Cameras at the ready: It’s time for the October Photo A Day Challenge

october photo a day

Well hello there! Whether you’ve somehow stumbled across this for the first time, or you’re an old hat at this photo-taking business, WELCOME.

Everything you need to know is written below, so I won’t hold you back. Go forward and get ready to have some fun.

And if you’ve got a question about Photo A Day, it might have been asked before so head over to the FAQ page for the answer.

How to play!

Playing along with photo a day is super easy:
Check out the October 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 ‘Something colourful’ so share anything that you stumble across that is colourful. Easy!
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, in the FMS Photo A Day Facebook group. 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/ Now that Facebook has hashtags, simply add the hashtag #FMSphotoaday when you share your photos and you’ll be able to see which of your friends are playing along too. It’s cool!
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: You can get their app 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.

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 lovely Doug has created prompts for us that we can download straight into our calendar, so we won’t forget.

To subscribe on iPhone/iPad/Android/Mac:
http://bit.ly/15KFbZw

To view on the web:
http://bit.ly/16Tad4H

What’s the fab four?

Each day I spend some time scrolling through the photos shared on Instagram and Facebook, selecting four from each platform to put a bit of a spotlight on. The Fab Four isn’t a competition. There is no prize. It’s just a way to share some of the awesome photos being shared for Photo A Day.

As I’ve been taking a few things off my plate with having my baby, I took a break from the Fab Four for two months. Excitingly I’m back this month selecting them for Instagram. And my lovely friends will continue for another month selecting them on Facebook. They’ll take turns in picking the Fab Four and sharing them in the FMS Photo A Day group. To be considered, just share your photos in the group. Join the group here.

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. Something colourful: Find something beautifully filled with colour, take a photo and share it.
2. Light: This could be a street light, a lamp or another fitting, or it could be beautiful natural light streaming through the window, the sun anything. Play around with light. It’s beautiful.
3. You today: Share a photo of you today. Camera shy? Share an abstract pic of you: a reflection in a window, your feet, or some other way.
4. In motion: Movement! Take a photo of something in motion, perhaps a car driving by. Or you can use your phone and move it as you’re taking a photo. Explore this one a little.
5. Afternoon: How did you spend your afternoon today? At work? At play? Show us.
6. 8 o’clock: What were you doing at 8am or 8pm? We want to see your 8 o’clock.
7. What you saw today: Let us see the world through your eyes, what did you see today?
8. Corner: We stumble across lots of corners in our days, books, buildings, furniture, streets… show us one.
9. Pink: This is our charity prompt – share something pink.
10. Hands: Take a photo of some hands. Hot tip: They look beautiful in black & white.
11. M is for…: Find something starting with M and take a photo of it.
12. Below: This can be anything you want – something you see below something else. Use your imagination.
13. Watching: This one might be a bit tricky… is it something you’re watching? Someone watching something else? How will you interpret ‘watching’?
14. Favourite space: Where is your favourite space? A corner in your home? A seat in a quiet cafe?
15. Secret: Ssssh. Will you tell us a secret? Or show us a photo that represents secret?
16. Leafy: It’s Spring in Australia so the leaves will be abundant. If it’s Fall or Autumn where you are, will you be sharing a photo of the leaves fallen on the ground?
17. First world problem: First world problem is a problem that really isn’t a problem. Like ‘There’s too much goats cheese in my salad’ or ‘I can’t decide which of my 12 pairs of shoes to wear today’. Hard, yes. But potentially pretty funny.
18. Still: You could show a photo of still life, or life standing still.
19. A good day: What makes a good day for you? Try and capture it, and if you’re having a bad day – try and turn it around.
20. Open: Self-explanatory really. Find something open to share.
21. Then + now: This is a fun one, especially if you use an app to split your photo in two like PicFrame. It’s like a before and after. An example would be a piece of cake on a plate, and then the cake empty with just a few crumbs. Get it?
22. Change: Show us change – it could be money or it could be something that has changed.
23. Your mood today: How are you feeling today? How can you show that in a photo?
24. Dark: Maybe head out and shoot at night, or show something else dark.
25. Welcome: Is it a welcome sign or doormat, or another way to represent welcome?
26. Depth of field: This is our photography prompt. I’ll be writing a post on how to get it with your camera or smart phone. Keep an eye out.
27. Peaceful: What makes you feel peaceful?
28. Just for you: What’s something that is just for you that no one else can have?
29. Hair: It could be your own hair, a toy’s hair or on your animal… or otherwise!
30. Wet: Wet. It is what it is. How will you show it in a photo.
31. Treat: Happy Halloween. Share a photo of a treat, or your trick & treating.

Charity prompts:

Our charity prompt this month is National Breast Cancer Awareness Day
The charity we’re bringing awareness to this month is National Breast Cancer Awareness. Shoot something pink to bring awareness and show your support. You can read more about it here.

YELLOW-BREAK

7 thoughts on “Cameras at the ready: It’s time for the October Photo A Day Challenge”

  1. I would love to know how to set up the automatic prompts! I am hosting a photo of the day challenge right now and it would be super handy 🙂 Love your series!

  2. Im excited and a little bit nervous to be joining in for the first time this month. Last night I kept dreaming about your hashtag line and worried I was going to miss spell it each time or forget it so nobody would know I was playing along lol. It has certainly got me thinking as I walk around looking at everything wondering what will make a good photo. Iv also downloaded an app PhotoWonder which Im hoping will make my photos look a bit better! If you have any photo apps you recommmen Id love to hear about them 🙂 Thanks Chantelle

    • Has this been responded to? Chantelle has a few articles on her favorite apps under “iPhoneography” (link to the right of this comment). If you’re an Android user, Snapseed is great, and I think it’s also available on a PC through Google and/or Picassa. There’s an excellent (and inexpensive) e-book that’s a short course in photography and has tips on Android apps, Android photography: take better pictures with your android phone by Colby Brown. Right now it’s $2.51 on Google play, also available for Nook and on Amazon.

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