February

Even stricter than a regular assigned topic. Absolutely no post production (out of camera adjustments) allowed - no cropping, straightening, sharpening - no adjustments of any kind! Set your camera for JPG output. The only adjustment outside the camera allowed is resizing the file to fit the competition website file size (only if needed). What you produce "in camera" is what you submit.

March

You've got it. Make sure your focus point is higher than you are. And, let's see some perspective or lighting to prove it.

April

Think animals into the Ark two by two. We're looking for two animals of the same species. Not ones, threes or herds - but two. Two dogs, two cats, two goats, two of anything so long as they are in pairs.

May

June

Think how powerful Ansel Adams' work was in black and white. Submit your best black and white landscape. Shoot it in B&W or desaturate it in post processing.

July

During 2011, we had two great programs about capturing people at their work or hobby. Let's give it a try. Take a portrait and let the person's attire and surroundings tell the trade, occupation, or hobby of the person.

August

Use multiple images of a scene to create a stitched panoramic image. A wide cropping of a single image is not enough - you must use multiple images.

September

October

The Beatles sang hundreds of songs. Do an internet search for Beatles songs (Wikipedia lists over 300). Select your song, take a picture that captures the song title, and when you submit your picture you'll name (title) your picture the title of a Beatles' song you've captured. Hopefully your picture will tell the story so well that the title won't even be necessary! (P.S., "Here Comes The Sun" is way too easy!)

November

The near-far composition is a powerful technique for creating depth and relationships within a photograph. A small foreground element is emphasized and placed in a background that establishes context for that element. So, communicate depth, power and relationship within your image.