Weekly Photo Challenge Year 12 in Review

EDITOR’S NOTE: i DID SOME WEIRD FORMATTING THAT MIGHT LOOK REALLY WEIRD IF YOU ARE LOOKING AT THIS VIA EMAIL. YOU MIGHT HAVE TO GO TO THE WEBSITE TO SEE THIS POST PROPERLY.

Time to reveal the June image for the 2026 Photography 139 Calendar.

JUNE – 2026

• Technical Details
  • CAMERA: Sony 7MRV
  • LENS: Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3mm
  • APERTURE: f/6.3
  • SHUTTER SPEED: 1/500
  • ISO: 2000
  • DATE TAKEN: December 26, 2024

The subject for the June image is an elk in Jester Park. They are one of my favorite photographic subjects and Jester Park is one of my favorite parks. I also enjoy photographing the bison of Jester Park, but not as much as the elk. There are bison at the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge I like to attempt to photograph but they are much more difficult because they have a lot more room to roam and often don’t come near the road. But on the off chance I see some bison at Neal Smith, that is my favorite place to photograph bison. But this is a picture of an elk and I don’t know a better place to photograph elk than Jester Park. At least in Iowa. There is no good reason to put the elk picture in June. Elk aren’t particularly affiliated with the month of June in my life. But I like to always put a black and white image in June as it the birth month of my Dad and while he also did color photography, I always think of the black and white darkroom in our basement on Greene Street when I think about his photography.

Tomorrow I will reveal the July image.

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As Monday closed the book on Year 12 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE, now seems like a good time to review all that happened.

There were 46 different people that submitted photos. Ranging from submitting 1 picture to 103 pictures.

There were 2,236 photos submitted.

The average week had 33.9 participants.

The average week had 43 submissions.

The most popular week was Week 528. The theme was #INSTAGOOD. There were 38 participants.

The most popular week by submissions was Week 504. The theme was STREET PHOTOGRAPHY. There were 51 submissions.

The least popular week by participants was Week 502, 519, and 520. The themes were SUNSHIN, ROAD TRIP, and CHAIRTY. There were 30 participants.

The least popular week by submissions was Week 520. The theme was CHARITY. There were 34 submissions.

Here is my favorite submission from all 46 different people that submitted and some statistics about each participant.

DON’T READ INTO THIS THAT I THINK THIS IS YOUR BEST PICTURE OR THE BEST USE OF COMPOSITION OR BEST USE OF TECHNICAL SKILLS. ALSO DON’T THINK I SPENT HOURS EXAMINING EACH IMAGE. IT IS JUST MY FAVORITE THAT I SAW WHEN GIVING THEM A QUICK ONCE OVER. AND FAVORITE AND BEST ARE NOT THE SAME THING.

But as they say, it wasn’t all unicorns and rainbows. There were 15 participants from Year 11 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE that never got hit by the old inspo to submit once this year.

• Elainie Hernandez
• Amy Peterson
• Stephanie Kim
• Tim Panages
• Kyle Sharp
• Susanna Funk
• Evie Gorshe
• Nader Parsaei
• Layla Gorshe
• Beckham Gorshe
• Bunny
• Fran Duncan
• Jennie Green
• Jason Stensland
• Myriah Sharp

Maybe in Year 13 they will get that creative photography hankering again. Here is hoping!

In Year 12 I tracked the states pictures were submitted from. In the end, we had submissions from:

• 38 States
• 1 U.S. District
• 10 Foreign Countries
• 1 Body of Water

Here is a look at the final Year 12 THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE UNITED STATES CONQUEST MAP:

Rather than listing all the states that had pictures taken from them, here are the 12 states that weren’t reached:

• Alabama
• Connecticut
• Hawaii
• Louisiana
• Maine
• Massachusetts
• Mississippi
• New Hampshire
• Oregon
• Rhode Island
• Vermont
• Virginia

The following states have never been submitted from:

• Alabama
• Connecticut
• Maine
• Massachusetts
• New Hampshire
• Rhode Island

The 10 Most Popular States to Submit from:

1. Iowa – 1713
2. Texas – 87
3. Kansas – 71
4. Nebraska – 64
5. Pennsylvania – 43
6. Arkansas – 32
7. Minnesota – 20
8. Missouri – 18
9. Florida – 15
10. Michigan – 14

The 5 People that Submitted from the Most Locations:

1. Nathanial – 16
2. Sarah Toot – 15
3. Cathie Morton – 12
4. Andy Sharp – 11
5. Scott Degeneffe – 9

There were submissions from 10 foreign countries (depending on how countries are defined), here is a look at the world map:

Finally, a look back at where we’ve been.

Here are a few quick stats from Year 9:

+ 44 different participants
+ 1811 photos submitted
+ Least popular theme for participation was ROCK with 16 participants
+ Most popular theme for participation was SELF-PORTRAIT with 31 participants
+ Least popular theme for submissions was ROCK with 20 submissions
+ Most popular theme for submission was LINES with 51 submissions
+ The average week had 24.6 participants
+ The average week had 34.8 submissions

The same stats from Year 10:

+ 59 different participants
+ 2311 photos submitted
+ Least popular theme for participation was a tie with TRAINS, PLANES, & AUTOMOBILES; REFLECTION; and SUNRISE, SUNSET each having 25 participants
+ Most popular them for participation was #INSTAGOOD with 41 participants
+ Least popular them for submissions was TRAINS, PLANES, & AUTOMOBILES with 30 submissions
+ The most popular them for submissions was FLOWER with 62 submissions
+ The average week had 31.1 participants
+ The average week had 44.4 submissions

The same stats for Year 11:

+ 56 different participants
+ 2466 photos submitted
+ Least popular theme for participation was GAMES with 31 participants
+ Most popular them for participation was #INSTAGOOD with 42 participants
+ Least popular them for submissions was REFLECTIONS with 38 submissions
+ The most popular them for submissions was ANYTHING BUT A CAT with 60 submissions
+ The average week had 36.4 participants
+ The average week had 46.5 submissions

Comparing Year 12 to Year 11:

+ 15 less unique participants
+ 230 less submissions
+ The most popular theme had 4 less participants
+ The most popular theme had 9 less submissions
+ The average participation was down 2.5 participants per week
+ The average submissions were down 3.5 submissions per week

Year 12 had a decided downward trend. I guess these things happen. Hopefully Week 13 will stop some of the bleeding.

I look forward to seeing all the submissions in Year 13!