the waves on a beach, traffic on a highway, or stars moving through the sky, for a few ideas.
Nimit Nigam – Pangong Lake Starry Night…
Birds
You could go birdwatching and find a pair of gorgeous eagles, or stick with the birds in your neighborhood. Pigeons can be cool, too.
Yane Naumoski – Angry Bird
The Golden Hour
Whenever you need a photography ego boost, the golden hour is there for you.
Federica Giordano – into the w i l d
An Action Shot
Whether it’s a person jumping or a squirrel running across a field, getting a perfect action shot can be a huge rush.
Jeremy Lusk – I Can’t Quite See Up Your Swimsuit, Which Is Good Because If I Could It Would Ruin An Otherwise Awesome Photo
Shoes
On or off.
norenkay – 131/365 – Tots n’ Heels
Something You’ve Photographed Before
It can be done differently, like Vincent Van Gogh’s wheat fields, only with you and a camera instead of paint.
Federica Giordano – What’s my age again?
A Self-Portrait
Go as crazy as you want.
Stephen Humpleby – Flour
A Series of Three Related Photos
Create a triptych. It can be three related photos taken over the course of a couple weeks or the year for different seasons, time of day, before/during/after, or another interesting topic that has a clear theme.
Erik Beck – Triptych
