'25 Photos Until Christmas' Event

I've decided through lack of better judgement to host a Christmas photo event through the month of December called '25 Photos Until Christmas', possibly including prizes every few days to every week if there's enough interest in participation. The idea is that you take a wintery and/or Christmassy photo every day from December 1st to December 25th and post them on your blog, instagram, twitter, etc, to spread your kind of Christmas cheer and generally get everyone so hyped about Christmas that they become sick of it!

This isn't going to be a commitment, you can start or finish whenever you like (by accident or on purpose), and you don't have to post a picture every day, nor indeed take one. Try to, certainly, but aim for around 15 pictures by the end of the month.

These pictures don't have to be insanely artistic, either! Photograph what captures your attention, what you love about Christmas - the presents (shopping, wrapping, hiding, setting under the tree), the food, the decorations, or the world/wildlife/nature at that time of year.

You don't have to post every day, nor indeed take a picture every single day, either, but to participate you must produce about 15 photographs - half of the month's worth. B

The photographs can be done however you want to - landscape, portrait; people, places; spontaneous, still life; macro, distance. It's up to you - as long as you take a photograph that captures Christmas in your heart or in others, you're all set!

I'm also thinking that if there's enough interest I would have some small, spontaneous prizes throughout the month of December for my favourite pictures - that's not to say the most artistic or even the most Christmassy, but just for the pictures that I like the best and appeal to me. They might be gorgeous, beautifully lit and framed, or they could be an overloaded mix of Christmas and nerdery that pulls me in. Like I said: the pictures I like best.
But this is just if there's enough interest from people, so if you fancy participating and trying to win a prize, spread the word! The more people who participate the more likely I am to award prizes, and the more people who participate still, the more frequently it'll be!

How to participate

There's no sign-up and no obligation to keep posting or to have to start on December 1st, but if you're going to participate I'd love it if you could give me a tweet to let me know! Otherwise, just try to take wintery and Christmassy photos, one a day, and upload them onto your blog, twitter, instagram, deviantart and so on, tweet them to me on @KimWedlock #25ChristmasPhotos

You don't have to post every single day, just as often as you can, and you can always compress your participation to fit it into your blogging schedule by posting once a week with 5-7 photos instead!

Need some ideas?

Taking festive Christmas photographs is something I absolutely love to do at Christmas, and even though most of what I want to do involves snow and England sees so little of that, I still manage to get some nice shots without snow. I used to be an avid photographer so I'd spend my time setting things up all day long to take pictures of, but I left that behind when I moved to Hastings, and when I moved back to Bristol I had developed other passions, and before long I'd started Peaches and Pebbles and had little mind to do this kind of thing. This year, however, after getting into the Christmas spirit far too early and looking at lots of Christmas photographs, I decided I wanted to pick it back up again. So while looking at everything and thinking about my own past Christmases, I found it quite easy to put together this list of suggestions.

It's easiest to photograph things you love, so the best parts of Christmas should come easily.

Love presents? Try:
• shopping
• wrapping
• hiding
• setting under the tree
• opening

Love decorations? Try:
• shop displays
• still life
• your home decorated
• all your decorations before they go up
• choosing your tree

Love food? Try:
• stores' Christmas aisles
• baking at home
• icing biscuits
• decorating a cake
• baking with kids
• seasonal food

Fancy trying some more artistic pictures? Have a look on Deviant Art, Pinterest, Tumblr, etc for inspiration - you can even head over to high street store websites and look at their Christmas category photographs!

And if you're looking for something to fill those in-between days where you have no ideas or little opportunity for anything special, try this checklist (which includes that which is listed above from the half-way mark:

• Christmas cards ready to post
• Your Christmas tree lights
• Presents under the tree
• Your favourite decorations
• Homemade mulled wine
• Christmas baking
• Christmas wrapping
• Decorating the tree
• Paper snowflakes
• Christmas Eve activity - early gifts, family movie/date night, etc
• Candles
• Wrapping up warm
• Seasonal hot drink - chocolate, coffee, tea
• Christmas wreath
• Streets
• Pets interacting with Christmas
• Christmas shopping
• Hiding gifts
• Shop displays
• Your home decorated
• All your decorations before they go up
• Stores' Christmas aisles
• Icing biscuits
• Decorating a cake
• Baking with kids
• Seasonal food
• Choosing your Christmas tree

As I've said, there's no obligation to begin on December 1st, to post every day until December 25th, or indeed to show every photo every day. You can fit it into your blogging schedule with a weekly post of 5-7 pictures instead! You have total freedom with this project, it's just about spreading your sight of Christmas and having some fun. If there is enough interest I may award prizes every week to my favourite pictures,

Here's the button HTML for those participating via their blog:

Tack it on to the bottom of your posts to help spread the word and the fun!