Poll Posted

Given that the last challenge was given a week and we have a significant more than the last challenge and more than previous challenges I just want to get an idea of what time frame is best for everyone.

It is obvious to me that it is M24, but it is also obvious that time frame doesnt provide people with enough time to post. So please make your vote on the top right hand side poll! You dont need to comment here unless you feel the need. You can also keep your comment private and email to m24photos@gmail.com

Remember this is your challenge blog so make it your vote known. If it comes out we all like the week time to post better maybe we can work out a name change or something to Mission Weekly or something like that. Though M24 is so so catchy!

New Contact Email

Since there will be a temporary change in moderation of the blog I just wanted to let you all know that if you want to send comments, questions, suggestions and other conversations that you would like to take place outside of comments on a post feel free to email: m24photos@gmail.com or you can see it on the sidebar as well.

This way I can appropriately organize my inbox as well as prioritize for any incoming mails from this blog and get to them as fast as possible! I want to emphasize this is an open contribution blog and all suggestions are welcomed!

** Just to let you know there are some featured photographers that are complete and never got posted as well as some Tuesday Tutorials. If you have some saved and are not finished please either delete them or finish them within the next week or I will publish them so we all can appreciate the hard work put into them!

Unscheduled business. :)

Hey everyone!

Just popping in to say hello and leave a couple notes of business. I know it's not Monday, our normal day for business, but I needed to just mention a few things.

1. I understand things get busy and sometimes it's hard to post by midnight at the end of a challenge. I get that. I do! :) HOWEVER, from here on out ONCE THE VOTING POST GOES UP, we will consider that challenge closed. Any pictures posted AFTER the voting post will be taken down. We need to keep things cleaned up that way so it's not one jumbled mess. I hope you all understand.

2. PLEASE don't post past pictures. I LOVE seeing everyone's talent...I think we all do. HOWEVER, this is not a blog just to display such works. This is to challenge ourselves to go out and CREATE a new piece of art based on the word we are given in the challenge. I know several of you have pieces that you want to show others, and you have a right!!! Maybe we will have a day coming up that we can do a showcase of some past work. But for our normal challenges, let's keep it new. :)

3. ALSO--if you have joined this blog but not posted in a while, PLEASE DO. We asked that everyone post at least once a month, which should be super easy. I mean, it's ONE time out of a minimum of 8 times. We are going to start clearing off the list. PLEASE CONSIDER THIS YOUR LAST WARNING. I have given LOTS Of time for people to have another chance at posting. I WILL give the Saturday challenge as the last chance for those who haven't posted in a long time. If you know you can't post for a while due to life circumstances, let me know. I totally know how that goes. :) But we really want people to be involved with this blog who WANT to be. :)

4. Along the lines of not being able to post, I am taking a break from taking charge over the blog. Many of you probably know I am 2,000 miles from home right now and visiting lots of family and friends. I feel like I have really dropped the ball with making sure everything is done on time with this blog, and I apologize for that. I feel like I can't give full attention to this blog and to my family that I rarely get to see. So, Mindy is taking over for me for the next few weeks. Hopefully having her take over that part will let me take part in the challenges again. :) Her email is on the sidebar if you have any questions. If you want to submit a word for Wednesday Challenges, shoot her an email and she can get that scheduled. She will be doing Saturday posts in my place. And I know she will do a great job with it. I hope you all understand!!

Okay, is anyone still with me?

I know this was long, just wanted to clean things up around here and get back on track. :) I hope you are all having a wonderful spring/summer....this is such a great time of year!!

See you at tomorrow's challenge!

Mission 24 business

Hey everyone!

Bet you thought I wasn't going to be showing up again today! It certainly took me long enough to get back on here. :)

Just a few things to note:

This week we are going to try to switch up the voting again. I would like to see how it goes just having people pick their ONE TOP PICTURE overall. Then we will have a second place winner.

We will try this out for a week or two and see how it fits. :)

We have also kind of drifted towards a change with the challenges, in regard to who posts them and what their role is. SO, PAY ATTENTION HERE! :) When you are asked to post the word, please go ahead and do so. But I also ask that for consistency, you also put up the voting post the day after the deadline. Janelle will continue to tally the votes and post the winners, so that's covered. :)

Now in regards to posting a word: If you didn't know before, now you will! You can PREPOST your word.

It's simple. Start your post like normal. When you have added what you want, you simply click on the button POST OPTIONS in the bottom left hand right below this box. That will give you several options for comments and backlinks...don't even worry about that. Just move your eyeballs over to the right side where it says POST DATE AND TIME. Put in the DATE you want it posted and the time. DON'T FORGET THE AM/PM FACTOR. AND, when you post, if you could have it post pretty early in the morning, so the East coast folks can see it early their time, that would be great! :)

NOW, also along the lines of PREPOSTING, I am going to have you each do me a HUGE favor! After I started getting all the submissions for the featured photographer, I realized how totally overwhelmed I would be if I were trying to save everyone's pictures and add them myself. SOOOO, If you each will go into blogger, add your pictures (DON'T FORGET YOUR SELF PORTRAIT!) and your questionaire, and then PREPOST IT. MAKE SURE TO Put a later date and time so it doesn't post right away!!!

If you all will use the same post date for the featured photographer stuff, that would be great. That way I can go in and change them to the right scheduled dates and it will be a surprise when your name comes up! :)

PLEASE USE THE DATE 9/09/09
Pretty easy to remember, right???

Don't care what time you put. Just please make sure the date is in the future--and preferably the 9/9/09 date! :)

Whew...what else?

Just a little note of encouragement to those of you who may be feeling discouraged. I am so disheartened at how often I hear feedback from people saying that they feel like they aren't good enough or that they are trying but feeling like they aren't being noticed. Heck, I have felt discouraged too--there is some seriously tough competition around here lately, isn't there?? :) It's easy to look at how wonderful some people are doing and feel down about where we might be individually. But please, please know that others share your same thoughts. And please know that we are each on our own individual journey...and ultimately, you are most likely to be successful with not only photography, but LIFE, if you are living and doing for what makes you happy and what you feel pride in. Feedback is great, and it helps us to improve--if we choose to take the things people are saying and actually do something with that.

So, let's all step it up this week and maybe take note of some of those who seem to be lacking in comments who are consistant commenters on YOUR posts...maybe we can validate each other a little more, and give some more honest feedback so we can improve.

And honestly, if there is anything I can ever do to help make this a better group, I am all ears.

OH, AND ONE MORE THING!
WE NEED TO FIGURE OUT A DAY FOR OUR M24 GET TOGETHER IN UTAH! We picked the 20th of May for the Eastern Idaho one, (still need to figure out where!) but I WOULD LOVE to get the Utah one planned so we can mark our calendars.

What are your thoughts?? And who is going to come? And where should we have it?? Something hopefully pretty central...

Okay...I am off. Have a great night...

KEY VOTING and Mission 24 business

WOW! Lots of key interpretations!!

So, let's cut to the chase and LET'S VOTE!

Here's how we will do it this week:

BEST OVERALL:

Best photo setup:


So, let's hear what you think!!!
(both of last weeks winners didn't post this time, so you can vote for anyone who submitted a picture!)
****************************************************************

Now, a bit of Mission 24 business.

--PLEASE remember to label your pictures when you submit them!!!
Put your NAME, and the category of the challenge.

--ALSO, I have sent out several emails now. If you have NOT gotten one from me, PLEASE let me know. I know I have said this like, a hundred times, but I think we are getting close to having an accurate email list...and I have a good system in place for new joiners from now on.

--What do you guys think about us having a sidebar button to post on your blogs. I have debated over this for a while. Yay or nay? Is it something you would use or would it be a waste of time?

--also, anyone have any ideas as to how we can make posting the feature photographers easier? I realized AFTER the fact that having everyone email me their pictures would mean a LOT of time trying to save and then upload everyone's pictures...maybe I could set up a schedule and you guys could each PREPOST your interview and pictures??? What do you think?


--Just want you all to know how much I appreciate you. I am constantly coming here and feeling so inspired! You have made this blog SO wonderful by being so open to sharing your art. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU.

I am SO appreciative...

Happy Monday.

AND DON'T FORGET TO VOTE!

Mission 24 business

Since we are starting this week with a few changes, I figured I would start by following through the our scheduled Monday business post. I will try to keep Mondays for all things to note...reminders on things, feedback for changes, etc. so that we can keep the rest of the week free to photograph! :)

I have sent everyone an email with the featured Photographer questions on it. IF YOU DID NOT RECEIVE IT, PLEASE LET ME KNOW. I have tried to go in and correct the emails, so if you were missed by some chance, I will get it fixed for sure. We have gotten several back so far and I have loved reading them so far...you didn't think I could WAIT did you?? :)

ALSO, The feature Friday has changed and will now be a TUESDAY TUTORIAL so we can have a Feature Photographer Friday. I think that should work out nicely.

I really appreciate all your feedback and ideas. You are each a big part of this blog and I thank you so much.

Before signing off, I just want to really CHALLENGE you to push yourselves this week. Ask yourself a few questions before you post your picture for the next challenge...

--is this my best? Did I really take the time and effort to ponder the challenge and realize what it means to me? Sometimes I take pictures of 2-3 different objects--even if it means a hundred shots a piece...to find the object that FEELS right to me. Or even with my UNO picture last week, I had taken it the first day of the challenge. And then I decided to sleep on things...decide what I thought in the morning. When I woke up and looked at it again, I wasn't 100% happy. So I REDID the whole shoot. Another 100 pictures. And I was so glad I did. I saw things in a different light and felt like it came together like I hoped.

--Would I frame this? I know that probably sounds silly, but I have found as I ask myself that lately, it has made me really THINK about my picture instead of just posting one. We usually frame the pictures that we LOVE because of an emotion we feel when we see them. PUT THAT INTO YOUR PHOTOGRAPHS and you will be SO amazed at how much your photography changes.

--Have I taken the features/tutorials people have posted into consideration? I know there were some really great ones early on about filling the frame, taking a new viewpoint, and using different settings on your camera--even the point and shoot ones. Taking a look back might help put you in a different spot when you find yourself in a rut.

--Am I improving? I think each person can determine this themselves...but it doesn't hurt to do an honest evaluation with yourself. Look back at a picture you took a month ago, and one you took now. If you don't feel you are really progressing, it might be a great chance to look at what you can do to improve. Even the best photographers still have room to grow. The art of photography is ever-changing...

Those are just a few things I have thought of as we have had these challenges lately. I hope you each feel inspired by the talent we have here, and that you feel you have the opportunity to better yourself, no matter what camera you have. I am so proud of where everyone is going with this--I can see immprovements each time and I hope you each know how wonderful I think you are!

(scroll down for voting!!)

CHALLENGE: Wisdom (and ONE voting results)

Okay---keeping everyone on their toes this week. Sorry for all the "construction" that's been going on. Just trying to tweak things to be just so. :)

I am going to try to post the results this way for now, just so everyone can see and we make a point to really highlight the winners.

For the ONE challenge winners we had:
BEST OVERALL went to DAVE, with his ONE canoe (and one mishap!! :) Great story Dave.

MOST ORIGINAL: Rachel with her floating uno cards

And I think we've come to a solution for the voting dilema that I HOPE will make everyone happy. (thanks everyone for your advice)

The concern was brought up that someone could receive a lot of votes and not even win at all because the votes for their picture were spread out. So, I think we will go ahead and keep the BEST OVERALL, a randomly selected category, and then we will also announce the person with the most votes overall! :)

So, the first person to take this honor is KATY with her picture displaying how nice rice can be.

GREAT WORK EVERYONE!

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Now, onto the CHALLENGE! I am very curious what everyone will come up with for this one...

So, here goes...today's word is: WISDOM.

What does that mean to you? What do you think of when you think of this?
Let's step it up and really think outside the box on this one. :)

Remember, pictures in by midnight tomorrow!

_____________________________________________________

one more tidbit: Would you please leave a comment if you are willing to sign up to post a word for a challenge? That way we can get that going. I am excited to have everyone contribute!

CHALLENGE: Red

Good morning everyone!

I'll be teaming up with Rachel in presenting some challenges going forward. She deserves to be surprised with a challenge topic too!

Today's challenge is RED. Remember to think outside the box.

You have until midnight tomorrow (Thursday) to post your photo.

A couple of housekeeping items:

• Please remember to label your posts with your name and the challenge. When it comes time for voting, a lot of people just search through all the posts ID-ed with the current challenge, and if yours isn't properly tagged, it won't show up.
• Posted photos must be taken within the specified challenge time period. No previously taken photos please!! That's the fun of the challenge. :)
• It seems like people have gotten busy and comments have started slowing down again. Please remember to share the love with your fellow photographers! Encouraging one another is part of the photography adventure! :)
  
• For new people who may not know, if you see "CC" at the bottom of a post, it means "constructive criticism." The person who posted is open to critiques or advice on their photo. It's okay to be honest...but please be kind.
  

Gathering Information!

I thought it would be nice to have all the good photography resources we can find in one central place. I know that I myself have stumbled across several good sites and just not found a good time to share them...but I KNOW many of you are sitting on what many of us would consider a gold mine of info! :)

So, this is the post to SHARE what you know--all things photography--websites you love for inspiration, photoshop tutorials, even basic photography information!

So, to get those wheels spinning, here are some categories you might think about:

Adobe Lightroom tutorials or presets

Photoshop / photoshop elements actions

Photoshop / photoshop elements tutorials

Basic photography information: exposure, ISO, etc.

Inspiring photography

good sources for feedback on cameras and camera equipment

etc...

What are some things you would like to know? We can add that to the list and see if it spurs anyone elses thoughts.

PLEASE put the websites and what category it would fit in the comments section here. I will put the categories on the sidebar and we can always have them to link to.

Sound good?

MISSION 24 EMAIL

Hey everyone, I just wanted you to know I did a test email send. There have been some things I wanted to email instead of post publicly and I am trying to get everyone's correct email on the list.

If you did NOT get an email, check your bulk/spam folder. If you still have not seen anything from me, PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT so I can add you.

And as always, I am open to suggestions and ideas you have for how we can better this group. Thank you all for your contributions!

Rachel

P.S. IF YOU ARE FOLLOWING THIS and have wanted to be added, PLEASE leave a comment or email me. Sometimes I get busy and forget to add someone--so I am fine getting a reminder. :)

Friday signups

Hey, just letting everyone know I put the Friday Feature calendar up on the sidebar. Please take note and let me know if I got anything wrong. I was trying to gather all the volunteers from a variety of comments, so if I need to change anything I will.

Thanks again for all your contributions! Each of you add so much!

p.s. please note you can pre-schedule your feature ahead of time--
p.p.s. Dave, I think you should do one on panning! You got that down for sure! :)

Let the voting begin!

HOLY COW! This challenge felt (at least to me) like it went SO fast! But it's a rainy Monday morning and it's time to vote.

This voting stuff is seriously getting harder and harder. And we keep getting more and more members who are doing beautiful work! Thank you again to everyone for your contributions.

Still looking for some Friday features to finish up April. The 17th through the end of the month. I thought we would do a drawing to help spice things up. IF You sign up and follow through with a Friday feature, you will be entered in a drawing quarterly to win some fun stuff--I promise it has to do with photography! :)

So sign up now! :) I will update the calendar later today, so get your name in there while you can! :)

Oh, and let's vote!

Be sure to put:
BEST TAKE ON THE CHALLENGE:
and
BEST OVERALL PICTURE:

Then any shoutouts you have. It's fun to see your name mentioned, even if you don't win, right?

Have fun!

Tweaking here and there

I have found myself in a strange position. I feel like we get to a great place with this blog and then it goes downhill again. It isn't that I am set on it being one specific way, but I don't want it to be all over the place either. This is a challenge I am taking seriously, for myself and my own photographic improvement. And I created this blog for others who wanted to take the same challenge.

When I started this challenge I hoped to have a pretty close knit group of people who could challenge and build each other up, so we can all be better. We have over 40 members of this blog now--all authorized to post. But week after week we have only a small percentage of that actually posting. In fact, this last challenge only had 15 ENTRIES! Only 15 out of 43...

I would understand this if it were just one week--people get busy, things happen. But it is week after week. I guess I just don't understand why some people wanted to sign up for this challenge if they had no intention of ever posting.

I am going to put a new rule in place, so that we can keep this blog cleaned up and close knit like I intended. IF YOU DO NOT POST AT LEAST ONCE A MONTH, I WILL REMOVE YOU FROM THE LIST. Once a month is not too much to ask. That is ONCE every 8 challenges--even though I hope you will post more!

I made it clear from the beginning that this was for all skill levels. I still stand behind that. But part of improving and being better is knowing what was good about a picture and what could be better. Going through, there are SO few comments on people's pictures. I have had a few people tell me that it is discouraging to post and not hear anything back. Especially when those people have made a point to leave comments on other people's pictures.

I UNDERSTAND comments are not always possible. I know for me, I can't always get to them right away. But this is one area I think we can all improve on. Really, who DOESN'T love a comment?

And while we are talking about improvements, I would LOVE to know what you feel we can improve. I have heard a few people asking to vote the best picture for each challenge. What are your thoughts? And what are some things you think could be done to change things up? What will get you posting more? How can we add some spark to this blog to get people going and excited again??

I really would love to hear your feedback, good or bad. PLEASE leave a comment and let me know your ideas so we can make this a great place for everyone!!

Request for topic

Do you ever see something that you just would LOVE to take a picture of but we haven't had a challenge to cover it??

PLEASE feel free to request a particular topic at any time! I am happy to put it in. Just shoot me an email, or leave a comment here and I will get it lined up for the challenge. My email is on the sidebar.

Thanks again everyone for participating! You are all doing an amazing job!

CHALLENGE: Fresh

Alright,is everyone taking a fresh breath and starting this challenge with a renewed commitment to push ourselves to be better photographers??? The sun is hopefully shining wherever you are, and I am pretty sure that TODAY is a great day for a picture. :)

The challenge today (since I am feeling a bit of spring in the air): FRESH

What inspires you when you think of this word? Remember, go beyond literal...FEEL more than THINK.

Let's work on having pictures in by midnight on Thursday.

And if you missed the last post, please read through so we are all on the same page. THANK YOU to everyone who gave feedback so far. Your comments were appreciated! I will put a schedule on the sidebar so that everyone who has signed up to do a Friday feature can know when to post your (THANK YOU, THANK YOU FOR VOLUNTEERING!!) That way you can even write a feature ahead of time and schedule it for your date so it automatically posts.

Sound good???

Revisiting the purpose of this blog

I have been thinking a lot about this blog lately--I feel like somehow it has switched paths from it's original purpose and maybe we are kind of off course with it. A few people addressed some concerns with me, and I must admit I agree.

PLEASE do not take any of these concerns as a personal attack. I am not trying to single any ONE person out, but I really had a specific idea in mind when we started this blog and I, as well as several others, really would like it to stay that way.

This blog was created to help people who want to be inspired with photography--who want to better themselves as a photographer and improve their technique and skills. And we do this with a 24 hour challenge. During that 24 hours, it's your chance to think on the word you have been presented with and find a subject to take a picture of. Experiment! Take a hundred shots if you need to. But the point of the challenge is to really work towards something better than you would usually take, whether that be through the angles or exposure, or the way you frame your picture.

I am afraid it has become easy to just be sloppy and post any picture just to complete a challenge. That, however, is not the point of this project.

A few things regarding posting:

--PLEASE POST A CURRENT PICTURE that was taken within the 24 hour project. This is how you push and challenge yourself to become a better photographer.

--Let's keep the stories and explanations short--I know several people have expressed that they feel that the place for those are on people's personal blogs. I am at fault of this as well--I know! :) So, let's just clean up our posts. Write a short blurb...3-4 sentences...and maybe the lighting we used, all the picture details, and any special technique we used.

--I am looking for people who would be willing to post a Friday feature--even if you are new to photography. If you have found a great article online, or want to share any aspect or technique of photography, go for it! PLEASE leave a comment if you are willing to post a feature to share. I really want to get this going in the next week or so.

I am so happy to have this blog and see the wonderful samples of art contributed by so many people. Let's all step it up--not matter what our current skill level. Let's really make this a place to be inspired!

I am open to any feedback on how we can improve. Please leave a comment or drop me an email: hollowayfam@yahoo.com

Thanks again everyone! Be ready for your challenge tomorrow morning!!

CHALLENGE: Shadow

TOUGH CHALLENGES THIS WEEK??? I don't know about you, but I am loving it! Since my mom is here, I let her give her input and this is the word she chose. Fun, huh?

So, let's see what you have! As usual, let's have pictures posted by SUNDAY NIGHT at midnight (I will be on top of it this time!!)

What does this word mean to you? Let's see you push yourself and really experiment!!

OH, and one more note of business--with the labels--it's a pretty easy once you get the hang of it. I know we have had some stray words in there, so I will clarify how it works just in case anyone isn't sure.

Each time you post, you should put a label that says your name (ONLY your name) and then another label for the challenge (ie...tradition, self-portrait, etc.)

So, for example, on my post this week it should say:
Rachel, Shadow

Make sense?

K--now let's get those creative juices flowing and see what you can come up with this week!!

Challenge: Tradition (and a few reminders)

This one might be kind of tough...but I am anxious to see what everyone comes up with! :)

Wednesday's Challenge is: TRADITION

What does this mean to you? How do YOU interpret the word?

Let's see what you've got! As always, let's aim for all your pictures to be submitted by THURSDAY at MIDNIGHT...

ALSO--we have had a lot of newbies this week!! WELCOME!!! If anyone HASN'T posted a self-portrait already, PLEASE DO SO!! Even though the challenge is technically over, we would all love to meet you and put names and faces together.

PLEASE REMEMBER A FEW THINGS:
-LABEL YOUR POSTS with your name and the challenge name!! This helps so we can sort through the massive amounts of posts we get going in here...which is wonderful!

-CC means the poster is open for critique on their picture.

-One more thing...I understand that commenting is not always possible ALL the time, but please be considerate in this department. I noticed it is a lot of the same small handful of people commenting over and over...but yet there are over 30 members of this group. Part of participating is giving feedback now and then to your fellow photograpers. Please keep this in mind.

Thanks everyone for contributing! This is so much more amazing than I ever could have imagined when I started!

A few more things!

Just a few more things.

Jen requested that we each label our pictures with our names, which I think is a great idea! SO, Aside from just putting the challenge name for the week, if you would each label your pics so we can search for pictures by person too, that would be great!

ALSO, Let's try and name your pics so we don't end up with a bunch of "CLEAN" or "COMFORT"...think TITLES! :)

This group has been so fun already!!!

Thanks for playin'!!

I think we are all set now!

I really liked the suggestions you all gave! THANK YOU!

It looks like some people WANT feedback, some are just in this for the creative aspects. Both are welcome!

I loved the suggestion to put a CC at the bottom if you want it critiqued. Make sure it's bold or something so everyone can tell. If it doesn't say CC, don't critique. Just keep positive feedback on it. And I like Mindy's suggestion: "we could have a rule where you say a positive observation for every constructive criticism. So, I might say, "I love the composition of your photograph! The diagonal lines really draw my eyes right to the subject! It is a little hard to tell what you focused on... maybe next time you could make sure the chair was most in focus."

Just to keep things upbeat and positive here.

ALSO, I know some of you know a lot about photography already or are taking classes. I would love to do a feature friday or something where we have a little lesson...shared with everyone...just a tip about photography, manual settings, etc. Would there be anyone willing to share some info with us all?

I have decided to do a midweek post and a weekend post for the actual challenge. Look for a new assignment WEDNESDAYS and SATURDAYS. Hopefully those days will be far enough apart. That also means that TOMORROW is a challenge...be looking!! :)

Now that my company is gone, I will work on getting the rules and guidelines for this group posted on the sidebar. And in the meantime, anyone wanna volunteer to do a fun header??