challenge topics - DPChallenge Forums

Pentax DA 18-135mm F3.5-5.6ED AL [IF] WR DC

09/26/2026 12:25:10 PM · #1

Before DPL, I’d been away from DPC for a while. I’d also been rather distant from my photography for the past year or so, and DPL seemed like just the thing to get my creative juices flowing again.

I know we officially have two Free Studies per month. But many of the other topics are so open to interpretation that they often feel like Free Studies to me (i.e. The Letter C, The color blue. etc.) And when the topic is that open, voting can tend to favor the styles we recognize.

Some of the recent subject-based challenges have also depended heavily on where we live. An ocean challenge is unfair for someone inland; skyscrapers are hard to find in a small town; and even weather can be a matter of luck during the submission window. None of these are photography challenges.

Technique challenges would give more of us a chance to tackle the same creative problem with whatever subjects we have nearby, and allow us to compare images on a more apples-to-apples basis. It would also restore some of the "learning" angle we frequently praise DPC for offering.

Having served on SC, I know how hard it can be to come up with topics. And because I don’t like to complain without offering an idea, I’d love to see two or three challenges a month require a specific technique. I created a list to start the convo.

tnun

Ricoh GR III

09/26/2026 12:40:57 PM · #2

good idea(s).

glad2badad

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II

Olympus 60mm f/2.8 Macro M.Zuiko Digital ED

09/26/2026 12:45:18 PM · #3

If you look at challenge history, most of those have run multiple times. ???

I do agree with getting back to a few more technical themed challenges. I used to try and run them for the “Open” challenges Tim’s slot.

I don’t agree with the ones requiring flash as that would extremely limiting.

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II

09/26/2026 04:12:41 PM · #4

when you've been around as long as we have, it's hard to be "original".

But what if we combined generally "open" topics with a technique.

i.e.

landscape with found filter
letter c with contre jour
portrait with panning

etc.

glad2badad

Olympus 60mm f/2.8 Macro M.Zuiko Digital ED

09/26/2026 05:17:28 PM · #5

Looking at the last 20 challenges that have completed, I'm not really seeing, IMO, any challenges that were regionally impacted too much.

Technique challenges included:
HDR XI
Shapes in Black & White
Perspective XII

Naturally Framed III, Textures VIII, and Sepia IV are possibly in that category also.

The ones I had issues with were Bizarrechitecture V (required generally some semi-major city to visit, or someplace unique), and Markets & Bazaars could have been limiting to some in extremely rural areas I suppose (but we do have Farmer's Markets generally somewhere.

In looking over this last 20 list, I think our challenge scheduling has been overall inclusive and pleasantly "challenging".

We're definitely appreciative of challenge suggestions however, and this thread has prompted some conversation to basically double-check / evaluate what direction we've taken recently. So, Thanks!

p.s. - when I mentioned "Open" challenges I meant challenges that were available for both Registered and Member participants.

Pentax DA 18-135mm F3.5-5.6ED AL [IF] WR DC

09/26/2026 08:40:44 PM · #6

I think we may be talking about slightly different things. My point isn’t really that we need more technique challenges specifically. It’s that I’d like to see more challenges with enough constraints that they actually force us to solve a photographic problem.

Even some of the technique challenges are extremely broad. Vertical vs. Horizontal is essentially a Free Study with an orientation requirement. HDR is essentially a Free Study using HDR. Black & White, without some additional qualifier, is essentially a Free Study without color. They certainly impose a restriction, but they still leave virtually everything else open.

To me, it might be more challenging — and therefore more fun — to combine things. Black & White + high key. HDR + interior architecture. Shallow DOF + repeating patterns. Long exposure + human movement. Minimalism + complementary colors. Whatever the combination might be, an artistic or compositional requirement combined with a technical one gives you a problem to solve rather than simply a category to shoot within.

And I’m not saying every challenge should work that way. I like broad challenges too. My point was about the overall balance over the course of the year. Looking at the last 20 challenges gives us only about 5–6 weeks of that history, while what I’m reacting to is the pattern I’ve noticed over the past year+.

I think what I’m missing is more of that feeling of, “Okay, how am I going to pull THIS off?” That, to me, is where a challenge becomes a challenge.

tnun

Ricoh GR III

09/26/2026 09:58:49 PM · #7

I get it. Let's do it. Tangy, make a definite proposal along those lines.