Photo Challenges

Today’s topic is Photochallenges! I want to write about why I started a photochallenge, my experiences and I also want to give a few tips, if someone plans to start a photochallenge too.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask them :) 

Why?

I always wanted a DSLR and in 2015 I got my Nikon D5300. But there were so many different settings and I wasn’t very familiar with them. I could make great pics, but I wasn’t able to use it at its full potential. 

So, that was the main reason I wanted to start a photo challenge. I wanted to improve my skills. But that’s not the only reason! I also thought it would be fun and challenging. 

Experiences?

I’m currently on day 217 and I wanted to share some experiences, which I have gained so far. 

At the beginning I’ve had many difficulties, because I almost forgot or didn’t want to post my pictures on Instagram. I always thought that the pictures I took weren’t good enough and nobody wants to see them. But the people, who liked my pictures, encouraged me a lot to continue. After some time I got used to post every day on Instagram and hardly forgot it anymore. 

One of the best experiences is the feedback from other people. And with that feedback you can improve your skills. 

Tipps & Tricks?

I don’t know if my tips are very helpful, but maybe they can help someone. 
It seems easier as it is to make or post a photo everyday! So if you are so forgetful as I am you can set an alarm. At the beginning this helped me a lot. Please make sure to either set the alarm at a time, when it doesn’t disturb you or others (at meetings, at school/university, …) or deactivate it. You can also use Buffer to plan your posts. Buffer is very useful, because you can plan your posts for your Instagram account, for your Facebook page or your Twitter account. It reminds you, when it's time to post. Instagram doesn't allow other Apps to post, so the Buffer App downloads the photo and copies the planed caption, when you click on 'Post on Instagram'. So the only thing you have to do is to edit the photo and insert the captions.

If you post your photos on Instagram there are many analytic sites, which can help you to find the perfect times and days to post. They also show other things to optimize your Instagram performance, such as the average likes or comments for every month. 

Try to take your camera with you as often as possible. But even if you take your camera with you every day, sometimes you won’t have time to take a picture. So if you take more than one photo when you have time, you can post the others later on. You can also use hashtags like #takemebacktuesday or #throwbackthursday, if you want to post old photos. But if you want to improve your skills, then you should try to take new photos as often as possible. 

~ Silvana