Did you take part in last week's #7_day_challenge? What did you think about it?

You know by now that our challenges never expire, and it's never too late to jump in and challenge yourself. I had fun with my series, and I loved pushing myself to get out and make it happen each day. I found myself daydreaming the next day's shot right after I'd finished the current one!

My personal opinion is that when you keep to a schedule, and make yourself produce something every day, the focus moves from chasing after better gear and dreaming about masterpieces not yet realized, and shifts to the very real task of getting something done and published because a clock is ticking.

Bloggers and YouTube vloggers say it this way: "Always Be Publishing".

You build an audience because you have a body of work to be discovered. Some shots may indeed be masterful, but I believe it's the daily building of that body of work that captivates an audience through each day's impulse and outcome. Your body of work lays bare all the moments in the creative arc of your life, with all your inspirations and all your discoveries contained in images captured at the precise moment they passed into eternity.

I have a few ideas kicking around for how I could make self-initiated consecutive series challenges a permanent feature of the site. I love the thought of members being able to draw inspiration in different ways, and of creating accessibility into photography for all skill levels. Photography, like almost anything else, really can come down to being a "numbers game", in the sense that the more you do it -- and truly the more you share what you've shot -- the better you become.

Consider this: If you were to set yourself the goal of shooting and sharing one original photo a day, every day, for 30-days in a row, would you do that? What would your photography look like after 100 consecutive days? What would it look like after a year? What would it feel like to know you had an audience cheering you on?

More about this in weeks to come. :)

Keep shooting! I can't wait to see what you've seen this week!

Marc

I want to give you something new this week! Since Photo Friday is newly updated, I think it's time for a totally new kind of challenge.

This is The 7-Day Challenge #7_day_challenge:

The idea with this challenge is to commit to taking an original photo every day for seven days, and share each photo the same day you take it. What you photograph is totally up to you!

Can you shoot the same subject, over seven days, and create different interpretations each day? Are there seven people in your life you could do portraits of? Seven different parks in your town you could visit? What ideas can you come up with that will interest and motivate you over a 7-day series?

Just remember, like all our challenges, it's totally optional, and there's no wrong way to participate. Just keep taking pictures!

However, to help out a bit, we've got a limited-time Promo Code that will give you seven additional photo uploads! This code expires on Fri Oct 7th 2016 at 11:59 PM (USA Pacific time) so whatever you decide, just don't miss out on this code!

Visit:
photofriday.com/account/redeem

And enter the code:
SevenDayChallenge

I can't wait to see your photos!

Marc

Hey gang!

It's been a week since the all-new Photo Friday went live, and what a thrill it is to see all the new members and all the gorgeous and fascinating photos being shared!! Welcome, one and all!!

I have just a few quick words about becoming a member on Photo Friday:

If you've already created your account (welcome!!) but you're still seeing a banner reminding you that you're in Content Moderation just know that it's super easy and fast to get an unmoderated account.

How?

By uploading even a single photo to the site (heck, mark it as 'private' if you want, and no member of the public will ever see it) and make sure it conforms to our blissfully short sharing guideline. You can always delete it later.

That's it! Easy, right?

We review images from new members very quickly (often within an hour or two) and you'll get an email not only letting you know that you're now a full and unmoderated member of our community, but you'll also receive a special perk by way of a promo code. Now I'm not going to spoil it by saying what the perk is (you'll just have to try it and see!) but I know you'll like it! It's Photo Friday's way of welcoming you aboard!

Honestly, if you're happy being Moderated, more power to you! But you won't be able to post comments and that will make me sad. Moderation exists, unfortunately, because of spam bots and others who will try to take over a site like Photo Friday and make everyone on it miserable. I know Content Moderation is a bit of a pain, but the net result is a much safer and more enjoyable environment for us all!

Well, dear friends, have a wonderful weekend! I can't wait to see where you've been taking your cameras!

Marc