10 Creative Photography Challenges That You Must Try

Photography is an art. It holds the interest of billions of people all over the world. On the surface, it looks like photography can be aced with much ease. But, to master photography, you need to have a lot of patience, commitment, and willingness to learn.

One way to go about this is with the help of constant learning. Challenging what you know helps you understand what you lack. And what better medium there can be, than photography challenges?

Photography challenges help instill values and discipline. The journey of constant practice, makes you become better at the art. To help you with it, we have created a list of 10 remarkable photography challenges that you must take. These challenges will push the limits of your art and help you become a better photographer.

1. Ink Droplets in Water

This is one of the most fascinating photography challenges to try. Ink droplets, when dropped in water make for an amazing photo-op.

To take this challenge, you will need a transparent container (a glass or a bowl) filled with water, and a vial of ink. Now, with the help of a dropper, pour droplets of ink in water. You can use any ink that is available to you.

If you want to elevate the intensity and hue of your photos, you can even try colored acrylic inks. But, that's not a necessity. Even regular ink can give you some splendid ink clouds that will make for excellent photos.

2. Food Photography Challenge

Food is one of the most popular inspirations for photography challenges. The aim of this challenge is to convey the taste, flavors, and texture of a dish, through photographs. You can tell that the photograph is brilliant if it is able to ignite cravings.

For this challenge, you will need a plate of delicacy and a good camera. Decide the composition of your photograph. Whether you want the frame to only capture food or not, is your call. Once you have come to an agreement on how you want the display to be, start clicking.

This photography challenge helps in developing creative presentation skills. It also teaches a thing or two about paying attention to details.

3. Flower in Ice

This Frozen Flower challenge is a unique photography challenge. To take this challenge, you need flowers of your choice, plastic container and water.

The challenge has two parts to it. In the first part, you spend time preparing the frozen floral arrangement. The second part is where you click the photographs of the beauty that you have created.

To begin with, arrange the flowers face down in a plastic container. Pour some water into the container. Ensure that only the petals are below the surface of the water. Now, put the container in the freezer for a couple of hours.

The trick is to let the flowers semi-set in ice and then add some more water before putting it back in the freezer. Check back after a few hours to see if it's frozen. Slide the ice out of the container and your muse is ready for clicks.

This photography challenge is a bit time-consuming. But the results that you will get in the end, will make it worth the extra effort.

4. Smiling Faces

This photography challenge is quite gratifying. There’s something special about capturing the joyful smiles of people having a good time. There are no strict rules for this challenge.

You can take photos of your friends and family. You can click people at social gatherings, and even strangers on the street. As long as you are able to capture the uniqueness of a smile, you are doing the challenge right.

This photography challenge teaches you a lot about the facial feature and how to capture it. The candidness of this challenge prepares you to tackle light and emotional intensity.

5. Sunrise/Sunset Photography Challenge

Imagine a scene where the sun's rays are playing with waves on a shore. Sparkling hues of sand are narrating the tale of a beautiful day. Now imagine being able to capture this scene to make it eternal.

Who doesn’t love a glorious dawn or a ravishing sunset? The sun crossing the horizon can be a breathtaking sight that you can’t take your eyes away from. The sunrise/sunset challenge is one of the most popular photography challenges. But beware, it's quite difficult to capture the beauty of the rays.

The aim of this challenge is to make a scene immortal through the art of photography. Everything else in this challenge is impromptu.

It is up to you to capture this beautiful blend of light and color. All we can say is that you need a blend of patience, timing, and angles to click a perfect shot.

6. Macro Photography Challenge

This is one of the most interesting photography challenges to try out. Macro photography is the art of capturing very small objects or living beings up close. The most usual subjects are tiny insects and flowers.

This photography challenge can help you experiment with different angles. It will also help you understand and uncover some outstanding new perspectives.

You can also seek inspiration from what others have shared on GoSocial, Instagram and Pinterest.

7. Beach Photography Challenge

There's no doubt that beaches are very photogenic locations. But to do justice to the location, you need a good understanding of light, landscape, and camera.

Patience is the key to this challenge. When you are shooting on the beach, you may encounter two problems. One is with indistinct horizons and the other is with the feeling of having longer days. Try to make them your strength. Experiment with different angles. Longer days also mean a longer period of bright light. Try capturing different angles. Conditions don't have to be completely favorable to get a good click.

Be it the gorgeous horizon or the mighty waves, beach photography fun to try. This challenge will teach you about photographing under different lighting conditions. It will also make you familiar with the language of the landscape.

8. Low Light Photography Challenge

Low light photo challenges are the best to try if you want to grasp some advanced techniques. A common misconception about low light photography is that it is only to take pictures at night. However, any part of the day with less or dimmed sources of light is apt for low light photography.

You can take this photography challenge indoors with little ambient light as well. Low light photography is a bit complex. It involves dealing with the technical aspects of photography. You need a basic understanding of how to control your device’s ISO to take this challenge. Additionally, it is also important to know how to increase shutter speed. Increased shutter speed will help capture sharp images without any blurs.

9. Self Portrait

Next on the list is one of the coolest photography challenges that you must take. Self-portrait or selfie in pop culture, teaches a lot about photography techniques.

There are many variations to this challenge. You can try silhouette photography to give it a unique effect. You could take a close-up or even shoot in black and white. The point of this challenge is to come up with an innovative way to capture your own essence.

This photo speaks volumes about you and it’s up to you to make it as distinct and quirky as you want. Self portrait photography is quite popular on social media platforms.

10. Minimalist Photography Challenge

Minimalism is an art movement that emphasizes on “Less is more”. This is a very classy and elegant way to take photographs.

The rules are very simple. Your photo should have an empty background and a subject. Focus on one key element and portray it in the best way possible.

Minimalist photography is calming and neat. It can be subtle and expressive at the same time. With this challenge, you learn the art of introducing negative space in photography.

And there you have it. The top 10 photography challenges that you must take. Challenges, as mentioned earlier, are a great way to increase your efficiency as an artist. You can take these photography challenges alone or in a group.

Once your photographs are ready, you should share it with the community. Social media platforms like Instagram, Pinterest, and GoSocial are quite friendly for photographers. GoSocial is a social media platform that also has a collection of challenges that you can take part in. You can host and set the duration of a challenge and start a “streak”. It has one of the fastest-growing communities of photographers, writers, and artists. It provides photographers with a platform to share their work with like-minded people. Thus increasing the chance of improvement.

Certain platforms like Shutterstock also let you share your work and monetize them. In any case, building a community is as important as working on improving.