Feathered Frames

12-MONTH PHOTOGRAPHY CHALLENGE

Welcome to Feathered Frames! A twelve-month bird photography challenge aimed at expanding your creativity and refining your skills

Each month holds a specific challenge to create one image that will help you grow as a photographer.

THIS CHALLENGE WILL:

Motivate you to go birding with the primary focus of shooting in the field.
Push you to think outside of the box to meet the challenge briefs.
Help you find or curate your style. (That "thing" that makes your images uniquely yours.)
Give you the forum to request and receive constructive criticism on your work, as well as help others by providing "CC" on their work.
Help you create a beautiful portfolio of work for the 2025 year!

What Our Framers Say

Thanks for all the feedback - I learned a ton and it helps me in my continued enjoyment of photography. I look forward to learning more through future courses."

Bill S.

I enjoyed learning and thinking about trying to get a good shot on purpose.

Michelle H.

What it includes:

YOUR PARTICIPATION INCLUDES:

Access to the monthly challenge briefs at the beginning of the challenge
A monthly challenge brief video to learn about the brief at the beginning of each month.
Access to a private Feathered Frames Facebook group for collaboration with other challenge participants.
Access to a monthly critique video to gain feedback and insights into your image submission. The monthly critique will be provided each month by Wander Nature Photography and a guest photographer.
A chance to be featured as a Top 10 photographer for each month.
End of the year awards ceremony that includes prizes for the Top 3 overall portfolios.

The Challenges

FULL CHALLENGE BRIEFS ARE RELEASED TO PARTICIPANTS JANUARY 1ST 2025

RULE OF THIRDS

What makes it so powerful? Why should you use it? We have all heard of the "rule of thirds", so let's see it in action!

January

ALL IN THE DETAILS

"Fine-feather detail" is the holy grail of obtaining a tack sharp image. Let's focus on capturing those minute details of our subject's plumage, bills, or maybe even their talons!

February

OOEY GOOEY

Getting a creamy, smooth and ooey gooey background can really help to make your subject POP. So let's use this month to pay attention to our backgrounds!

March

BIRDS BEING BIRDS

Behavior is key in this month's challenge! Preening, foraging, nesting, displaying... the options are limitless! Let's focus on capturing images of birds being birds this month.

April

A LOT TO SAY

Spring has officially arrived! There shouldn't be a shortage of birds singing during the month of May. Let's focus on capturing a tack sharp photo of a bird in song.

May

EYE-TO-EYE

"GET LOWER" is a common piece of feedback we hear when it comes to bird photography. Let's focus on the power of "getting low" this month and the enormous impact it has on our images.

June

BIRDSCAPE

Also known as "habitat photos", creating a birdscape can give a sense of belonging to your subject. Let's focus on incorporating the bird's habitat into your image this month.

July

PERCHED UP

One of the best ways to elevate your bird photography is by photographing your subject on a perfect perch. For this challenge, focus your efforts on finding that perfect branch, rock or log for your subject to perch up on.

August

THE GREAT FRAME UP

Every photo deserves a beautiful frame, but how well can you see framing while looking through the viewfinder? As bird photographers, we have SO many opportunities to leverage framing in our imagery.

September

SPLISH SPLASH

No matter the species, birds always have an interesting relationship with water. Foraging, bathing, or maybe it's just a reflection. Let's focus on capturing a bird interacting with water in some way this month.

October

FLOCK TOGETHER

More birds ALWAYS = more fun... Right? Let's focus on capturing 2 or more birds in an image this month! Use your creativity to capture an image of birds being birds together.

November

IN FLIGHT

It's our final challenge month! Let's end things on a high note (literally, see what I did there?) by photographing our feathered friends in flight!

December

Join the waitlist!

How it works

At the beginning of the challenge, you will get access to all 12 challenge briefs. Your image for any challenge does NOT have to be shot in the month of the assigned challenge brief, but it does have to be submitted before that month's deadline. All images MUST be shot during the year of the challenge.

Want additional details and to join our waitlist for 2026? Click the link below!