Daily Challenge Today Challenge

Location
Switzerland
Name
Matt
This is just a short notice to announce a new "rolling" challenge.

To give a little background: Last year, we did two consecutive monthly challenges - and then just kept rolling; on March 31, we will complete a full year, and on April 1, we will even tick of the leap year (remember that 2020 was one ...). However, we're a small group, and there's no telling how things will continue - I certainly can't expect anyone to carry on after such a feat! So the Day to Day sequence of threads will end before it dissolves, with a last instance on April 1.

I want to offer a new opportunity for others to join all those of us who want to continue. I for one will try to keep going as long as possible - it's become a helpful routine, an obligation to not just let time tick by but create something within it.

The idea of the new challenge is this: You pick your own challenge duration or just try a "jump" (a stretch of consecutive days) by simply posting to the "Today" threads. You can announce your attempt (that's encouraged), but you don't have to.

The only rule: The image you post has been taken on the day you publish it.

And of course, it's important to actually keep it up for a while - that's the key to going places, as always.

Feel free to ask questions if something appears not clear enough. Whatever happens, this will start on April 2, 2021.

One last thing: The first thread will have a rather peculiar number, signifying the continuation of our daily shooting and posting: The Today Challenge will start with "Today 367" - to signify the second year running for at least some of us. So please, don't be confused by this, take heart and try it - it has been a worthwhile experience for sure, and it would be great to have it continue and possibly grow again.

M.
 
LOL I’m confused (been a long day for me so not much left upstairs in terms of brain power), does it start on the first or the second? I don’t want to be an April fool but clearly I have it in me! 🤪
 
LOL I’m confused (been a long day for me so not much left upstairs in terms of brain power), does it start on the first or the second? I don’t want to be an April fool but clearly I have it in me! 🤪
I'll post the first thread on the second ... because we have to be able to finish our own run properly :)

I'll adjust the above post (I know what confused you ...). I just wanted it to be visible as an announcement on April 1, but it's what it is ...

M.
 
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Yes, we appreciate the selfless labor on your part, Matt! I am totally in for this challenge. I've been observing the daily threads with something of the forlorn wistfulness of the outsider, but knew I wasn't ready to commit to that one. Now, I think I am (and it sounds like lapses will be forgiven, should they occur).
 
Thank you Matt for keeping the thread running for the complete year and for entertaining us each day anew with wonderful maths wonders and making our toes dance in rhythm to the music of the movies. You brightened up our Corona days with these little extra feats.

It was a small but highly motivated bunch with a fascinating range of topics, very individual ways of seeing things around them and a good sense of humour, too. And what fantastic feedbacks. That thread *is* the best proof that the name of the website couldn't have been chosen more adequately.
I'll try to keep going with 365.
 
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Well, well, well - I think it's appropriate to put this in here because this challenge is the actual reason I've been out with a camera every day for months now. I guess that with opportunity, more things will happen.

Today, I was a bit pressed for time on my walk, so I took a familiar root - which led me to the passage of the big trucks that transport the hot slag from the steel works. I love these huge machines, so, when one was coming down the track, I stopped and took a shot - the actual story is a tiny bit more complicated, but it boils down to me waiting, camera at the ready, for the truck to enter the frame.

And the truck - stopped! The driver got out and was very upset about me taking a shot - of him! I hadn't (it was heavily backlit, the glass from the cabin was reflective - he wasn't even visible!) and told him so - but he wasn't convinced; he wasn't actually aggressive, but clearly irritated; he said he wasn't in favour of snapping images of people without their permission. And he asked if I was working on assignment or anything ... Duh ... I told him I've been always fascinated by the trucks and took the opportunity to get a good shot - and I even offered to delete it. He shrugged that off (not that he was ever close enough to see the shot).

I don't know ... I mean, it's not as if I am even capable of appearing threatening, and I certainly wasn't trying to be stealthy. I just stood there and took a shot of his truck. I wore a bright blue jacket, a friendly smile and a fetching cap if I say so myself:

Z50_2191.jpg
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)


It must have been the weather. Or some kind of personal history ... whatever. The whole ting almost took it out of me. Thankfully, I was able to "walk it off" ...

Thanks for stopping by and reading.

(I think I've used the "selfie" screen of the Z 50 for the first time today ... it kind of worked, too.)

btw. The image I took is here.

M.

P.S. Those who didn't have to think of "Shrek" when they saw the image have to watch the movie (it's worth it - it's not a children's story, funny, sad and uplifting).
 
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For such situations I carry a printed copy of the copyright act with me:

Panoramafreiheit (§ 59UrhG=Urheberrechtsgesetz)
Fremde Gebäude und Grundstücke darf man ohne Erlaubnis fotografieren, wenn die Aufnahme von allgemein zugänglichen Orten außerhalb des fremden Grundstücks bzw. Gebäudes angefertigt wird, z. B. einer Straße oder von einem öffentlichen Park.

Freedom of panorama (§ 59UrhG=Copyright Act)
Photographs of other people's buildings and land may be taken without permission if the photograph is taken from a generally accessible place outside the other person's land or building, e.g. a street or a public park.

If someone reacts aggressively, I read out this text and tell them to immediately call the police, indicating that I then will report him for coercion.

This said with a slightly aggressive undertone has cleared the situation immediately.
Of course you must make sure not to infringe personal rights (no person depicted should be identifiable).
 
Sad occurrence that seems to be a response to paranoia. People know they movements are easily tracked these day.
So sorry you had that experience, Matt. Probably he is a good guy just worried about bad things happening.
Thank you all for your replies - all in all, he was nice enough given the perceived circumstances, and I'm seriously thinking about getting the image to him (a print - I don't have any of his personal coordinates, but I definitely know where he works) to sort of sooth his nerves. Of course, he gave me kind of a nasty turn, but he never went too far (he stayed on the "bridge" of his vehicle, hunkered down, not "towering" above me in spite of the height and his own considerable bulk). He's just some guy who got freaked out by something he had never experienced or seriously didn't want.

On the other side, he couldn't have been more wrong - I wasn't creeping up on him or anything, and it *is* sad and worrying that we always seem to want to think the worst of our fellow man. And of course, noone has any right to object to me taking photos from an official hiking path!

What we had there was the state of western society in a nutshell: Unwarranted anguish and anxiety got in the way of what could have been a pleasant exchange. We have created a world apart in a place that's so safe and secure it sometimes hurts (it dulls the senses, sort of ...).

I think I really should go through with this print ...

M.
 
Matt, it's so strange to me that the guy felt the need to act that way while on the job, and on the road no less. I get people being protective around their loved ones, or sensitive areas of their workplace, or whatever, but what an odd stop. I guess none of us are ever completely safe from the "why are you taking pictures??" confrontation, but it just seems so pointless. I have experienced that sort of thing only very rarely, and not in a long time, which has actually surprised me since I try for more street photography nowadays. I guess being in a tourism-heavy area helps, though I'm also in a very small town where local people are generally a bit shy of having their photo taken. I think we can go too far in the area of preparedness for that confrontation, however - if it doesn't come, as it usually doesn't, we have either psyched ourselves out of some of the photos we could have taken, or else put ourselves on edge to the point where we can't enjoy anything. I think a bit of vulnerability is necessary; there's a tiny bit of risk, so be it. Of course that's on a good day where I feel like I can handle the possible unwanted interaction. Some days I'd rather point my camera at bugs or shadows or clouds in the sky.

I'm trying to think of the analogue socially of taking a photo, I don't think there are many except maybe how driving sometimes causes other drivers to road rage, no matter how polite you are intending to be. Just something about asserting your presence by doing your own thing, to some people somehow breaks into their bubble.
 
Interesting. I was wondering what the today ### meant. The single in has been a bit tough to keep up with as my typical photography regimen has been to ebb and flow...
 
Interesting. I was wondering what the today ### meant. The single in has been a bit tough to keep up with as my typical photography regimen has been to ebb and flow...
Daily shooting and posting has its own graces - but also causes its own troubles at times. Mainly, it's about getting into the groove and keeping it up - but it's not always equally easy to achieve.

This rolling challenge grew out of a "Single in" in 2020; essentially, we just kept going, mostly because the pandemic put most other things we were used to doing on a regular basis on hold ... You can drop in and out at your own discretion, so it's only a struggle if you decide to make it one ...

The title of the challenge is actually a (veiled) reference to another scheme, "one day at a time" (AA, probably quoted wrongly by me - since I only know about it from German speaking sources and am not familiar with it myself ...).

M.
 
Only just seen this thread. In this age, it seems every one is an “expert” on everything these days. This sort of thing is also generally common if you are a professional in any capacity giving advice to the apparently better informed client. I’ve learned to expect it.
 
Daily shooting and posting has its own graces - but also causes its own troubles at times. Mainly, it's about getting into the groove and keeping it up - but it's not always equally easy to achieve.

This rolling challenge grew out of a "Single in" in 2020; essentially, we just kept going, mostly because the pandemic put most other things we were used to doing on a regular basis on hold ... You can drop in and out at your own discretion, so it's only a struggle if you decide to make it one ...

The title of the challenge is actually a (veiled) reference to another scheme, "one day at a time" (AA, probably quoted wrongly by me - since I only know about it from German speaking sources and am not familiar with it myself ...).

M.
..... my goodness... your response hits home more then you may ever know... Thanks.
Once the single in is finished I may jump in...
 
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