[babywriter]

Welcome everyone to the Single In March 2023 challenge!

Theme days:

Tuesday, 7th March: WATER (any type - liquid, ice, steam, etc.)

Tuesday, 14th March: UPSIDE DOWN

Tuesday, 21st March: B/SELFIES

Tuesday, 28th March: BLUR/BOKEH

Aim of the Game: To use the same lens each day for a month, posting one picture captured each day with that lens. The picture must be captured with a Pentax lens coupled to a camera body of your choice (including Pentax/Ricoh), a non-Pentax lens provided it is coupled only to a Pentax or Ricoh body, or a Pentax-Ricoh point&shoot camera. (Taking other pictures with other cameras/lenses is fine, but these won’t be eligible for this Challenge).

Commenting: Posting your pictures allows other participants to comment on them. Conversely, it’s hoped that you will comment on those of other members. Please don’t be shy if you don’t have much photographic experience or are a Forum newbie - your personal reactions to photographs are as valid as anyone else’s. It’s a very friendly group and with regular commenting, you’ll soon be enjoying the camaraderie.

The rewards: It’s great fun. You’ll learn heaps about how your chosen lens can perform and you’ll see what other members achieve with their selected lenses - sometimes the same one you’ve chosen. In the comment banter you’ll pick up many tips on photographic technique generally, including post processing. As the month progresses it often becomes quite demanding (it’s a challenge, remember) but you’ll always be encouraged by other participants. Worried about LBA? - this game doesn’t help you fight it!

How to participate:

1. First you need to join the Group to be able to post pictures; you only have to do this once. The group’s name is “Monthly Photo Challenges”. You’ll find a clickable link on that forum page to join.

2. You’ll need to have your pictures stored in an on-line album. This could be the Pentax Forum, or others such as Flickr, Picasa etc. You actually post a link to the picture in your album into the daily picture thread.

** If you are linking to a Pentax Forum album, you’ll find advice on how to post elsewhere in the Forum and in the FAQs below. One of the Challenge’s stalwarts, patjp, has also prepared a short video on how to do this - it’s on YouTube (Singlein.m4v)

** If you are posting a link to Flickr, just click on the sharing icon below your selected picture and a window will open displaying the BB code. Copy it and paste into the Single in (month) Challenge thread in the Pentax Forum.

Each day, you’ll see a new thread of pictures grow and by clicking on each you should be redirected to the photographer’s parent album where you will be able to add a comment and read those of others. When you post each day’s picture to the Pentax Forum, please specify the camera/lens combination underneath your picture eg K5 & DA15 Ltd - this makes it easy for others to note what combo you’re using.

The thread you’re painstakingly reading now is the Discussion Thread for Game > Single in (month).

This is separate to the picture posting thread referred to above and you’ll probably want to subscribe to the Discussion one to keep up with activities and develop a rapport with Challenge members. It’s the place where you can ask questions, offer advice, share concerns, suggest improvements, and often just participate in general banter related to this month’s challenge.

So there it is. It is easier than it might seem at first. If you miss a day, don’t worry. If you have any problems, please ask. We’re a very friendly, forgiving, international bunch. Come and try!

FAQs: Finally, Zorglub has kindly posted a FAQ collection here …. The FAQ - Monthly Photo Challenges - PentaxForums.com


Video below was created by patjp

Youtu.be

Youtu.be

Attached Images

 

[pepperberry farm]

in... SMC A 645 75mm f2.8

[jersey]

I think I rejoin with 60-250 DA* (need to rest a bit from 20-40 )

[robgski]

I will be following along.

[Chris_K]

I'm in; not sure about the lens yet. Either the A 50/2.8 macro or the F 28/2.8.

[Riggomatic]

I think I'll give the DA*55 another run on the K-1 for March.

[garywakeling]

Thanks baby writer for the thread, I had to choose a lens early due to being away from home, so it is the DA 21mm for me, so much lighter than the 11-18mm I have this month

[Minimonster]

I'm in. A 50/1.4 probably.

[twilhelm]

I'm in this month. I was reading another thread talking about the 43 and quite a few brought up the 40. I realized I've had the DA 40 Limited for some time and never gave it a good workout. So it'll be the DA 40 on the KP for the month.

[jheu02]

I'm going to try one more month, but forgot how "taxing" it can be to not only consistently shoot each day, but to also process, post, and even comment (which I have sorely lacked to do most days, sorry). Lugging a laptop, etc on my travels for work, while giving me something to wind-down with on layovers, does add to the weight, so I may not be posting every day, and need to do some upload, after-the-fact days. Lens chosen is one I haven't used in years...Promaster Spectrum 7 1:2.8 28mm Multi Coated...basically a rebadged Sigma Super Wide II...mounted to the KP.

[twilhelm]

I’ll be over in Jacksonville for two weeks this month for work. I’ve just about worked out processing on my iPad, it’s just a bit slow going.

[JensE]

I’ve just about worked out processing on my iPad, it’s just a bit slow going.

Another option is to actually process the images in the KP, not just by settings before you capture the image, but also by using the raw development afterwards. The KP processing is very flexible, with better results than from the K-1 in my case. It is a bit of a learning curve to get the results you want, but e.g. with a combination of custom image settings and a digital filter, I finally managed to get Clyde Beach Park | in Bellevue/WA | Jens Em | Flickr to come out the way I wanted it.

[Chris_K]

Another option is to actually process the images in the KP, not just by settings before you capture the image, but also by using the raw development afterwards.

That's been my routine workflow for the past few months. I get the results I want relatively easily and fast. Still, shooting raws is essential to keep the flexibility of the further processing.

[jersey]

Still, shooting raws is essential to keep the flexibility of the further processing.

Depends how much you are editing. I was never heavy editor, so I started to switch to RAW+ at some point and lately I shot JPEG only, even when doing plane spotting. It works like charm, in camera software and color science of Pentax are really impressive. It is just that you need to keep in mind what you are doing, set up color profile you want to use in photo session, take a test shot etc. And there are some adjustment possibilities in camera even when you want to tweak a bit.

[Chris_K]

Depends how much you are editing. I was never heavy editor, so I started to switch to RAW+ at some point and lately I shot JPEG only, even when doing plane spotting. It works like charm, in camera software and color science of Pentax are really impressive. It is just that you need to keep in mind what you are doing, set up color profile you want to use in photo session, take a test shot etc. And there are some adjustment possibilities in camera even when you want to tweak a bit.

True, but what I like the most about the RAWs is how much I can recover shadows. I never really tested it but jpegs aren't nearly that good in this particular matter. Of course, shooting jpegs gives some "freedom" and saves time in pp.