Commons:Photo challenge

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Photo Challenge The Photo Challenge inspires photographers to take great pictures and upload them to Commons. Monthly thematic competitions encourage participants to try new subjects, new photographic or processing techniques, and to develop skills while improving the Commons repository of free images. Photographs entered into a competition must be new to Commons and taken by a Commons user.

Skip to: Contents Challenges open for submission Challenges open for voting Previous challenges Themes suggested for future challenges

Formal things

Challenges

Challenges are based on a theme and run for a month. The theme may be a concrete subject, an abstract concept, a photographic technique or artistic style.

Participation

Everybody can participate in challenges open for submission. You simply

1. Choose one or all of the current challenges
2. Read the challenge description(s), which may vary in their rules (e.g., some place restrictions on when the photos are taken)
3. Take picture(s) for the challenge(s) during the challenge period (or, if allowed, select from your own existing pictures that are not yet on Commons)
4. Upload your picture(s) during the challenge period
5. Submit your candidates at the top of the current challenge gallery during the challenge period. To do that you click the [Edit] button of the Entries section of your chosen challenge and insert the File name above the last entry (or above File:-Insert image here-.svg for the first entry).

   Add your entry between the <gallery> tags as indicated. Gallery entries are placed each on a new line, and consist of the filename, a vertical bar |, and a description. For example:

   Electric steam iron.jpg|An electric steam iron

   For help on the syntax of entries in a gallery see Help:Gallery tag. Please do not add square brackets [[ ]] or include a thumb parameter or the full URL. The File: prefix is not required, but harmless.

6. Do not sign your submission(s)
7. If you want, you can have a look at previous challenges and Vote

Challenges are open to any Commons user. Submissions must be your own work, not previously uploaded to Commons prior to the challenge date and should illustrate the challenge theme in the opinion of the photographer. Please read the challenge descriptions, as there may be additional rules or explanations for specific challenges. There is no limit on the number of submissions per user (unless specially so restricted in the challenge), but please choose from among your best and most varied images.

To submit pictures, you edit the gallery of the contest and add your candidate(s) to the top of the list.

New themes can be proposed and discussed here.

Assessment

After the challenge has closed to new submissions, the pictures will be assessed by popularity voting in the subsequent month. You are allowed to vote for images submitted by others if your Commons account is at least ten days old and has more than 50 edits or if you participated in one of the challenges. Challenges open for voting can be found here.

Winning

The best three pictures will be awarded first, second and third place. They will be displayed on the Photo challenge page and may use the template {{Photo challenge winner}} on the file description page.

New media viewing experience

Please note users can disable the media viewing experience for all images on Commons when logged in (uncheck "Enable Media Viewer" under Files and click Save in Preferences, Appearance).

Challenges open for submission

2025 – May – Flowers

The new challenge features Flowers in natural setting.

Ideally, each submission should contain a summary description of the subject in the file information, including the location of the subject, and relevant categories should be added to the files to enable other Commons users to find them and use them. Please take care not to violate copyright in respect of non-free creative works, and observe our educational project scope and the personality rights of identifiable people, or your files may be subject to deletion.

The challenge will remain open for submissions throughout May UTC.

Checklist for this theme:

• Photographs must be the work of the nominator.
• Photographs must be newly uploaded to Commons during the challenge submission period i.e. May 2025 UTC (but may have been taken earlier).
• Submissions must be added to the top of the "Entries" section below.
• Please do not nominate lots of similar photos; instead choose just your best and most varied images.

Add your entry between the <gallery> tags as indicated. Gallery entries are placed each on a new line, and consist of the filename, a vertical bar |, and a description. For example:

Electric steam iron.jpg|An electric steam iron

For help on the syntax of entries in a gallery see Help:Gallery tag. Please do not add square brackets [[ ]] or include a thumb parameter or the full URL. The File: prefix is not required, but harmless.

• Restriction: A maximum of four entries can be submitted per photographer.

There are 26 days 5 hours left before this challenge ends. (refresh)

Examples

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Entries

Submit your photos

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  Macro shot of a daisy
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  Fiori bianchi e rossi di Salvia greggii. Orti del Chiostro della Basilica di San Paolo fuori le Mura a Roma
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  Sunflower Farm in Western India
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  Both wild Flowers closeup , white clover and bidens alba
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  Delonix regia flowers in prior to evening in a park of Howrah City
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  Löwenzahnblüten in verschiedenen Stadien
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  Tulpenblüte
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  Weiße Heckenrosenblüten
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  Stern-Anemone - Anemone hortensis
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  Nerium Oleander pink
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  Hortensie - Hydrangea
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  Blaukissen - Aubrieta
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  Linaria alpina in Vanoise National Park
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  Sunflower field in Burgundy
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  Sunflower field in Burgundy
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  plate with ceramic flowers
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  bouquet of ceramic flowers
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  Duck sculptures made of flowers, Mainau (Germany)
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  Bee on Dahlia flower
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  Alstroemeria
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  Red flowering horse chestnut in Hannover
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  Virginia Lynn Cooper Memorial Tree
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  Flowers on the beach
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  Rhododendron garden in Japan
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  The fallen white flowers belong to Crape Jasmine (Tabernaemontana divaricata) shrub native to India.
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  Piante di Orchidea maggiore nel Parco urbano di Villa Ada a Roma
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  Cherry blossoms. Šidlovec district, Jánošíkova street. City of Prešov. Slovakia.
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  Rhododendron flower in the botanical garden in Munich
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  Allium Zebdanense in the botanical garden in Munich
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  Tulip in the botanical garden in Munich
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  Tulip in the botanical garden in Munich
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  Leberblümchen (Hepatica nobilis) im Morgentau
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  Cypripedium japonicum
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  Lemon-bellied white-eye perched around cassia flowers
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  An ant, a bee and a flower.
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  Cassia bakeriana in China
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  Flowers of Madeira
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  Chrysanthemum,Addis Ababa,Ethiopia
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  Verbena hybrida,Addis Ababa ,Ethiopia
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  To submit your photos please click here

2025 – May – Flags

The new challenge features flags flying.

Ideally, each submission should contain a summary description of the subject in the file information, including the location of the subject, and relevant categories should be added to the files to enable other Commons users to find them and use them. Please take care not to violate copyright in respect of non-free creative works, and observe our educational project scope and the personality rights of identifiable people, or your files may be subject to deletion.

The challenge will remain open for submissions throughout May UTC.

Checklist for this theme:

• Photographs must be the work of the nominator.
• Photographs must be newly uploaded to Commons during the challenge submission period i.e. May 2025 UTC (but may have been taken earlier).
• Submissions must be added to the top of the "Entries" section below.
• Please do not nominate lots of similar photos; instead choose just your best and most varied images.

Add your entry between the <gallery> tags as indicated. Gallery entries are placed each on a new line, and consist of the filename, a vertical bar |, and a description. For example:

Electric steam iron.jpg|An electric steam iron

For help on the syntax of entries in a gallery see Help:Gallery tag. Please do not add square brackets [[ ]] or include a thumb parameter or the full URL. The File: prefix is not required, but harmless.

• Restriction: A maximum of four entries can be submitted per photographer.

There are 26 days 5 hours left before this challenge ends. (refresh)

Examples

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Entries

Submit your photos

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  The flag of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Photo taken in the Citadel of Erbil (Kurdistan, Iraq).
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  DIY flagging in the city of Mainz, COVID-19, lyrics of a children's song intended to give courage
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  Four Mainz city flags in front of the town hall construction site
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  Flag-Corps, Carnival Parade
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  Bandiere dal mondo, edifici sede della Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'alimentazione e l'agricoltura (FAO) a Roma
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  Bandiere dal mondo, edifici sede della Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'alimentazione e l'agricoltura (FAO) a Roma
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  Australian troops as guests of honor at the French National Day parade on July 14, 2016
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  Paris firefighters marching on the Champs-Élysées on July 14, 2016
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  Saint-Cyr Special Military School parading on July 14, 2016 in Paris
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  July 14, 2016 Parade in Paris: National School of Police Officers
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  Newcastle United Carabao Cup victory parade
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  Tanga Market, Kitakyushu-City, Japan
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  Storm against airstream on Maschsee in Hannover
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  Ustka beach
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  Red&white
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  Red flag :-o
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  Two red flags :-O
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  Flag on Filchner shelfice, Antarctica
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  Ensign of Japan on a ship
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  Slovak flag. New football arena Tatran Prešov. Slovakia.
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  Indian flag backlit by bright sun Shimla, India.
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  To submit your photos please click here

Challenges open for voting

Voting is open to all registered contributors who have held accounts for at least 10 days and made 50 edits, and also to new Commons contributors who have entered the challenge with a picture. Users cannot vote for their own picture. Voters may select up to three photographs in each theme to award points and can give praise to other photos without awarding points. Voting will be open for one month. The votes not complying with those requirements will be removed or converted to praises. In some cases users might be asked to correct their votes after voting ends.

April 2025

• Meadows
• Camelidae

Previous challenges

March 2025

• Hiking -> Commons:Photo challenge/2025 - March - Hiking/Winners
• Newspapers -> Commons:Photo challenge/2025 - March - Newspapers/Winners

February 2025

Absence: Entries • Votes • Scores

Rank	1	2	3
image
Title	Absence of essence	Automatic river lighthouse. Yenisei River, Krasnoyarsk	Linden alley at Kalevankangas Cemetery in Tampere, Finland
Author	Tn.kuvat	VSerebrenikov	Xannima
Score	18	17	12

Healthy living: Entries • Votes • Scores

Rank	1	2	3
image
Title	Heal thy life.	Sun salutation for healthy living	Young athletic girl
Author	Tn.kuvat	Sneha G Gupta	VSerebrenikov
Score	12	11	10

January 2025

Leatherwork: Entries • Votes • Scores

Rank	1	2	2
image
Title	Tanners at work in one of the old tanneries of Fez, Morocco	Pilot with Leather Aviator Helmet	Handmade shoes
Author	Lusi Lindwurm	Roy Egloff	AK-Bino
Score	24	11	11

Ovals: Entries • Votes • Scores

Rank	1	2	3
image
Title	Horseshoe Bend (Arizona)	Underpass of Michelinstraße in Hallstadt	Fontana in un giardino storico in Roccalvecce (Viterbo)
Author	Gzzz	Ermell	Albarubescens
Score	15	12	11

Previous years

• Photo challenge in 2024
• Photo challenge in 2023
• Photo challenge in 2022
• Photo challenge in 2021
• Photo challenge in 2020
• Photo challenge in 2019
• Photo challenge in 2018
• Photo challenge in 2017
• Photo challenge in 2016
• Photo challenge in 2015
• Photo challenge in 2014
• Photo challenge in 2013