Photography challenge wheel

Phone camera basics that help every challenge

• Clean the lens: a wipe with a soft cloth fixes more blurry photos than any setting.
• Tap to focus: tap the subject on screen. On most phones you can then slide up or down to make the shot brighter or darker.
• Turn on grid lines: they help with the rule of thirds and keep horizons straight.
• Walk closer instead of zooming: digital zoom loses detail. If your phone has a separate telephoto lens, that is different and fine to use.
• Hold still: brace your elbows against your body or a wall, especially at night.

How to run it

1. Spin once. Give yourself 20–30 minutes and at least ten photos on that theme.
2. Pick your single best photo. Ask what makes it better than the other nine.
3. Do a challenge a day for a month with Remove the winner after each spin turned on. Thirty spins, thirty themes.
4. With friends or a class, everyone shoots the same spin and shares one photo each at the end.

A few challenges explained

• Leading lines: roads, fences, railings or shadows that pull the eye toward the subject.
• Frame within a frame: shoot through a doorway, window or arch so it borders your subject.
• Negative space: a small subject in a lot of empty space, like one bird in a big sky.
• Motion blur: on many phones, a long-exposure or “live” photo mode blurs moving water or traffic. Keep the phone very still.
• Self-portrait, no face: your shadow, your reflection, your hands, your shoes. Say who you are without your face.

Ask before photographing other people, and stay aware of traffic while you look at a screen.