It is the last Monday of the month and on the last Monday of the month I like to revisit our Frequently Asked Questions. Who asks these questions? I mostly ask them of myself. But that isn’t a Frequently Asked Question. These are:

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS – WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE

What skill level photographer can participate?

THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE is open to photographers of all skill levels. From award winning photographers to professionals to the highly ranked amateurs to those that are just beginning to those who don’t even know how to focus a camera. All skill levels are encouraged and welcome. You can’t be too bad and you can’t be too good! Everyone has room to learn and be challenged!

Award winning photographers? Really?

Yes. I can think of at least 10 photographers that participate regularly that have won a photography award of some kind.

Is this a competition?
NO. It is a challenge. There are no winners and losers. Well the people that don’t participate are losers.

Is there a limit to the number of submissions I can have each week?

Yes. That limit is 2. If you send me more than 2, I will post the first 2 that you send. I’m not trying to harsh your photography buzz, but any more than that starts to overwhelm the other submissions and it takes me about 5 minutes to take a picture from my inbox to code it on the website. So I have to manage my workload.

If you are going to submit more than one picture, I strongly urge you to choose completely different subjects for each submission. If you are submitting multiple pictures of the same subject, make sure that each picture is saying something unique.

If I start to average like 45 participants a week, I will lower the limit to 1.

Can I send you several pictures and have you pick the best one?

No! No! NO! If those words come out of your mouth or your keyboard, I consider that to be a non-submission.

Do you ever question whether somebody’s submission fits the theme?

Meh. Only if I think somebody is clearly confusing this week’s theme with last week or next week’s theme. Otherwise, if the submission makes sense in your head, that is good enough for me. However, I would urge you to not try to fit your favorite subject into the theme every week. This isn’t a challenge to share a picture every week of your kid or your business or your pet. It is a challenge to take pictures of different things every week. Which isn’t to say subjects can’t be repeated, but you shouldn’t become reliant on the same ones.

Why can’t I submit after 11 AM on Mondays if the post doesn’t publish until 12:01 PM?

I go to lunch at 11 AM. I leave my office. I’m not near a computer. At 11 AM I hit “Schedule” and then I go throw food down my throat. 167 hours is more than enough time to send a submission. Okay, 166 hours and 59 minutes. You got me.

Do I have to wait until Monday morning to submit?

Absolutely not! In fact (AND CAN’T EMPATHIZE THIS ENOUGH) I appreciate the submissions that make it to me by Sunday evening. Makes the job of putting this together on Monday morning much easier!

Are there resolution requirements for submissions?

I won’t turn down submissions that are too small. I will probably ask you for a picture of greater resolution if it is really small. The typical 4 x 6 image posted to my website has a resolution of 1280 pixels x 853 pixels. While a 400 x 300 image might look okay on your phone, it looks like trash on a computer monitor. I prefer images that are at least 1000 pixels at their widest point, but don’t ban smaller pictures at this point. But don’t tempt me!

What format should my submission be?

.JPG but .PNG also works.

If I write a description of my image will you include that in your post?

No. Photography is art that should stand on its own. Only exception is the SLICE OF LIFE theme. But if you let me know where the picture was taken, I will include that. In fact, I appreciate you letting me know where a picture was taken. If you don’t let me know, I will assume the picture was taken in the state you live in.

When will you start accepting suggestions for next year’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE themes?

I will take suggestions only and ONLY in the comments sections of the THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE posts the last week of October and the 1st week of November.

+++++++

RULE OF THIRDS! The first technical (and we’re not talking very technical here) theme we’ve had for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE in quite some time. Was it technically a popular theme our did a third of our participants last week throw in the towel at this theme? You will have to keep scrolling to find out!

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, January 22, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):

1-Elainie Hernandez – 1 week
2-Sara Lockner – 1 week
3-Willy McAlpine – 1 week
4-Johnathan Stensland – 1 week
5-Jen Ensley-Gorshe – 2 weeks
6-Monica Jennings – 2 weeks
7-Suzie Brannen – 3 weeks
8-Lowell Davis – 3 weeks
9-Michelle Haupt – 3 weeks
10-Alexis Stensland – 3 weeks
11-Brandon Kahler – 4 weeks
12-Mary Green – 5 weeks (2)
13-Scott Degeneffe – 22 weeks
14-Sabas Hernandez – 23 weeks
15-Mike Vest – 28 weeks
16-Sheri Fakhouri – 32 weeks (2)
17-Logan Kahler – 33 weeks (2)
18-Nathanial Brown – 34 weeks
19-Jesse Howard – 34 weeks
20-Tamara Peterson – 37 weeks
21-Mindi Terrell – 49 weeks (2)
22-Linda Bennett – 78 weeks
23-Sarah Toot – 79 weeks (2)
24-Angie DeWaard – 83 weeks
25-Dawn Krause – 87 weeks
26-Kim Barker – 93 weeks
27-Joe Duff – 94 weeks (2)
28-Teresa Kahler – 105 weeks
29-Carla Stensland – 105 weeks
30-Micky Augustin – 107 weeks
31-Andy Sharp – 108 weeks
32-Bill Wentworth – 109 weeks (2)
33-Cathie Morton – 113 weeks
34-Elizabeth Nordeen – 114 weeks (2)
35-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 116 weeks
36-Kio Dettman – 118 weeks

Here is the updated list of rules for Year 11 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE:

1. The picture must be taken between 12:01 PM today and 11 AM next Monday. This isn’t a curate your photos project. This is a get your butt off the couch and take pictures challenge!
2. There is a limit of 2 submissions per person per theme. If you send me more than 2, I will use the first 2 that you submit.
3. Deadline to submit your submission is 11 AM next Monday.
4. To be considered the photographer of an image, you have to be the one that clicks the shutter. If you hand your camera over to somebody else to take a picture of you, you are NOT the photographer of that image.
5. No screen captures. This is a photography challenge. Not a “look at what I found on the internet” challenge.

There are still 2 ways to submit:
1. Email your submission to bennett@photography139.com.
2. Text your submission to my Google Pixel 8 Pro.
3. Sometimes, for special people, for special circumstances, we can negotiate something.

But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates or streaks or the rules of the challenge or how to submit. You came to see the submissions and what streaks continued and what streaks flamed out:

Kio Dettman (Boone, Iowa) – 119 weeks

Kio Dettman (Boone, Iowa)

Shannon Bardole-Foley (Iowa) – 117 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa) – 115 weeks

Cathie Morton (Norwalk, Iowa) – 114 weeks

Bill Wentworth (Omaha, Nebraska) – 110 weeks

Andy Sharp (Council Bluffs, Iowa) – 109 weeks

Micky Augustin (Hickory Grove Park – Story County, Iowa) – 108 weeks

Carla Stensland (West Lake Okoboji – Arnolds Park, Iowa) – 106 weeks

Carla Stensland (Lower Gar Lake – Arnold’s Park, Iowa)

Teresa Kahler (Boone, Iowa) – 106 weeks

Joe Duff (Texas) – 95 weeks

Joe Duff (Texas)

Kim Barker (Ames, Iowa) – 94 weeks

Dawn Krause (Rooster’s – Boone, Iowa) – 88 weeks

Angie DeWaard (Iowa) – 84 weeks

Sarah Toot (Pennsylvania) – 80 weeks

Linda Bennett (Kansas) – 79 weeks

Linda Bennett (Kansas)

Mindi Terrell (Iowa) – 50 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Iowa)

Tamara Peterson (Iowa) – 38 weeks

Jesse Howard (Boone, Iowa) – 35 weeks

Jesse Howard (Boone, Iowa)

Nathanial Brown (Jefferson, Iowa) – 35 weeks

Logan Kahler (Boone, Iowa) – 34 weeks

Logan Kahler (Boone, Iowa)

Sheri Fakhouri (6th Avenue – Des Moines, Iowa) – 33 weeks

Sheri Fakhouri (Mercy Hospital – Des Moines, Iowa)

Mike Vest (Madrid, Iowa) – 29 weeks

Sabas Hernandez (Ankeny, Iowa) – 24 weeks

Scott Degeneffe (Boone County, Iowa) – 23 weeks

Scott Degeneffe (Boone County, Iowa)

Mary Green (Iowa) – 6 weeks

Mary Green (Iowa)

Brandon Kahler (Story County, Iowa) – 5 weeks

Lowell Davis (Copa Classico at TBK – Bettendorf, Iowa) – 4 weeks

Lowell Davis (Copa Classico at TBK – Bettendorf, Iowa)

Michelle Haupt (Iowa) – 4 weeks

Suzie Brannen (Clive, Iowa)- 4 weeks

Alexis Stensland (Linwood Cemetery – Boone, Iowa) – 4 weeks

Alexis Stensland (Boone County, Iowa)

Monica Jennings (Boone, Iowa) – 3 weeks

Sara Lockner (Woodward, Iowa) – 2 weeks

Elainie Hernandez (Ankeny, Iowa) – 2 weeks

Myriah Sharp (Hawaii) – 1 week

Myriah Sharp (Hawaii)

Christopher D. Bennett (Memorial Park – Boone, Iowa)

35 participants! That is a great week!

There were submissions this week taken in the following places:

+ Kansas
+ Hawaii
+ Iowa
+ Pennsylvania
+ Texas

Thanks to Myriah’s trip, Hawaii was added!

Here is the Year 11 list of states where submissions have been taken:

+ Kansas (7)
+ Hawaii (2)
+ Iowa (153)
+ Michigan (2)
+ Nebraska (5)
+ Pennsylvania (5)
+ Texas (7)

There weren’t any major milestones this week, but there are some on the horizon! There were a few streaks that bit the dust. Willy and Johnathan couldn’t build on last week’s submission and their streaks are over before they began. Jen’s streak is gone after 2 weeks.

But enough dwelling on the past. Time to look to the future. We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives. And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future! This week’s theme:

CIRCLE

CIRCLE! What a great theme for Year 11 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

I look forward to your interpretation!

That is all I got, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will all be sharing your idea of CIRCLE in this place in this place that has a pretty large circle of trust next Monday.