White wooden doors with painting of girl in red dress
CBWC,  Lens-Artists,  Photographing Public Art,  Street art,  Thursday Doors

Double dipping: a challenges overload!

January 9, 2022 / 55 Comments

When I started blogging almost eighteen months ago I had no idea that the blogosphere was full of challenges, and it took me some time to discover them. Once I did, I was hooked, and especially on photo challenges.

You see, I had started this blog with the aim of sharing my two passions, travel and photography. With travel not really possible at the time, I was reliant on my archives and my memories to provide the material. Photo challenges gave me interesting prompts that enabled me to see my archives in a new way, and to consider new photo projects as well.

I dipped into lots of challenges before settling on a handful that suited me best. I tend not to do those that ask for just one image (Last on the Card, Silent Sunday, Monochrome Monday); instead I prefer to showcase a selection of photos and/or link a challenge theme to my travel stories. Lens Artists suits me well, as does Sunday Stills, because the emphasis is on photography. Other challenges link to my enthusiasm for travel, such as Monday Walks and the Photographing Public Art challenge. Recently I’ve joined the team hosting Friendly Friday. That’s a broader challenge which often provides opportunities to share my own enthusiasms through writing, photography or both.

So if I enjoy these challenges so much, why am I struggling a little with Tina’s suggestion that for this week’s Lens Artists post we ‘double dip’, linking our images to multiple challenges? Maybe it’s because I so rarely double up? Anyway, let’s have a go at doing so now!

Street art on doors

You don’t have to delve far into my blog to realise I like to photograph street art, and I’m a regular contributor to the Photographing Public Art challenge. Often that street art can be found on doors, so I can cheat a bit here and link to Thursday Doors too, a challenge I do only occasionally despite loving to photograph doors. Maybe this is triple dipping?!

My featured photo was taken in London’s Shoreditch. The ones in the gallery below are all captioned with the location; just hover over the image to see that, or click on any one of them to open a captioned slideshow.

Flower power

I enjoy many of Cee’s challenges, including her Black and White one and ‘Fun Foto’ ones, which fit well with my preferred themes. But I only occasionally join her Flower of the Day, even though I often choose flowers as subjects. That’s probably because it’s a ‘one image’ challenge, which I’m less keen on as I mentioned above. But now I have an excuse to share several favourite flower shots at the same time!

Black and white containers

Cee’s Black and White challenge is one of my favourites. Last week it was all about containers. I didn’t get around to posting at the time but as I love monochrome editing I’ve done a few to include in this post.

Black and white photo of a large planter with cactus in front of a wall

I’ve shared this planter in the Jardins Majorelle, Marrakesh, before, in its colour version; here it is now in monochrome. Both work well, I think.

Black and white photo of a basket hanging from a motorbike with a rooster in it

This motorbike in the small town of Pak Mong in northern Laos has a basket attached designed to carry a rooster. Cock fighting is a popular sport in these parts and most families own at least one. Between fights they are pampered but on fight day they are transported in these carriers and forced to compete. We may find this a brutal custom but to the locals it’s a natural form of entertainment and a useful source of supplementary income.

Black and white photo of three earthenware pots with cloth covers

In the Abbot’s Kitchen, Glastonbury Abbey. This is another image I’ve shared previously in colour and again, both versions work in my opinion.

Woman standing with several bags and bowls

This woman on Sal in the Cape Verde Islands has plenty of containers, both bags and bowls. These are the goods she hopes to sell at the local market.

So it seems I am able to double-dip after all! Maybe I should try more often to combine challenges and to respond to some of the many others out there that I am yet to try?

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