Why not be creative and challenge yourself to strengthen your skills in photography?

Fix the Photo has 18 fun photo challenges for beginners.

Here are 10 of them:

1. The Ugly Location Challenge: take pictures in unappealing locations and use creativity, composition and retouching skills to make them look great.
2. Recreating Iconic Photos Challenge: reproduce iconic photos taken by famous photographers to learn and understand what makes a great photo.
3. Cheap Props Challenge: purchase and use 5 different cheap props in a photo shoot to upgrade your creative photography skills.
4. Single Colour Challenge: use one colour to create a stunning composition.
5. Light Painting Challenge: use the light painting technique to create a picture using artificial lights, decreasing the shutter speed to 5 or 10 seconds, and moving the light sources in front of the camera to create various patterns.
6. Timelapse Photography Challenge: create a timelapse video showcasing a few hours of your life in just a couple of minutes using free timelapse software or apps.
7. Photo Essay Challenge: create a photo series that describes a story without words to learn about storytelling and changing camera perspectives.
8. Self-Portrait Photography Challenge: take self-portraits to practice recognising good poses and expressing your emotions through photography.
9. Night Photography Challenge: practice taking pictures at night using additional light sources and a night photography app.
10. Black and White Photography Challenge: challenge yourself to think in tones and capture emotional aspects of a shot by taking black and white photos.

Which challenge do you like best?

Discover the fascinating history of a little field that became a permanent part of Scotland because of a medieval football game. 

The small field known as Ba’ Green may seem insignificant, but it played an important role in shaping the borders of Scotland and England. 🌍

Back in the mediaeval times, the field was the prize in a game of “mob ball”, a brutal and exciting game played every New Year’s Day between two towns, Coldstream (Scotland) and Wark (England). 

However, as Coldstream grew much larger than Wark and there was no limit to the number of players, it won every time. 🥇

Eventually, the borders between Scotland and England were made official, and the Ba’ Green became a permanent part of Scotland. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

This was fortunate for Scotland because mob ball was banned in England due to the game lasting for several days and keeping men away from important things like archery practice 🏹 and praying 🙏.

If you’re interested in learning more about the fascinating history between Scotland and England, be sure to explore further! 

I came across this lovely little text that I wanted to share with you.

Things you control:

Your effort.
Your beliefs.
Your actions.
Your attitude.
Your integrity.
Your mindset.
The food you eat.
How kind you are.
How reflective you are.
How thoughtful you are.
The type of friend you are.
The information you consume.
The people you surround yourself with.

Source: Farnham Street’s Blog

Do you find yourself using ‘a bit’ more than you’d like to?

It’s time to spice up your writing with some creative alternatives.

1. A tad
2. Slightly
3. Somewhat
4. A little
5. A touch
6. A sliver
7. A smidge
8. A dash
9. A hint
10. A speck

Look at how you can use these words:

1. I’m feeling a tad tired today.
2. The door is slightly too wide for the frame.
3. The film was somewhat disappointing, but it had its moments.
4. I enjoy a little cream and sugar in my coffee.
5. Add a touch of glamour to your camping trip.
6. Just a sliver of cake for me, please.
7. I’m feeling a smidge better after being ill all last week.
8. A dash of lemon juice can brighten up the dish.
9. I have a hint of a cold, but I hope it passes soon.
10. The floor was so clean, you could hardly see a speck of dust.

Don’t be afraid to get creative and have some fun!

Try incorporating these new words into your writing and see how they can enhance your message.

Good luck! ✍️

If you do the same thing every day at the same time for the same length of time, you’ll save yourself from many a sink. Routine is a condition of survival.
Flannery O’Connor

Having a routine is important for several reasons:

• Helps us stay organised: We know what we need to do and when we need to do it.
• Reduces stress: We don’t have to constantly make decisions about what to do next.
• Improves productivity: We can focus on our tasks without getting distracted by other things.
• Builds good habits: For example, if we make a habit of exercising every morning, it will become easier to do over time.
• Helps us achieve our goals: We can prioritise our time and focus on the things that are most important to us.

My favourite routine is starting my day with exercise. Sometimes indoors, sometimes outdoors. And sometimes both.

However, to me, a routine is something that changes and adapts naturally, rather than a strict set of instructions that I have to stick to or pre-plan.

What are your thoughts?