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

2024 – April – Vertical lines

The new challenge features images with vertical lines.

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 April 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. April 2024 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 5 days 9 hours left before this challenge ends. (refresh)

Examples

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Entries

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  A path in the American Gardens in Pontypool.
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  Cherry trees blossoming in Pontypool Park.
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  Trees in autumn at Blaen Bran Woodland.
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  Telegraph poles on the mountainside south of Pontypool, Wales.
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  Woods in Nový Bor, Czech Republic
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  First Avenue light-rail station, Pittsburgh, with the Try Street Terminal in the background
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  Front and balcony of a modern building in quarter Bacalan of Bordeaux, France
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  Staircase in "Museum Neues Weimar", Weimar, Germany
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  Elbphilharmonie and masts of three-master "Mare Frisium" at Hamburg harbour, Germany
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  Iron balustrade at boardwalk in Arcachon, France
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  Chimneys in Prague-Řepy, Czech Republic
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  Wind farm in the IJsselmeer at the Ketelbrug (Flevoland)
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  Holstentor (Detail) Lübeck, Germany
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  historical town house in Lübeck's Old Town, Dankwartsgrube 26, upper section
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  New York City
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  These life served coconut trees were left with uncaring and abandoned in Tamilnadu India.
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  An image of a tower from the streets of Volterra
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  Entrance to the Museumsquartier St. Annen in Luebeck, Germany
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  Shopping Mall Metalli
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  A photograph of a tourist attraction in Geneva, Switzerland.
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  Toronto City Hall
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  Room radiator
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  Carrot on a plate
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  Kitchen set
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  Ceiling at the entrance to Saint Vincent de Paul Roman Catholic Church, Los Angeles, California, US
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  Detail of the facade of Monasterio de Santa Maria del Parral, Segovia, Castilla y León, Spain
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  Light pole on the east span of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, California, US
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  Tower of the east span of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, California, US
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  Ограда Летнего сада, Санкт-Петербург 2H1A6216WI
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  Schokland. UNESCO World Heritage. Walkway on poles.
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  View from False Creek Harbour to Burrard Peninsula in downtown Vancouver, Canada.
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  Financial district in Boston, Massachusetts in the United States.
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  Skyscrapers of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, seen from the top of Chrysler building.
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  Window cleaner on a residential skyscraper in the Coal Harbour district, Vancouver, Canada.
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  Prime Tower Zurich
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  The vertical bars make it boring for the lions
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  Little girl behind a wooden fence
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  Interesting architecture of a landing stage on Lago Maggiore
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  "We Stopped just here at the time" from the artist Ernesto Neto in Malaga
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  Vertical lines at the changing of the guard at Amalienborg Palace
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  Guardails of the new Marbella's skatepark
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  Exterior wall of old apartments, cross overlap wire of utility poles with sunny sky sunshine
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  Home Inertia radiator (heater)
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  Base of the Benedum–Trees Building, a Beaux Arts skyscraper in Pittsburgh designed by Thomas H. Scott and built in 1905
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  "Image of Saint Christopher" in Broekhuizen (Horst aan de Maas) in province of Limburg in the Netherlands.
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  Wicket gate in a side door of the old Princess Theatre, Fremantle, Western Australia
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  Celsus Library in Ephesus, Turkey
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  Gartentor an der Trave bei Lübeck
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  Flood of the Po river, Francolino, Ferrara, Italy
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  Erastus Corning Tower - Albany, New York
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  Vertical tiers of instant noodles from around the world, Yokohama, Japan.jpg
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  Poles in the lagoon of Venice
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  Panorama with seven palm trees
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  Typical chimneys in Apulia
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  Chimneys of an old Apulian house
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  Afsluitdijk and surroundings. Mooring posts in the IJsselmeer.
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  Color the City example at the Oudegracht 189 in Utrecht (Netherlands)
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  Mizumoto Park, Tokyo, Japan
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  War memorial in Sint Nicolaasga.
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  Columns on the façade of the Philharmonie in Luxembourg
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  At Kant's grave
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  Abbey Library of Saint Gall
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  Gambi di funghi Coprinellus
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  Boy behind bars
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  Light rays piercing the Cenote Kankirixché, Mexico.
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  Hopen climbs up a bridge lattice, Hamburg-Moorburg
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  Stair gate in the stairwell of the Hamburger Kunsthalle
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  Rails behind bars, Stralsund, Germany
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  Sculpture of a head on a balcony, Southern France
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  Sculptures on the Cathedral of Seville, Spain
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  Bicycle racks belonging to a school in Freiham, Munich, Germany
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  Bicycle racks belonging to a school in Freiham, Munich, Germany
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  Scaffolding in Macau
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  Railway
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  Window frames in white colour
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  Traditional Chinese bookbinding for a red booklet
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  Ventilation chimneys on the garages roofs
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  Fence pillars
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  House facades in Hannover
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  Sawmill Sagi Tschiertschen. sawing machine.
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  Northern bank of the Volga in Saratov
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  Зградата на Caixa Bank на дијагоналната авенија во Барцелона,Caixa Bank building on "Avinguda Diagonal Аvenue", Barcelona, Spain.
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  Mojiko Station, Japan
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  Market Hall in Pont-à-Mousson
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  Vertically arranged rolls
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  View of the Elbe through a alley
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  Climbing poles on the “alla hopp!“ facility in Deidesheim
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  Wooden station building at Elmstein station with vertical laths
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  Candy color guitar
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  Westpolderbrêge. A new bridge over Broeresleat, will be realized in 2020. Detail of the supporting structure.
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  Entrance area of the church at Rysum, East Frisia, Germany
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  Musée d'Art Moderne (detail view), Luxembourg
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  "Bürgerhaus" (Detail) in Norden, Ostfriesland, Germany
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  Container barge in lock chamber, Heidelberg, Germany
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  Baugerüst am Hochhaus Am Tiefen Weg 5
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  Anzeiger-Hochhaus - Brick expressionist high-rise in Hannover
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  Pioppi bianchi (Populus alba) nel parco urbano di Villa Ada a Roma
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  Le cinque Erme all'interno del Parco dei Mostri di Bomarzo (Viterbo, Lazio)
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  Birch grove
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  Acropolis of Athens, Propylaea
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  St Peter's Square in Vatican
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  Interior detail of the Colosseum
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  Skalní výchoz pod hradem Chlumec-Kozlov
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  Path between beech trees in a natural forest near Vierhouten.
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  Fenicotteri al laghetto del Bioparco di Roma
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  Hochhausfassade im Ernst-Thälmann-Park, Berlin
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  Metropolitan Opera. South side
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  Лыжи
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  Skyscraper
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  Red cloakroom
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  Harsingar flower and wood planks mural installation
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  God's own solar system
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  Glass facade building at Bamberg
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  Moon playing hide and seek with heritage monuments at Chamapaner
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  The Northeast Tigers Under Four Trees
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  Light Behind Dark Bars
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  (more or less) straight trees
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  Pine trees
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  The city skyline of Jiangzicui in the evening(Banqiao, New Taipei)
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  Forest road
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  Вертикальные струи фонтана на Московской площади Санкт-Петербурга 2H1A5691WI
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  Дворцовый мост в праздничных флагах, Санкт-Петербург 2H1A3288WI2
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  Vertical trees under sunset light
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  Memorial (2012) to the deportation of Sinti and Roma in Trier
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  General WK Wilson Jr. Bridge in Creola, Alabama. Crossing over Mobile River.
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  Зајдисонце и уличните светилки во Паралија Катерини, Грција (Sunset and vertical street lights in Paralia Katerini, Greece)
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  Колонны здания администрации и думы Новгородской области 2H1A4397WI
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  Figures from the art installation Odyssey 2017 by Robert Koenig in Speyer,in front of the Synagogue
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  Autumnal poplars at the Rhine harbour in Speyer
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  Vineyard in Kallstadt, Palatinate, Germany, in winter
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  Vicar's Close in Wells, Somerset, England
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  Mosquito repellent incense stick and incense stick base
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  One tower crane be covered by thick mist on the top of unfinished high-rise building
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  School gate, Co. Meath, Ireland.
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  Colonnade of the Stoa of Attalos in the reconstructed Ancient Agora of Athens
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  Lampen an der Concha von Donostia-San Sebastián
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  Hanyang University Erica Maple Avenue
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  Tor ins Blaue
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  Utility pylons on Garth Hill, Cardiff
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  Fichtenwald im oberen Murtal
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  Wandverkleidung als Kunst, Tiefgarage in Graz beim Hotel Weitzer
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  Langschiff der Kathedrale von Orleans
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  Murasaki River Bridge, Kitakyushu City, Japan
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  Boreholes in a blasted block
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  Fahnen gegen den Bruderkrieg
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  Црн бор дрворед покрај тутунски комбинат „ Монопол“ Тетово, row of trees with black pine, North Macedonia
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  Vicolo della Minerva. Roma.
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  Arras immeubles de la Grand'Place, France
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  Farm in Hawaii with a Rainbow
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  Marble from Sibiria
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  An alleyway seen in downtown Troy, New York
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  Vertical Safety Grills
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  18 Robinson in Raffles Place, Singapore as seen from Telegraph Street
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  Fomer EverGrande Group Shenzhen Head Office
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  To submit pictures please follow this link

2024 – April – Flame

The new challenge features flames: candles, matches, torches, sparks, etc.

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 April 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. April 2024 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 5 days 9 hours left before this challenge ends. (refresh)

Examples

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Entries

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  Campfire at lake Yngen, Filipstad Municipality, Värmland, Sweden
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  Flame forming for a fire walking in Tamilnadu
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  Fire walking is an act of walking over a bed of hot embers with barefoot.
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  August 1st - Swiss National Day
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  Campfire in front of two Bivouac tents
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  Candles in a Basilica in Marseille
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  Irori fireplace
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  Match flame
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  Fireworks, New Year's Eve celebrations (2024) on Lake Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
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  Metallica at Paris Saint-Denis on 17 May 2023 beginning of song Fuel
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  A lone candle in the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris before the great fire
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  Flame and sparks
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  Burning the wastes
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  Prayer candles in front of a Madonna in the Collegiata di San Vittore in Canobio
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  Remembrance candles in a church
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  Candles for peace in the church of Our Lady of Dresden
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  Drachenfeuer
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  Fireplace with a coalfire in a house in Derbyshire, England
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  A jar of waste acetone set aflame
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  Candle in front of the Icon 
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  The Light of a Candle
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  Dragonlike fiery log
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  Welding pipe in Emmerin, Hauts-de-France
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  Inner courtyard of the White cloud Temple in Shanghai
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  Little Light
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  Stylish gas fireplace in the bar of the Oslo Opera House
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  tea kettle and tajine cooking over the fire, Marocco
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  Bench burning in a campfire
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  Serving a burning chicken
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  Lighting a candle on a birthday cake
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  Charcoal ready for BBQ
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  A remain in Shirahama, Wakayama
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  Fire breather in a Prague Restaurant
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  Candles on a sleigh as a Christmas decoration
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  Small fireworks
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  Burning “Regina“ at the Winter Burn Resistant of the Leistadt kindergarten
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  Visitors at the 2024 Easter fire in Rottorf
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  На огонь можно смотреть бесконечно
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  Shrovetide bonfire and spectators at Hilsenhain, Germany
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  Swirling sparks, shrovetide bonfire at Hilsenhain, Germany
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  Tea light in a holder beneath cast iron teapot
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  Glassworking in Wertheim, Germany
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  Flambé
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  Вечный огонь. Мемориал Жертвам нацистского геноцида в Зайцево 2H1A2991WI
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  Adventskerzen zum 4. Advent in Sachsen 1597WI
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  Heißluftballonfahrt über Sachsen 2H1A4220WI
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  Сжигание Масленицы 2021 по русской традиции 2H1A3071WI
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  The Thadingyut Festival of Lights in Bagan, Myanmar
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  Scintille di una lancia termica in un cantiere
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  Candele di compleanno sulla torta di mele
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  Лось у камина
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  Flames blazing brightly
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  Holy Flame
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  Oil lamp
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  Snow and fire
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  Sparks go out on the fly
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  Cloudberry, sugar and bonfire - it will be delicious jam.
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  Rows of diyas
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  Eternal effulgence
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  Kindled candles
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  Holy flame of Ganga Aarti
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  Scented candle flame
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  Fireplace
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  Brenntonne
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  Flames of burning many paper sacrificial objects for religious activity
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  A Fire flame of the chimney inside of burning bucket
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  An Infrared photo of a fire, taken using a Hoya 720nm filter.
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  A menorah on the final day of Hanukkah, with a plate under it to stop the wax for getting on the table.
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  A person stoking flaming fire food using an iron stick
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  Fire at night, Hawaii
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  To celebrate the Christmas season.
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  Osterfeuer im oberen Murtal
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  New year dinner for two
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  Gneiss wood-burning stove
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  Waste to Energy
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  Eternal flame in national flag monument in Rosario, Argentina
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  Metallic clamp holding matches on fire
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  Bonfire at the end of Sechselaüten 2023
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  "Feurige" Paprika-Wurst auf der Assadeira Chourico
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  Mulled wine on the brazier
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  Holi Burning in March 2024
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  To submit pictures please follow this link

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.

March 2024

• Gray
• Courthouse

Previous challenges

February 2024

Lunar New Year: Entries • Votes • Scores

Rank	1	2	3
image
Title	Dragon Dance, Oklahoma City, OK, Lunar New Year, 2024 (Year of the Dragon)	Sec. 1, Wuchang St., Taipei City, with LED lights decorations above on 2024 Chinese New Year	Eu Tong Sen Street in Chinatown, Singapore, with CNY decorations above
Author	OKJaguar	Junyu-K	S5A-0043
Score	11	9	9

Knots: Entries • Votes • Scores

Rank	1	2	3
image
Title	Boat knot	Figure-eight loop in mountaineering	Root knot of a beech tree
Author	Teseo	Wagner Cxxx	Foeniz
Score	11	9	8

January 2024

Silos: Entries • Votes • Scores

Rank	1	2	3
image
Title	Garfield Grain Elevator and Silos Garfield Washington USA	Feed silos in Hirschbrunn near Burgebrach	Silos of the Hannoversche Portland -Cementfabrik (abandoned in 1986)
Author	DaveGinOly	Ermell	Hgrobe
Score	19	13	8

Masks: Entries • Votes • Scores

Rank	1	2	3
image
Title	Narrentag 2024 - Elzacher Schuttig	Kirchseoner Perchtenlauf - old winter parade tradition in Bavaria. Mask of type "Klaubauf"	Taken in Dublin, march 2014
Author	Rainer Halama	Würmchen-vom-Mölchlein	Oncewerecolours
Score	13	13	10

Previous years

• 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