Your Shot and National Geographic

I love taking photographs, experimenting with my camera and learning more about the different settings that can help to make-or-break your image. Sometimes I find that I battle to know what to take photos of. This is where National Geographic come in. They have this great platform that lets you share your pictures with others, it's called Your Shot. 

The reason I like this platform is that they post Assignments and Stories. The Assignments allow photographers and regular people like you and me, to submit their images to the assignment. They all have a theme or title and this helps to focus the type of picture that you submit. The editor for the assignment usually posts one introductory piece of writing, indicating what he or she is looking for and then throughout the course of the assignment they post a few updates, giving even more hints, tips and indications of what works for them and what is getting old. Once the assignment is closed, the editor takes some time to pick a few favourites and the final Story is then posted, along with the editors top pics picks. 

I find having an assignment in mind really helps me to have something specific in mind when I go out to take pictures. Sometimes having a reason, such as an assignment, to go and take pictures is just what I need to motivate me and push me out of my comfort zone. I also love going through the submissions of others and challenging myself to try something new.

They're currently running an assignment on Unexpected Discoveries and I submitted this pic - what do you think?

Here are a few of my other favourites from that same session:

Cape Weaver doing what weavers do best

A similar look of surprise to my National Geographic Unexpected Discoveries submission

Hiding from the camera? Or perhaps just in need of a good scratch? Who knows...