Commons:Photo challenge

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.

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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

Choose one or all of the current challenges
Read the challenge description(s), which may vary in their rules (e.g., some place restrictions on when the photos are taken)
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)
Upload your picture(s) during the challenge period
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.
Do not sign your submission(s)
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 – October – Freight cars

The new challenge features freight cars.

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 October 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. October 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 21 days 2 hours left before this challenge ends. (refresh)

Examples

{Osun shrine}}

Submit your photos

Tateyama Cable Car, Japan. The train consists of one freight car (in the foreground of the photo) and one passenger car.
Freight train near Eltmann
Freight car at Turku railway station
Грузовые поезда в России 2H1A5481WI
modern SNCF (French National Railway Company) train stopped at a station platform.
modern SNCF (French National Railway Company) train stopped at a station platform.
Une locomotive de type 060-DN-313 tracte des wagons de passagers de la ville d'El R'Dief à la ville de Métlaoui.
Des wagons de transport de phosphate sont stationnés à la gare de Métlaoui,Sud Tunisien.
Des wagons de transport de phosphate sont stationnés à la gare de Gafsa,Sud Tunisien.
Various parked freight cars, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA.
Parked red boxcar, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA.
Intermodal containers on flat cars, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA.
Tavaravaunut
Tavaravaunu
A Freight Car in Kolkata
Открытая грузовая платформа
Шасси типа Chanin для железнодорожных грузовых вагонов.
Современный вагон для перевозки грузов.
Современный вагон для перевозки грузов.
A passenger car on the Georgetown Loop Railroad in Colorado
Trem em Campos do Jordão no ano de 2021
VLT, Rio de Janeiro
Old Train Car, Uruguay, December 2023
Train Car, New York City subway
rusty skeleton car
Talbot bulk goods wagon, Behringersmühle. Fleet of the Frankenschweiz Museum Railway (Fränkische Schweiz steam railway)
old forgotten in field
Taganrog. Station "Taganrog-2"
Old gravel wagon of the former German national Railway system
Freight car for the transport of sea fish, Deutsche Reichsbahn, Magdeburg, Germany
Freight train wagon in Poland
Freight train wagon
Wagon - Muzeum Stutthof w Sztutowie
Ballast Car at Su'aoxin station
Грузовые поезда в России 2H1A5601WI
Грузовые поезда в России 2H1A5509WI
Грузовые поезда в России 2H1A5430WI
Old freight cars near Lake Doirani, Greece
Train de la baie de Somme
Freight cars of Tateyama Erosion Control Train, Japan. The line uses 610 mm narrow gauge.
Freight from a train in rural Iowa
New wagon ready to start it's journey
Assembly train at the construction site of the new Nuremberg-Ebensfeld line
JR Freight, Japan
Wasco tank wagon at Oldenburg, Germany.
Stanchion wagon at Harpstedt, Germany.
Hopper wagons at Oldenburg, Germany.
Maintenance train at Großenkneten, Germany.
Oil train
Old 5-ton railway crane
Narrow gauge railway in Sardinia
Retired covered wagons on display
Rajdhani Express train from the 1990s

Rajdhani Express train from the 1990s
Freight by plane
Chile Andes Train
To submit your photos please click here

2025 – October – Dyeing

The new challenge features Dyeing.

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 October 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. October 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 21 days 2 hours left before this challenge ends. (refresh)

Examples

Entries

Submit your photos

Tanneries. Large open-air vats of color dyes with tannery workers amongst them in Fez
Tanneries. Large open-air vats of color dyes with tannery workers amongst them in Fez
In a greenhouse, flowers are grown to make natural dyes.
Not quite
Goat skins are hand dyed in this tannery
Oldest dyeing workshop in Darb al-Ahmar, Cairo Egypt
Footpath Painting in Howrah City, India
Dyeing wooden baskets
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.

September 2025

2025 – September – Bricks

2025 – September – Gold

Previous challenges

August 2025

**Home interiors: Entries • Votes • Scores**
Rank	1	2	3
image
Title	Time to milk the cows.	Old style Chinese decoration	Contemporary blue and white bathroom
Author	Magnolia677	Pauloleong2002	OKJaguar
Score	10	9	7

**Bark: Entries • Votes • Scores**
Rank	1	2	3
image			File:200130 D 9059.CR2.jpg
Title	Andrews Mare, Lyndhurst, New Forest, Hampshire, England, UK	Willow trees on the bank of the river Windrush at Witney, Oxfordshire, UK	Tree on Lake Gunn Nature Walk in Fiordland National Park in Southland on South Island of New Zealand
Author	JoanaImages	Scampz	Karel Stipek Austria
Score	17	14	10

July 2025

**Waterside structures: Entries • Votes • Scores**
Rank	1	2	3
image
Title	De Adriaan Windmill in Haarlem, Netherlands	Seen on a tour of Norfolk Harbor, these massive dockside cranes will work on naval vessels.	Blick von der 580 Meter hohen Steilklippe „Cabo Girao“ auf die am Ufer liegenden Terrassenfelder in der Nähe der Ortschaft Câmara de Lobos auf Madeira.
Author	JoanaImages	JoannaPoe	Otto Domes
Score	15	14	13

**Vending machines: Entries • Votes • Scores**
Rank	1	2	3
image
Title	Selecta vending machine in Chavannes-de-Bogis, Switzerland.	Ticket machines in the concourse of Nuremberg Central Station	Sake, øl og whisky i byen Fuji i Japan.
Author	W8Kp3mZr1j	Ermell	Odd Roar Aalborg
Score	11	8	6

June 2025

**One stands out: Entries • Votes • Scores**
Rank	1	2	3
image
Title	One purple Tulip surrounded by a few white Tulips.	Flamingos, one shakes itself after a bath, Parc Ornithologique de Pont de Gau, Camargue, France	a goose surrounded by ducks
Author	MikeBurnsPhotos	Mozzihh	Chrissieminton
Score	17	15	11

**Steam: Entries • Votes • Scores**
Rank	1	2	3
image
Title	Treno a vapore nella stazione di Pontassive in occasione della Befana	Sinter terraces full of steam in the morning sun, Lower Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park	Vasca e sorgenti di acqua calda sulfurea al Parco della Mola di Oriolo Romano
Author	Repuli	Lusi Lindwurm	Albarubescens
Score	13	10	8

May 2025

**Flowers: Entries • Votes • Scores**
Rank	1	2	3
image
Title	Sunflower field in Burgundy	Waterlily	Hasenglöckchen eingerahmt
Author	Ibex73	Peterdownunder	Englandfan~commonswiki
Score	12	8	8

**Flags: Entries • Votes • Scores**
Rank	1	2	3
image
Title	Rettungsschwimmer im Parque Natural de Corralejo, Fuerteventura	Flag of Namibia on an airplane winglet	Paracadutista della Brigata Folgore con bandiera italiana sopra Livorno
Author	Fischer1961	Mozzihh	Marcxosm
Score	18	7	5

April 2025

**Meadows: Entries • Votes • Scores**
Rank	1	2	3
image
Title	A hill dream	Sunset over a green meadow with forest in foreground and layered mountain silhouettes in the distance, under a glowing orange sky.	Fioritura a Castelluccio di Norcia. Italia
Author	Anna.Massini	Martinovmejl	Repuli
Score	14	12	9

**Camelidae: Entries • Votes • Scores**
Rank	1	2	3
image
Title	Camel at toni's zoo - B&W	Kamel am Strand in Ägypten.	Ägyptische Motive mit Kamel. Strand des Grand Makadi Hotels am Roten Meer.
Author	Roy Egloff	Kora27	Kora27
Score	16	11	10

March 2025

**Hiking: Entries • Votes • Scores**
Rank	1	1	3
image
Title	Silhouette of a female hiker in front of the Massif du Mont-Blanc	A hiker on the last meters before reaching the summit of the Schneespitze in the Stubai Alps	A picture of three people hiking the path called "Dragon's Back" in Brecon, Wales. Taken by Lauren Moon in June of 2024.
Author	Stephan Sprinz	Milseburg	Lighting-design-lila
Score	15	15	11

**Newspapers: Entries • Votes • Scores**
Rank	1	2	3
image
Title	Newspapers are living history	Newspaper reader in Naples, Italy	Rolled up newspaper delivered to a home in Redan, Victoria.
Author	Sindugab	Mozzihh	Peterdownunder
Score	14	12	10

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

Formal things

Table of contents

New media viewing experience

Challenges open for submission

2025 – October – Freight cars

Examples

{Osun shrine}}

2025 – October – Dyeing

Examples

Entries

Challenges open for voting

September 2025

Previous challenges

August 2025

July 2025

June 2025

May 2025

April 2025

March 2025

February 2025

January 2025

Previous years