January 2013 Photo A Day: Let’s do this thing

January 2013 - photo a day challenge

Happy New Year!

I hope you’re not nursing a hangover, but instead are cradling lots of high hopes and excitement for the new year ahead. I love a new beginning, and a brand new year brings just that. I’m excited for a year of photo-taking fun. 2012 was a blast, and I predict 2013 will be even more so.

Above is the new list for January 2013 and below are all the details on how to play. Join us!

How to play!

Playing along with photo a day is super easy:
♥ Check out the January photo a day list.
♥ Each day look at the daily prompt and take a photo according to whatever the prompt is. For example for day 1 the prompt is TODAY. As it’s New Year’s Day some might be sleeping off a hangover, others might be fulfilling their New Year’s resolutions. Take a photo of what it is you chose to do on the first day of 2013.
♥ Once you’ve taken the photo it’s time to share it. There are loads of places you can share it. See below for more details.
♥ Check out other people’s photos. You can browse through them on my Facebook page. Or on Instagram or Twitter just search for the #FMSphotoaday hashtag to see them all.

Where to play?

There are loads of places to be social and share your photos with the #FMSphotoaday community:

Instagram: Just upload your photo, use a fancy filter, add a caption and the hashtag #FMSphotoaday and then share.
Facebook: There are a few options here. You can simply share on your own personal page, among your own friends. Or you can upload to my page’s wall, or I’ve created a Facebook group for 2013. You can join it here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/FMSphotoaday/
Blog: If you have a blog, you could share each day or do a wrap up of all the photos at the end of the month.
Tumblr: Add your daily photos to your Tumblr feed.
Flickr: I’ll be playing around more with Flickr in the New Year. You can get their app {for free if I remember correctly} and share your photos there, or upload on their web version. We also have a photo a day group here.
Twitter: You can share on Twitter by uploading the photo and sharing the hashtag #FMSphotoaday. Easy.

Now I know a few people are concerned about the Instagram changes and want to explore other places to share. You can definitely use the above platforms. I’m also going to explore some other apps as well, particularly EyeEm.

How do I remember the prompts?

There are a few ways you can grab the list or remember the prompts:
♥ Come back here each day and click the button on the right-hand side to check out the list.
♥ Right-click on the list above and save it to your desktop. Or if you’re on your phone you could take a screenshot and save it as your wallpaper. {To screenshot click the power button and home button at the same time}.
♥ The very fabulous Doug has created a calendar for us. You can have the prompts added to your phone’s calendar by clicking here. It will open your calendar program and ask if you want to add the calendar. This works on iPhone, iPad, Android phone, Mac and PC. Alternatively you can view the calendar online in your browser here.

What’s the fab four?

Each day I’ll be picking my favourite four on Instagram and Facebook, and sharing them to my Facebook and Instagram. To have your photos in the running you can just share them to my Facebook page or the FMS Photo A Day group or the #FMSphotoaday Instagram feed, or both.

What do the prompts mean?

There are no rules when playing along with photo a day, you can be creative as you like! Interpret the prompt as you please. For those that need a little help, some more suggested details about each prompt are below:

1. Today: It’s the first day of the new year, so take a photo of how you spent the day.
2. Something new: Take a photo of something new. Something physical, the sunrise, a new attitude. Be creative!
3. Heart: Take a photo of a heart, or a heart shape.
4. The view from here: With many people around the world on holidays, it’s a great way to see where people are. Take a picture of your view from where ever you are.
5. Movement: Get moving and take a photo. You could take a photo of cars whizzing by, somebody jumping or you could even take a run and take photos as you’re jogging along.
6. Mine: Take a photo of something that’s yours. Perhaps it’s a thing, something you’re proud of or a person you call ‘yours’.
7. Street: Take a photo of a streetscape.
8. Something beginning with ‘T’: Take a photo of something today starting with the letter ‘T’.
9. Paper: Take a photo of something made from paper. Perhaps it’s someone reading the newspaper, or it could be wrapping paper. Think outside the square.
10. One o’clock: Take a photo of whatever you’re doing in the hour between one and two. It could be in the middle of the night {you party animal, you!} or during the day.
11. Water: Perhaps it’s the beach, a river, water in a glass, the bath {keep it PG!} or even the rain.
12. Surprise: I love when I stumble across coins when I’m walking. It’s a lovely surprise. That would be a lucky photo for me. Can you think of a way to capture surprise?
13. Circle: Look as you go about today for things shaped in circles. Is it the tyres on a bus? A big sign? Or something else?
14. Something yellow: Find something yellow in your travels today and take a photo.
15. An ordinary moment: Choose an ordinary moment and capture it. Is it you grabbing your daily coffee? Or playing with the kids? Or something that you do often and consider it as kinda ordinary?
16. Two things: Look for things in pairs today. Is it a lovely old couple that you see from behind? Or the salt and pepper shakers sitting on the bench? Find two things and take a photo.
17. Ready: Is it a photo of your dinner being ready? Or you ready to catch the bus? Or something else. It’s a toughy – but it will get your mind thinking!
18. Shadow: Find a shadow and shoot it. It could be your own, or a shadow of something else. Shadows look great with a black and white filter over the top {just sayin!}.
19. Delicious: What’s delicious to you? Is it the chubby cheeks of your toddler, the hunk at the gym or a cake you plan on eating for afternoon tea?
20. Something you saw: Go about your day with eyes wide open and take a photo of something you saw.
21. What you do: Do you go to school? Train elephants at the circus? Write at home? Play mum to your kids? Act as CEO to a big business? Paint in your spare time? Dance when no one is looking? Take a photo of what you do {something that makes you ‘you’} and share it.
22. Corner: It could be a sharp corner of a building, a corner of an artwork, a corner of your home or something else. Corners are everywhere. Shoot one.
23. Electric: This could be a simple photo of your toaster {but get creative} or something else electric.
24. Stripes: Look for stripes in your everyday. They could be in the zebra crossing on the road, or in your outfit or somewhere else.
25. Landscape: Step back and take a photo of a landscape near you. Or even take a little trip just for the photo. Would be nice to explore your town for a beautiful photo.
26. Together: There are many definitions for together. One is: In or into a single group, mass, or place. Take a photo of together, whichever definition you’d like to use.
27. Sun: Whether the sun is out in full force, or hiding behind the clouds today – take a photo of it. Or you could get creative and take a photo of sunlight or some other interpretation.
28. Through: Take a photo of looking through something – through the window, through the gate, through the trees… whatever you please.
29. Grow: People do it, plants do it too… get creative and take a photo of something that grows.
30. Down: Is it looking down or something that makes you feel down? Interpret it however you like.
31. Yourself: Take a photo of yourself. Or something that represents you.

Two little changes in 2013:

♥ I get a lot of requests for charities to be involved in the photo a day challenges, and I’ve had trouble figuring how I could make it work. I thought that in 2013 we could donate a prompt to a charity and bring some awareness.

For January I wanted to share the charity: The heart and lung transplant trust. So prompt number 3 is for them. They’re holding a photographic competition over this month to bring awareness in the lead up to Donate Life Week 2013 {24th February – 3rd March 2013}. You can read more about it here. The photo competition is titled Life Flashes, so feel free to add the hashtag #LifeFlashes to your heart photo.

♥ Also starting February I’ll be adding in a reader’s suggestion for the prompts to the lists. I’ll be asking for people to submit their suggestions in the form below, and then I’ll pick 5 and take them to Facebook for a vote – the winning prompt will make it into the list. I’ll credit that person in the monthly post too, of course!

Suggest your prompt below:

Fill out my online form.

Are you in for January? Are you ready for some photo-taking fun?

79 thoughts on “January 2013 Photo A Day: Let’s do this thing”

  1. Hello Chantelle! I’m finally catching up on your happy, colourful blog! I’m so glad you’re taking this challenge into 2013! Thanks for all the info- I’m now sorted with my #fmsphotoaday wallpaper, an icon on my homepage to get to your blog and I’ve just downloaded EyeEm- I like how you can change the filters before you take the photo.

  2. Happy New Year! Thanks for all the fun with these awesome photo challenges.
    Question: how do I get the promps on my calendar? The link above doesn’t seem to be working. Thanks! =]

  3. how do we share with our daily challenge photos to your page or the FB page. I’m a little technologically challenged sometimes. By the way, thank you for this page and your efforts. I’m not sure I can express how much you’ve made my world a better place with your challenge. Isn’t it great that–in little ways–we can brighten the lives of other people? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. –Loralee Fabulous <3

  4. I have Instagram and just found out of the photo a day. I love it! It makes me look at things more rather than just rushing through my busy day

  5. hello ! i’ll try to speak in english and be clear ;)) lol

    i would like to join this “photoaday” challenge but i don’t know how to join your group on instagram :((((

    would you mind exlain it to me ?

    • Hey there. On Instagram all you have to do is put the hashtag #FMSphotoaday in your caption – and then when the picture is published click on the hashtag and you’ll see all the photos taken by people playing along. 🙂

  6. Looking forward to a new year and this new list of prompts!! I’ll be posting on Flickr at wendy0112. Thanks for always making this so much fun!! Happy New Year to you and your family!! xo

  7. I’ve had to bow out from the Photo-a-day challenges the last couple months, but I think I’m going to try to start fresh again this year, it being a brand-new year and all. 🙂 Thanks once again for taking the time out of your life to create the list of prompts for us!

    I’ll be sharing on Instagram (apey83) and Twitter (april_denise83), as well as a compilation at the end of the month on Facebook and my photoblog (http://photoblog.aprilbridges.com)

  8. I’ve found your photo a day challenge the first day of the year…and i’m in! 🙂 i’ll play on instagram (@lasara93) 🙂
    Happy new year!
    Sara

  9. I wanted to do this last year, but the only challenge I found out about was solely for professional photographers (according to my source). I’m delighted to find out about this from Nikki at the Little Nordic Cabin! 🙂

  10. I tried a few months last year but never saw a month all the way through, so I gave up for a while. I decided I would start in the new year. Thanks for putting together these prompts. I do wish there was some sort of link up to share our pictures on though.

  11. I found this challenge via Heather at OurLifeInAClick, and I just want to make sure I have this correct…..
    I can use a camera not a camera phone? (Because if I have to use my phone, then I’m challenged, really!) I can take a photo a day and compile them into one blog post at the end of the month on my blog?
    If I have those things correct, then I think I’m game.

    Bliss

  12. Count me in! I love your ical integration and the prompts are nice for those brain dead days. Thanks for the challenge… a few days late to the show but played a little catch up and ready for the rest of the month. http://www.kulowhouse.com

  13. I came to see if someone else posted a Calendar and then I saw Doug made one, but in a separate Calendar for some reason. I love coming to your site but I hope I won’t have to come back for the calendar each month :/

  14. I’ve been doing photo a day.for a few months now but have only just completed a full month this December (the busiest month – crazy huh?!). Anyway I have actually just noticed quite a change in my photo taking skills and am proud to say that thanks to #fmsphotoaday they have improved quite dramatically. I love to check out the days photo prompt and look for it while going about my daily business. And its always fun to check out the others aswel.

  15. indeed it brightens my day everytime i click on the hashtag and see my entry. i even have them copied thru printscreen (haha!)

  16. Okay, so I’m pretty late, but I’m in as well! I’m going to go play catch up and will be posting at thiskidsgotmoxie.blogspot.com

Comments are closed.