White wooden doors with painting of girl in red dress
CBWC,  Lens-Artists,  Photographing Public Art,  Street art,  Thursday Doors

Double dipping: a challenges overload!

When I started blogging almost eighteen months ago I had no idea that the blogosphere was full of challenges, and it took me some time to discover them. Once I did, I was hooked, and especially on photo challenges.

You see, I had started this blog with the aim of sharing my two passions, travel and photography. With travel not really possible at the time, I was reliant on my archives and my memories to provide the material. Photo challenges gave me interesting prompts that enabled me to see my archives in a new way, and to consider new photo projects as well.

I dipped into lots of challenges before settling on a handful that suited me best. I tend not to do those that ask for just one image (Last on the Card, Silent Sunday, Monochrome Monday); instead I prefer to showcase a selection of photos and/or link a challenge theme to my travel stories. Lens Artists suits me well, as does Sunday Stills, because the emphasis is on photography. Other challenges link to my enthusiasm for travel, such as Monday Walks and the Photographing Public Art challenge. Recently Iโ€™ve joined the team hosting Friendly Friday. Thatโ€™s a broader challenge which often provides opportunities to share my own enthusiasms through writing, photography or both.

So if I enjoy these challenges so much, why am I struggling a little with Tinaโ€™s suggestion that for this weekโ€™s Lens Artists post we โ€˜double dipโ€™, linking our images to multiple challenges? Maybe itโ€™s because I so rarely double up? Anyway, letโ€™s have a go at doing so now!

Street art on doors

You donโ€™t have to delve far into my blog to realise I like to photograph street art, and Iโ€™m a regular contributor to the Photographing Public Art challenge. Often that street art can be found on doors, so I can cheat a bit here and link to Thursday Doors too, a challenge I do only occasionally despite loving to photograph doors. Maybe this is triple dipping?!

My featured photo was taken in Londonโ€™s Shoreditch. The ones in the gallery below are all captioned with the location; just hover over the image to see that, or click on any one of them to open a captioned slideshow.

Flower power

I enjoy many of Ceeโ€™s challenges, including her Black and White one and โ€˜Fun Fotoโ€™ ones, which fit well with my preferred themes. But I only occasionally join her Flower of the Day, even though I often choose flowers as subjects. Thatโ€™s probably because itโ€™s a โ€˜one imageโ€™ challenge, which I’m less keen on as I mentioned above. But now I have an excuse to share several favourite flower shots at the same time!

Black and white containers

Ceeโ€™s Black and White challenge is one of my favourites. Last week it was all about containers. I didnโ€™t get around to posting at the time but as I love monochrome editing Iโ€™ve done a few to include in this post.

Black and white photo of a large planter with cactus in front of a wall

I’ve shared this planter in the Jardins Majorelle, Marrakesh, before, in its colour version; here it is now in monochrome. Both work well, I think.

Black and white photo of a basket hanging from a motorbike with a rooster in it

This motorbike in the small town of Pak Mong in northern Laos has a basket attached designed to carry a rooster. Cock fighting is a popular sport in these parts and most families own at least one. Between fights they are pampered but on fight day they are transported in these carriers and forced to compete. We may find this a brutal custom but to the locals it’s a natural form of entertainment and a useful source of supplementary income.

Black and white photo of three earthenware pots with cloth covers

In the Abbot’s Kitchen, Glastonbury Abbey. This is another image I’ve shared previously in colour and again, both versions work in my opinion.

Woman standing with several bags and bowls

This woman on Sal in the Cape Verde Islands has plenty of containers, both bags and bowls. These are the goods she hopes to sell at the local market.


So it seems I am able to double-dip after all! Maybe I should try more often to combine challenges and to respond to some of the many others out there that I am yet to try?

55 Comments

  • Oh, the Places We See

    This is double-dipping at its finest. I love all of these, especially the street art and the photo of the fighting cock in a basket on a bike. You have seen and captured much in your travels. Thanks for sharing so much of what you’ve seen with us.

  • Leya

    Thank you for a well planned and lovely chosen post! I love both colour and monochrome, and your portraits are always well done. The street art gorgeous!

  • Teresa

    Yay for double dippings Sarah. I am not usually into black and white images but your triple pots and the woman with container shots looks great to me.

  • Wind Kisses

    Well done. I admit your leading image was my favorite, but to repeat myself from a previous comment, I love your photos of people and how they tell a story all sherif own. Donna

  • photobyjohnbo

    I’ve seen the Thursday Doors challenge responses from some of the bloggers I follow, and on a rare occasion, I might have an example myself. I’ll have to keep that in mind when I’m posting the weekly challenge to “double-dip” with that topic on occasion.

  • SoyBend

    You found lots of options this week, Sarah!I like the flower photos in particular. I struggled with the challenge this week because the photos I had already edited, didn’t work with the various challenges. Double dipping is fun; I hope you’ll try it more often!

      • Marie

        We were in Luang Prebang for a few days -2009 -but didn’t really venture far from it – went to the waterfall … can’t remember the name ….and out on the river but spent the rest of the time around town as I recall. Loved it

        • Sarah Wilkie

          We didn’t get to the waterfall (it was that or the elephants at MandaLao, no time for both!) but we did spend a few days travelling north, partly on the river. It was one of the highlights of that trip, along with Luang Prabang itself which we loved!

  • Manja Maksimoviฤ

    Ahh, marvellous street art gallery. I love your pots better in b&w, as for the previous Marrakesh container, you cannot beat that blue & yellow combo. ๐Ÿ™‚ And the last lady is special too.

    • Sarah Wilkie

      Thank you Manja ๐Ÿ™‚ I think you’re probably right about that Marrakesh shot, the colours are so vibrant! Glad you like that final image – she is definitely better in monochrome, I wasn’t so happy with the original version!

  • pattimoed

    Great double dipping, Sarah, and great photos as always. I love your candid street shots. The rooster basket! That was a first. And I love the cat image, too. Your street art collection is fabulous, too. Rave reviews all around!

    • Sarah Wilkie

      Thanks so much Patti ๐Ÿ˜Š As you can imagine, that rooster carrier was a first for me too! We saw a few in that region but the others were all on the road and hard to photograph, so when I saw this one parked up I had to grab some shots!

  • Alison

    Great photos Sarah, I love the art on the doors, I am very similar to you with regards to challenges, I dip in and out and like to post more than one photo

  • Marsha

    I think you actually quadruple-dipped. I love it! I have actually started including a section in my WQW template with links of all the photo challenges I love to remind me to check each of them with I write my posts. Then I can update the link to the exact post before I publish. That allows me to do some of them ahead of time, if I know their topic. I try to link Sunday Stills and Lens Artists every week, though I’ve missed a few. It’s super hard to get to everyone when you write long posts for each one. So, I’m glad to see you dipping, Sarah. Keep up the good work.

    • Sarah Wilkie

      Thank you Marsha ๐Ÿ˜˜ I do try to at least draft some challenge posts ahead of time, when I know the topic, but I’ve been caught out a few times when it’s proved to be not quite what the title might suggest! It is hard to get around them all when I like to write quite long posts (you’d noticed!!) but it’s fun, and if necessary I’d rather skip the odd one than skimp on the others. Still, double-dipping seems like something I should try more often ๐Ÿ™‚

      • Marsha

        In some ways it is more work more of a challenge to see how you can weave various topics together. In the case of some, there is no topic, so they are easier to encorporate. I could probably put Jez’s topic of I’m a Fan of… with almost every post, but since he only posts that challenge once a week, I don’t want to add a link every few days, LOL. The other issue with double dipping is reading and commenting on the host’s post and possibly visiting some of the other contributors to that post. That all takes time in addition to creating you own post. So the more double dipping you do, the more commenting. That also means that your own base of readers grows, though. And that is the trade-off for the time spent. If you spend quality time writing, it’s good if it reaches a lot of eyes of people that will appreciate it. I hope all that makes sense.

        • Sarah Wilkie

          That does indeed all make sense Marsha, and I’m with you on all of it! In the end, I blog about things that interest me and that I want to share, that is travelling and photography. Many of the challenges help prompt me to explore new aspects of those topics, or remind of things I might not otherwise have thought of posting, or suggest new angles on how to approach things ๐Ÿ™‚ And as you say, they help grow my readership and also widen the circle of other bloggers whose posts I enjoy. It’s a win/win but it all takes time!

          • Marsha

            That is the truth! ๐Ÿ™‚ It’s a balancing act learning how to take it all in stride and have a life, too. ๐Ÿ™‚

  • Tina Schell

    Well sarah, not only did you prove you can double-dip, you did us one better with a triple-dip!!! Loved your response especially your triple-dipped street art on doors – very clever!! Thanks as always for your support of our challenge.

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