Many years ago we used to have the One Four Challenge – where you edited One image Four ways over the period of a month.
It was one of the key things that got me actually excited about learning to edit creatively and was so much fun to see what other people had done each week.
For May I introduced it to my Creative Photography group on FB and it generated a lot of really fun images, people clearly having many attempts to master a technique or just trying something new.
It was a trip down memory lane for me, as participating in this challenge was a highlight for many months when I was just starting out. The challenge provided a safe place to experiment and try new things, to get constructive critique and feedback. Where you could share your successes and your failures and your learnings in a place where other people were experiencing the same things as you were.
This challenge is what gave me the confidence to get started using Photoshop layers and it was a fundamental first step on my personal creative journey.
So coming back to it several years later was a more emotional experience than I anticipated. First, it made me realise how much I missed the regular creative dabbling, and how helpful it was for my own wellbeing.
Mostly, it made me realise how much I had forgotten because of not doing this kind of editing on a regular basis.
Lastly it drove home the fact that this is a skill which needs to have time invested in it. Making art in whatever medium you choose requires you to ‘do the work’ ie put the time into practicing what you know and mastering new skills.
It made me sad that I had lost my ability to play and create for fun, but also glad that I had returned to it. Plus there is a new artist whose work greatly inspires me but the style is very different to mine, so learning it is a new challenge.
For those of you who did undertake the Four Ways Challenge, THANKYOU and I hope it was fun and I look forward to new exciting images from you in the coming months.
My Final Image for May is the one featured on this blog post. All my other images for the month are in the slideshow below.
Learning to See Light 
Gosh, I had forgotten that Challenge we did years back. Great fun and fantastic for learning and playing/practising photoshop. Love what you have done here with all versions of the image but definitely the top image is my favourite.
I know!! it was the beginning of such an important journey for many of us – BTW Im in Melb for the Brooke Shaden workshop and going to Bendigo and Ballarat for a week or so in July
You’ll be in the cold weather they’re having at present but probably not as cold as Christchurch 🙂 Enjoy the workshop.