Hi there, I just popped in to give you your creative inspiration for the weekend, courtesy of The Cosmic Photo Challenge and this week’s theme; Morning light.
This time of year the early mornings are especially lovely, if rather cold, so set your alarm and see if you can capture the world waking up for Monday’s post.
Have a great weekend, see y’all soon.
*****
To get involved with the challenge; check out the Cosmic Photo Prompt each Friday, then post a photo (or photos) on your blog the following Monday, with a pingback link to my Monday post. Tag your posts with #CosPhoChal.
Any and all effects, editing, Photoshop, Instagram, morphing, collages, animation, gifs, or whatever other post production techniques you fancy are permitted, (in fact, they’re actively encouraged!) so get creative and turn your photos into artworks for the Cosmic Photo Challenge
Good day to you all, I hope you had a pleasant break, now it’s time for The Cosmic Photo Challenge to brighten your Monday, with this week’s theme being; Still life.
As always, however you wish to interpret the prompts on our challenge, we’re here for it, that’s the beauty of our lackadaisical approach to rules.
But when I set the theme on Friday, apart from having no real idea of what I was going to do, it occurred to me that I wasn’t entirely certain what “still life photography” actually meant.
So I looked it up.
Amongst other things, it seems the general guidelines come down to:
Backgrounds: Select simple, complementary backgrounds that don’t distract. Cohesive Objects: Pick items that tell a story or share a similar style (e.g., antique theme). Create Layers: Arrange objects at different heights and levels for depth. Rule of Thirds: Place key elements on imaginary lines or intersections for balance.
Also suggested were; using fabrics to soften and create textures; adding bowls of fruit or flowers to connect to nature or give a “lived in” feel; give depth by lighting from the side, instead of from in front or above, and drawing inspiration from classical still life paintings.
So, taking all of this sage advice on board (I could only manage a small ramekin of blueberries at short notice), I spent Saturday evening setting up a photo shoot in my living room. I rather enjoyed it, too. ;~}
Here I present three differently lit shots, each taken from slightly different perspectives, you’ll have to decide for yourselves if your favourite is the same as mine…
Now let’s see what still life means to you…
*****
To get involved with the challenge; check out the Cosmic Photo Prompt each Friday, then post a photo (or photos) on your blog the following Monday, with a pingback link to my Monday post. Tag your posts with #CosPhoChal.
Any and all effects, editing, Photoshop, Instagram, morphing, collages, animation, gifs, or whatever other post production techniques you fancy are permitted, (in fact, they’re actively encouraged!) so get creative and turn your photos into artworks for the Cosmic Photo Challenge
Hi there, it’s time once again for some photographic homework, courtesy of The Cosmic Photo Challenge.
Your prompt this week is a nice simple one; Still life.
You may of course interpret that in any way you wish, so I look forward to seeing what you come up with on Monday.
Have a great weekend, see you all soon.
*****
To get involved with the challenge; check out the Cosmic Photo Prompt each Friday, then post a photo (or photos) on your blog the following Monday, with a pingback link to my Monday post. Tag your posts with #CosPhoChal.
Any and all effects, editing, Photoshop, Instagram, morphing, collages, animation, gifs, or whatever other post production techniques you fancy are permitted, (in fact, they’re actively encouraged!) so get creative and turn your photos into artworks for the Cosmic Photo Challenge.
Hello, welcome to 2026’s very first edition of The Cosmic Photo Challenge, brought to you by the totally topical prompt; A cold start.
We’ve certainly had no shortage of those in the last few days, so here are some frosty shots from one of my morning walks at the weekend.
Now let’s see your chilly images…
*****
To get involved with the challenge; check out the Cosmic Photo Prompt each Friday, then post a photo (or photos) on your blog the following Monday, with a pingback link to my Monday post. Tag your posts with #CosPhoChal.
Any and all effects, editing, Photoshop, Instagram, morphing, collages, animation, gifs, or whatever other post production techniques you fancy are permitted, (in fact, they’re actively encouraged!) so get creative and turn your photos into artworks for the Cosmic Photo Challenge.
Hello and a happy new year to you all, welcome to the first Cosmic Photo Challenge prompt of 2026.
In what is becoming another annual tradition of sorts, we’ll begin with; A cold start.
As ever, you may apply that theme to the start of the day, the year or whatever other timeframe you wish, although here in the UK it applies pretty much all the time at the moment.
So get out there in the overly fresh air, capture some chilly scenes to kick off another year of happy snapping and I’ll see you all on Monday.
Have a great weekend and enjoy the final days of freedom before the return to work.
*****
To get involved with the challenge; check out the Cosmic Photo Prompt each Friday, then post a photo (or photos) on your blog the following Monday, with a pingback link to my Monday post. Tag your posts with #CosPhoChal.
Any and all effects, editing, Photoshop, Instagram, morphing, collages, animation, gifs, or whatever other post production techniques you fancy are permitted, (in fact, they’re actively encouraged!) so get creative and turn your photos into artworks for the Cosmic Photo Challenge.
Hello, welcome to the very last Cosmic Photo Challenge of 2025, where we are rounding up; The best of the rest.
This is an exercise in sweeping up the shots which might not have qualified for any of this year’s challenges, but which you think are worth sharing, nonetheless.
So here, in no particular order, are a few images which, for one reason or another, caught my eye this year.
I wish you all the most prosperous, healthy and happy new year, but for now let’s see your hidden treasures…
*****
To get involved with the challenge; check out the Cosmic Photo Prompt each Friday, then post a photo (or photos) on your blog the following Monday, with a pingback link to my Monday post. Tag your posts with #CosPhoChal.
Any and all effects, editing, Photoshop, Instagram, morphing, collages, animation, gifs, or whatever other post production techniques you fancy are permitted, (in fact, they’re actively encouraged!) so get creative and turn your photos into artworks for the Cosmic Photo Challenge.
Hello there, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and none of you are feeling too fragile this morning, because it’s time for the final Cosmic Photo Challenge prompt of 2025.
As is traditional, this week we’re rounding off the year by showcasing any shots which might not have made it into a specific challenge, but you’d like to share anyway; The best of the rest.
So you have complete control for Monday’s post, let’s see the pictures you didn’t get a chance to show us in the last 12 months. Have a great weekend and I’ll see you on the other side.
*****
To get involved with the challenge; check out the Cosmic Photo Prompt each Friday, then post a photo (or photos) on your blog the following Monday, with a pingback link to my Monday post. Tag your posts with #CosPhoChal.
Any and all effects, editing, Photoshop, Instagram, morphing, collages, animation, gifs, or whatever other post production techniques you fancy are permitted, (in fact, they’re actively encouraged!) so get creative and turn your photos into artworks for the Cosmic Photo Challenge.
Hello and season’s greetings to you all from The Cosmic Photo Challenge, which this week gets out and about on; A winter’s walk.
Since I changed jobs last year, I haven’t been getting as much exercise, so I’ve recently started doing a daily two and a quarter mile hike around the country lanes on the very edge of Barnstaple. I’m fortunate enough that I have the countryside five minutes from my door, so a weekend walk was the perfect time to capture the chilly morning landscape.
Have a fantastic holiday, I’d like to wish you and all of your loved ones the very merriest of Christmases, I’ll see you for our end of year roundup next week.
Love, light and peace,
dalecooper57
Now let’s see if you found yourselves a winter wonderland…
*****
To get involved with the challenge; check out the Cosmic Photo Prompt each Friday, then post a photo (or photos) on your blog the following Monday, with a pingback link to my Monday post. Tag your posts with #CosPhoChal.
Any and all effects, editing, Photoshop, Instagram, morphing, collages, animation, gifs, or whatever other post production techniques you fancy are permitted, (in fact, they’re actively encouraged!) so get creative and turn your photos into artworks for the Cosmic Photo Challenge.
Hello there, welcome to the penultimate prompt for 2025’s Cosmic Photo Challenge, I hope all your holiday preparations are going well.
Today we’re going to get in early with the new season (the solstice is on Sunday, after all) and capture some scenes whilst on; A winter’swalk.
Fingers crossed for some pleasant weather, enjoy the weekend, good luck with the Christmas shopping and I’ll see you all on Monday.
*****
To get involved with the challenge; check out the Cosmic Photo Prompt each Friday, then post a photo (or photos) on your blog the following Monday, with a pingback link to my Monday post. Tag your posts with #CosPhoChal.
Any and all effects, editing, Photoshop, Instagram, morphing, collages, animation, gifs, or whatever other post production techniques you fancy are permitted, (in fact, they’re actively encouraged!) so get creative and turn your photos into artworks for the Cosmic Photo Challenge.
Good morning, welcome to the annual round up of festive illuminations on The Cosmic Photo Challenge, brought to you by the prompt; Lights, camera, Christmas!
I took a chilly, early evening stroll round Barnstaple town on Saturday to capture my yuletide sparkle-fest; with a couple of extra snaps I took whilst waiting to leave my road, hemmed in as I was by the local Round Table’s Santa sleigh.
Now let’s see what’s lighting up your world at the moment…
*****
To get involved with the challenge; check out the Cosmic Photo Prompt each Friday, then post a photo (or photos) on your blog the following Monday, with a pingback link to my Monday post. Tag your posts with #CosPhoChal.
Any and all effects, editing, Photoshop, Instagram, morphing, collages, animation, gifs, or whatever other post production techniques you fancy are permitted, (in fact, they’re actively encouraged!) so get creative and turn your photos into artworks for the Cosmic Photo Challenge.
The Cosmic Photo Challenge 