Search the Community

Thanks again to participate and here are the 8 images for the final. As always, difficult to chose only 8. The closing time is the 07 Feb at 23:59 UK time 1. The 20th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright. House Fallingwater. wiskerke 2. Group of men in the old city, Sanaa, Yemen. pazmander 3. Adventure travel man at edge of the Grand Canyon south rim Pipe Creek Vista taking photo, Arizona USA rear view looking out over majestic Grand Canyon. Marianne 4. Jaguar in the Pantanal. NYCat 5. Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde, Colorado, USA John Mitchell . 6. English Lake District - Castlerigg Stone Circle VbFolly 7. A violent storm gathering over the Taj Mahal. Colin Woods 8. Lincoln Cathedral from Castle wall lincoln lincolnshire . Allan Bell

Well, as usual, it hurts to remove images just to keep down the selection to just only 8. In any case, these are the eight... 1. Keeping warm by vpics. 2. Here's the preperations for keeping warm by Phil Crean. 3. Baby Lar Gibbon wrapped in fake fur to keep him warm by TeeCee. 4. Mother and daughter by the fire by Colin Woods. 5. In NYC's Chinatown, seniors warm to their table games regardless of the temperature by Edo 6. Warming up with a coffee in winter in Finland by Gen. 7. Bear hug... by Paulette 8. The Virgin Money London Marathon 2016. Female photographer covering the event wrapped in a foil blanket for warmth by Avpics

2023 January - UNESCO World Heritage Sites 2022 December - Performers/Performances November - Getting WARM October - Olden Days September - Fear and Danger August - Hands at Work July - Alfresco June - Transport May – Song Titles April - Cats and Dogs March - Landmarks February - Chiaroscuro January - On a Walk 2021 December - Smile! November - Weather! October - World Markets September - Agriculture! August - Seaside July - Small town life June - Family May - in Between the Lines April - Buskers March - People February - Doors and Windows January - Pandemic 2020 December - Repetition November - Photographers October - Orange September - Broken August - Homegrown or Home brewed July - Fire, Water, Earth and Air June - Green May - Signs April - Social Gathering March - Fog and Mist February - Sustainability January - Irony 2019 December - Holiday Spirit November - Empty October - Attention to the Reflection (Urban) September - Faces August - Climate July - Children in Action June - Remembrance, Honouring, Celebrating May - The Thrill and Joy of Sport April - Women's Role in Todays Society March - Eating February - What is Love? January - Happy New! 2018 December - Converging Lines November - The City October - You Wear It Well September - Think Local August - NEWS July - FUN June - National parks scenery (pure nature) May - Twilight April - In or On the Water March - Without leaving the house (or garden) February - Winter Activities January - Music 2017 December - Taste November - Iconic October - Failure September - Critters August - On The Beach July - Street Art June - Festivals May - Transport April - Proverbs and sayings March - Urban Wildlife February - Urban Landscape January - Friendship and Friends 2016 December - Behind November - Trees October - River September - Our Native Land August - Digital Manipulation July - Pedal Power June - Help May - Worm's eye view April - City March - Joy of Travel February - The Blue Hour January - Silhouettes and Shadows 2015 December - Motion November - Solitary October - The Decisive Moment September - Concept August - Travel Magazine cover July - Skyline June - Environmentally Friendly May - Communication April - Little March - The Good Life February - I don't know why I like it.. January - Informal Portrait of a Stranger 2014 December - Festivities November - Autumn Colour (Color) October - Shoot Local September - Music August - Bridges July - My Favourite Place June - Perspective May - Rules April - Abstract/Minimalism March - Health February - The Unusual / The Weird / The Lucky Shot January - Sunset 2013 December - Peace November - Cold October - Harmony September - Triumphant August - Taking it easy July - Heat June - Night May - Excess April - In the Air Old forum: March - Minimalism February - Forgotten January - Alone 2012 December - Togetherness November - A Magical Moment October - Autumn - was probably the first Thanks to Wim for the list

We all need it and we all use it and I expect most have images of it in their portfolio. Interpret how you like - from riding camels to jet planes. Modern or vintage. Civilian or military. Passengers or freight. If it transports it qualifies. You have until the last day of June to show us your great images. Please give some basic info. What is it? Where is it? Good luck! PS no idea how to insert an image using a phone! Calidus Autogyro

Thank you all who took part and everyone who voted last month! April 2022 challenge: Cat(s) and/or dog(s) or maybe an elephant. It turns out up to now we have never had a challenge involving cat or dog. Those are some of the all time favorite searched subjects by clients. It actually started when I was researching War and Peace. -just kiddin'. I did however stumble upon this quote: Last time I saw her, she was peeking out from one of the bookcases next to the fireplace. She's the first cat I've ever seen trying to pretend she's a condensed version of War and Peace. And I thought: that is funny! Now the images don't have to be funny, but they do need to have a caption. Which makes it a bit conceptual: the caption must be a saying or proverb or quote or truism. Which you may invent yourself. Like: All Bark and No Bite. Raining Cats and Dogs. Fighting like Cat and Dog. Every dog has his day. Dogs believe they are human. Cats believe they are God. Dogs have owners; cats have staff. Cats have an amazingly keen sense of hearing but go conveniently deaf when you call. When I am in the doghouse, my cats still come to visit. I got rid of my husband. The cat was allergic. Dogs kind of default to making friends unless provoked. Cats seem to default to making enemies unless convinced otherwise. Never feed your cat anything that doesn't match the carpet. To live long, eat like a cat, drink like a dog. If you happen to be attracted to totally different animals, and don't mind clients are not looking for those, find yourself another pet with a matching saying: Elephant In The Room. Go Down The Rabbit Hole. Happy as a Clam. If you really are not attracted to animals at all, you may find yourself a person in disguise. Same rules as always - choose 3 of your best cat or dog pics, entries close at midnight on the 30th of April local London time. wim

Here we go, first time I get to pick a topic after shamefully taking advantage of people's misery with the photo of chernobyl gas masks in Colin's heartbreak-induced September challenge. But now for something completely different! I went for a colour theme again - autumnal and underrated, cheerful with a potential for gloomy: ORANGE Looking forward to what you make of the topic - with anything from autumn forests to pumpkins, sunrises to sunsets, tangerines to tigers, the orange menace to Jason Orange, from Orange County to Orange, France... As usual, entries (up to three) will be accepted until the last day of the month, then I'll pick the shortlist for the public vote. Post away!

This is it, the final poll with 8 finalists chosen UNDER TORTURE from way too many way too good images (my "now that's the absolute best"-list was 25 of them, and I'm sorry for every image that didn't make it): 1) wiskerke's Oranje Dutchman 2) cbimages' Clownfish 3) Lars Madsen's Spooky Fruit 4) The Blinking Eye's Sky on Fire 5) Avpics' Colour Run 6) Bryan's Pantone Mug 7) NYCat's Deadvlei 😎 Betty La Rue's Unamused Eagle Owl Poll ends on the 7th!

Hard work this challenge setting, picking a theme that hadn't already been covered but not so prescriptive as to cut down on possible entries. In the end I've decided on Fire, Water, Earth and Air, the four elements of antiquity. What I'm looking for are images that ccombine two or more of those elements together. The interpretation doesn't have to be literal. Fire could be actual fire - or merely a fiery colour. Water can be any liquid. Earth represents any solid, and Air can include skies, vapour, mists and rainbows. The important thing is to submit images that have at least two of the elements as dominat parts of the composition. I don't have that many examples in my own portfolio but I'll try and illustrate what I mean with a few images. For example, it could be a straight landscape which combines water, sky and solid earth such as this shot of the cliffs at Seaton in Devon. It could be the fiery colours of Autumn reflected in water: It could involve people, as with this shot of a local craftsman smelting silver (earth) using a bellows (air) and fire (his furnace). It could also be a symbolic representation of the elements such as these Newlyn copper plaques on the wall of the Passmore Edwards gallery in Penzance, Cornwall which represent, from left to right, Earth, air, water and fire. Your submissions will, I'm sure, be far better. Usual rules apply. Up to three submissions per contributor, all images have to be for sale on Alamy. I'll let the challenge run till Friday 31 July when I'll pick the finalists. Have fun.

Pleas cast your vote for the January 2019 Challenge - Happy New DRWMFB - MariaJ - Happy traditional Chinese New Year in Vancouver J03C99 - Sally - Happy stepgrandson jumping on the beach with new carbon Turbo Brace G17X5H - TeeCee - Happy baby Lar Gibbon wrapped in fake fur to keep him warm FN9XPB - NYCat - Happy Grizzly Bear Spring Cub in Lake Clark National Park R38PW5 - gvallee - Happy endangered Mareeba Unadorned Rock Wallaby joey in his/her mother's pouch P9429T - orest - Happy new Eranthis Winter Aconite flower in early spring sunlight A536DR - Michael Ventura - Happy boy with his happy baby goat E7JNK3 - LarsMadsen - Happy new entomologist girl holding a Green Rose Chafer Many thanks to everybody who competed, great quality! My shortlist here. Voting ends at midnight on February 5th. Midnight = Alamy time = the time set on the poll form. No idea which time that is. My system time? Greenwich Mean? Probably GMT. wim

Happy New Year everyone! Alan, thanks for a good challenging challenge! And thanks for voting everybody, not just for mine. This month's challenge is Happy New! It should be easy. But it's not just Happy New Year. It's about Happy New anything. Happy new puppy; happy new baby; happy with new girl/boy friend; happy with new house; teeth; hair; shoes; car; bicycle. And yes: happy new year too. Don't think just about people interacting with stuff; stuff and plants can scream Happy New as well. Washing powder / laundry detergent boxes maybe not so much. However...we can learn a great deal from those designs: they know how to shout to us look totally new now even more new than before! The usual rules apply: 3 per person; must be on Alamy; closes midnight GMT on Wednesday 30 January. Have fun! wim

April 2018 Challenge: In or On the Water Water was a big component of my image from last month so it's my inspiration for this month's challenge. Your images must be taken of something or someone on the water. More specifically: It must be taken outdoors, on open natural water (e.g., lakes, ocean, rivers, not a swimming pool), and must be taken of something with people and/or animals in the water. Not of inanimate objects without people or animals. The photographer can be on the shoreline, but not the subject. Up to 3 images, must be on Alamy. Deadline midnight April 30, 2018, PST. Some examples: Have fun! Maria

The March 2018 poll ended with the grey squirrels by ColdCoffee and the toy monkeys by Steve Hyde in first place with each 25% and a very close third at 23.08% for the thirsty cat by MariaJ. So here's a short poll to decide this over the weekend. Again it will close automatically, now on Sunday at midnight, London time. Sorry for the ones who lost to cuteness: there were some really good stock images there. Anyways here again are the cat; the squirrels and the monkeys: KD1X2P - MariaJ - Cat drinking water from the tap. ETKN6N - ColdCoffee - A pair of Eastern grey squirrels on a deck rail. KGWKX0 - Steve Hyde - Two toy monkeys with their arms around each other. wim

Remember voting ends one day earlier than normal. So only 24 hours left to vote for the March Challenge. Monkeys; cats; squirrels; books; flames; Christmas gifts all in or around the house. I wonder if people are voting for cuteness or stockness ? ;-) wim

Thank you everybody who participated! It was extremely difficult. Everybody says so, but it really was. For people who want to see the whole challenge again: it's here. M68MM1 - British Gent - Happy girl in the snow on St David's Day. KD1X2P - MariaJ - Cat drinking water from the tap. ETKN6N - ColdCoffee - A pair of Eastern grey squirrels on a deck rail. D91YDM - LSP - Basil plants growing in a crate in the backyard. C2FMW1 - Marianne - Pile of books in a hammock in the garden. HNABJT - Matt Ashmore - A blue flame from a gas burner on a gas cooker. M68Y75 - dlmphotog - Wrapped and decorated presents on Christmas morning, USA. KGWKX0 - Steve Hyde - Two toy monkeys with their arms around each other. Voting term is 1 day shorter than usual: Poll closes automatically (I hope) on Friday April 6th at midnight London time. wim

The March 2018 Challenge: A photo that was taken without leaving your house or garden. No studio images: that would be cheating. ( I have one too.) However an improvised one with a desk lamp on the kitchen table, or near a window is fine. And while you're at it, why not include an image of the set-up? Gardens are fine too, but just a portrait of a nice flower from one of you garden and flower specialists can also feel like cheating. Just like the in-house studio. For people who cannot think of photographing anything inside their house: you'll be restricted to a single room. Not an original idea: it's from ZAMM. - it works btw. 1-3 images each as usual. This challenge will end on Saturday March 31 at midnight, 24:00 London time. The winner will start the new topic. Have fun! wim