30-Day Photography Challenge for resparking creativity

Join me for a 30-day photo challenge – Designed to get out of our winter blues, spark creativity, and create something fun! Whether you’re trying to get out of a creative rut, trying to get more comfortable with your camera or just need to add something to your hobby list, this is for anyone!

You don’t need a fancy camera to join!

Who can join?

This challenge is for anyone! You can use a film cameras, iPhones, Polaroids, professional cameras, or whatever you have. If you feel like a different method, like painting or watercolor or something completely different, go for it!

Where do we share our photos?

Join me on Instagram and share your photos or join my ‘How the hell: Photography 101’ Facebook Group

Download the Prompts

• Day 1: Nature: Get out and immerse yourself in nature! What catches your eye?
• Day 2: Happy Place – What do you think of when you think of your “happy place”?
• Day 3: Object – What’s your object? Why did you choose it?
• Day 4: Close-up – Dive into the details. Change your perspective by getting up close and personal.
• Day 5: Life – Life and living things are all around us. What little moment can you capture?
• Day 6: Weather – What story is the weather telling today?
• Day 7: Symmetry – What does using symmetry do to your photos?
• Day 8: Sound – How can you translate sound into a still image?
• Day 9: Yellow – Find a little happiness and joy. Play I-spy to find something yellow.
• Day 10: Motion – Our lives are always in constant motion. Can you capture some of the chaos?
• Day 11: Shadow – Can you find something unique in the shadows?
• Day 12: Colorful – Capture something colorful. Can you find a spot of vibrant colors?
• Day 13: Light – Find different light sources to capture.
• Day 14: Candid – Unscripted, raw, and real. What moments do you want to freeze?
• Day 15: Sky – From sunrise to sunset, the sky is limitless!
• Day 16: Gratitude – Take a moment to smile and think of something you’re grateful for!
• Day 17: Texture – Texture is all everywhere! What do you find interesting?
• Day 18: Empty – A powerful canvas.
• Day 19: Low Angle – Change your view, see the world from a different angle. What’s it like to photograph at a low angle?
• Day 20: Something small – It’s all about the little things.
• Day 21: High Angle – Change your perspective. What’s it like to photograph at a high angle?
• Day 22: Water – Is it still water or is the water flowing? Try playing around with your shutter speed to see what that does. What does a really slow shutter speed do? Really fast? What do you like the most?
• Day 23: Person – From street photography to portraits to a self-portrait. Who do you want to capture?
• Day 24: Sunflare – Feel the warmth of the sun! Can you pause time to capture a sun flare? If you can, change your aperture and see how it changes the look.
• Day 25: Hobbies – Freeze-frame your passion. What do you love doing?
• Day 26: Leading Lines – Create a visual journey for your eye and see where you can find leading lines.
• Day 27: Framing – Can you find something with natural framing? Do you notice it draws more attention to that area?
• Day 28: Reflection – Are you taking a moment to reflect or did you find a reflective surface?
• Day 29: Silhouette – One of my favorite things to capture at sunset! What subject can you turn into a silhouette?
• Day 30: Pattern – What repeating shapes or designs stand out to you?

Daily photography challenge descriptions

One of the BEST ways to level up your photography skills and spark creativity is through a fun, creative, and repetitive practice. This 30-day challenge will give you a new prompt each day that’ll push you to try different techniques, subjects, and perspectives.

Don’t stress about following the prompt to a T – be sure to tackle each day in your own unique way with YOUR vibe and style. Use the prompts as inspiration, but don’t be afraid to make each image fully YOUR own. You’ll notice that you start paying closer attention to light, composition, colors, textures, and all those little details you might normally overlook.

Whether you’re new to photography or have been in the game for years, this 30-day challenge is ALL about shaking things up, getting the creative juices flowing, and constantly learning new things.

Beginner photography terms to know

Silhouette:

To capture a silhouette you’ll need a bright background (like a sunset in the sky) and a subject that will create a big contrast. To create a silhouette, position the subject in front of a strong light source, like the sun, expose for the background (the subject should be dark), and focus on capturing the subject’s shape or outline. On a camera, use backlighting and manual exposure settings, or with an iPhone, tap to focus on the brightest part, lock the exposure, and take into an editing app to finish up.

Leading Lines:

Leading lines can be found naturally in things like trees, roads, rivers, or they can be man-made elements like fences, buildings, or railroad tracks. Leading lines are a way to steer the viewer’s focus.

Framing:

This is when you use different elements to literally frame or border the main subject. It’s like creating a natural picture frame using archways, tree branches, doorways or other objects. Framing helps isolate your subject and draw all the focus right to it.

Aperture:

The aperture is that opening in the camera lens that allows light to travel into the camera and hit the image sensor. It’s measured in f-stops like f/1.8 or f/5.6. Here’s the key – the smaller that f-stop number, the wider the aperture opening. A wider aperture (small f-stop) creates a nice blurred background effect with a shallow depth of field. A narrower aperture (larger f-stop) keeps more of the scene in focus.

Want to learn manual mode on your camera?

Want to feel more confident in your camera skills? I created a beginner E-book teaching you the basics of learning how to use your camera in manual mode!

Final Thoughts

The goal of this challenge isn’t to create perfect photos—it’s just to shake things up and slow down for a little.

Be sure to share your photos in the Facebook group, tag me on Instagram, or check out my ‘how the hell to shoot in manual PDF.