I had this idea so long ago. To encourage those of you interested to pick up your cameras and try something new or just pick them up at all and snap a shot here or there. And not only that, but to see what others were doing with their camera and gaining inspiration from them.
I’m so frustrated that I didn’t follow my gut and do this when I first thought of it, but that’s okay, the time is now.
I hope you are as excited as I am.
I’m pleased to invite to participate in “you capture.” My weekly photo challenge. You Capture takes place on Thursdays!
I created a FAQ to help answer your questions as to exactly how this is going to work and yes, if you don’t have a blog, you can participate, you’ll see how below. Also, each week will be a specific challenge, so read through to the bottom to check out this week’s “assignment.”
What kind of photographer do I need to be? You can be a complete novice or a professional, it does not matter. The purpose of this feature is to encourage you to pick up your camera and look at things differently. If you are a novice and you want to get better, there is only one way to do that, by taking more pictures.
What kind of camera should I have in order to participate? Any camera. Shoot, even an iPhone camera works for me.
Do I need to have a blog? Um, no. But why wouldn’t you want a blog? (they’re free! www.blogger.com) But okay, I guess not everyone is interested in having a blog and that’s okay, so, if you don’t have a blog but want to participate, you can do so by opening up a Flickr account. It’s free (for a basic package) and easy to use. (Flickr pro is $25 a year and I totally recommend it.) I’ve been using Flickr for years now and I love it. (btw, feel free to become my contact, okay?) Each week you can easily link to that specific picture on Flickr to the challenge.
How does this work? Every Thursday, there will be a post on I Should Be Folding Laundry called You Capture and I’ll have my picture that I took for this week’s assignment (assignment sounds so stiff, but I can’t think of another word, sorry, friends.) on a post. Below the picture, I will have Mr. Linky in the post. Then YOU will post on your blog (or your flickr page) your picture and information about this challenge. Then you’ll fill out Mr. Linky with your name and your link to this week’s picture. (in blog world, this is considered a carnival, click here for more information on carnivals.)
Who in the hell is Mr. Linky? Mr. Linky is a link hosting program for websites. Essentially, it allows me to host all of the links to the individuals participating in the challenge, it’s up to the participants to come to my site and put their links into the required fields. (so easy) To see a Mr. Linky in action, click here.
I know most of you know how this works, but I know some of you may not, so I’m trying to explain with as much detail as possible.
Should I link to you? Actually, yes. Every post on your blog about You Capture that you link up to Mr. Linky must link because to my blog and the current You Capture post. This way, your readers can get a better idea of what You Capture is and hopefully participate themselves. THIS IS A REQUIREMENT.
Am I required to participate every single week? No.
Should I edit my photo? If you want to, yes. I always edit mine. If you are looking for a good photo editing/storage answer, I definitely recommend Picasa. Hey, it’s free, too! I’m all about the free, aren’t I?
I also highly recommend Picnik, it’s fabulous and easy to use.
I use Photoshop CS5.
