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 – March – Gray

The new challenge features Color Gray.

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 March 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. March 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 12 hours left before this challenge ends. (refresh)

Examples

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Entries

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  Fallen wasp nest
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  Sommerstemning på Vestlandet
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  Frescos by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, palazzo Labia, Venice, Italy
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  Varierte trinn utenfor Ado Arena i Bergen
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  Gråhegre i Nygårdsparken i Bergen
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  Winter fog over the Maschsee, Hannover
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  Seagulls at low tide, Lower Saxony
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  Course of the Berlin Wall
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  Stairs in Daikanbō Station, Japan
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  The Tokyo Skytree casting its shadow on the district below, Sumida
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  District Living in DC Tower 3, Vienna, designed by the architectural firm Dietrich Untertrifaller. The building complements the towers DC 1 and DC 2 and offers 832 apartments for temporary living
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  Path in Prague-Řepy with grey sky and rainbow, Czech Republic
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  Gravel
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  Grey sandstone of the Bastei, the major landmark in the Saxon Switzerland National Park.
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  Art Nouveau building in Munich, built between 1905 and 1907.
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  Loose corner on an empty billboard at a subway station in Ahrensburg, Germany
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  Two hooded crows search for insects among the seaweed washed up on the Baltic Sea beach, Germany
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  Head of a common wood pigeon
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  Grey heron sitting on its nest, Centre du Scamandre, Southern France
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  Cormorant drying its wings, Tralee Bay, Co. Kerry, Ireland.
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  The semi-transparent big bag has several piles of concrete pieces
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  Itanran Waya Iṣelọpọ
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  Dolphin painting at Pattaya
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  A bird on the trees in Fortaleza do Monte
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  Information desk at St. Paul's Ruins
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  Speaker being used since 2000s
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  The picture shows a vendor selling toys and ballons who has fasted for a whole day during the period of Ramzan and waitng for the sun to sen so that he can break his fast and take a meal after the tiring day
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  Fire pit at National Memorial on Vítkov Hill in Prague, Czech Republic
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  Statue of Jan Žižka at National Memorial on Vítkov Hill in Prague, Czech Republic
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  Condemned buildings in Plock, Poland.
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  A rainy Alley in Kyoto, Japan using the Bokeh Effect
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  La passerelle Léopold-Sédar-Senghor à Paris.
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  Birds flying in a cloudy sky
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  View from the Law Faculty Building in Sarajevo
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  Burnt roof of VEB Polygraph in Leipzig
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  The Lion of Lucerne (Löwendenkmal Luzern in German) is a monument in the Swiss city, designed by Bertel Thorvaldsen and sculpted by Lukas Ahorn in the two-year period 1820-1821.
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  Graffity in the abandoned power plant of Piraeus, Greece
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  Survey Marker by Salmon River in Humboldt County, California, USA
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  Buntes Treiben, Musik & Lebensfreude - auf grauem Grund
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  Public housing projects in Poland
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  Public housing projects in Poland
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  Picture of church
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  Tail of storm Gerrit over the Langweerderwiels in 25 seconds. (Long exposure photography).
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  Heavy gray rain clouds hid the sunset by the Aegean Sea, Greece
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  Grey Cat on a grey outdoor kitchen in Pukalani, Hawai'i
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  Grey walls, floor and rope, Hamburg, Germany
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  Grey house front in Chalon-sur-Saone, France
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  Grey chair at Museum Unter Tage, Bochum, Germany
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  WWII antiaircraft bunker Wilhelmsburg, Hamburg, Germany
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  Smog in Yekaterinburg
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  Airport railway station in Kazan
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  A pigeon
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  Moscow-Sheremetyevo Terminal F
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  Wildenberg Castle in Zernez. Stone bench.
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  Gray Sky and MASP
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  Estádio do Caninde 2
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  A mosquito corpse on the desktop of gray leisure wood desk
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  The long-lost eagle of the 9th Legion
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  Juvenile snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus) in snowfall in Québec, Canada
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  Lagoon in the twilight, archipelago of Magdalen Islands in Canada
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  Grilho em folhagem
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  Gray clouds over Lake Starnberg
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  Gray head of a greater rhea ('Rhea americana) in the Südliche Weinstraße Wildlife Park
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  Gray pavement laid as segmental arches in shed form
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  Gray espresso cup with amaretto
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  Snowy trees on a gray day
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  Note: The photo was already uploaded on March 9, 2015
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  The Cankarjev dom building in Ljubljana
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  Lac de la Patinoire, Vanoise National Park, summer
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  Garden Lizard in Sand
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  Fishing in sea
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  Wildenberg Castle in Zernez. Stone fountain.
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  The grey ghost - Montagu's harrier
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  Hassan II Mosque Casablanca Morocco
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  winter hike
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  Drei sichern den Luftraum für den "Lütten" der Familie
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  Gray marble plaque on the rear side of Padua City Hall showing former Italian colonial empire.
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  Dhikr in Ramadan
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  Writing in the dust of a roller shutter.
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  Ceiling in a food court, Eden shopping center, Prague, Czechia
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  Prägung über Geschichte im Bad Schlema, Erzgebirgskreis 2H1A7593WI
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  Decrepit sign for the former Salem, VA water filtration plant
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  The reflection of the far shore/tree line of a lake at sunset
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  The Roanoke, VA Mill Mountain Star on a foggy night
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  Partially gray cat lounging in a sunbeam from a window
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  Fishermen in the fog.
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  Elbe at Brná
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  Una ragnatela tubolare di ragno, fra le radici di una quercia
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  house in Charleroi.
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  Paesaggio alpino
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  Nebbia in Riviera del Brenta, Dolo, Italia
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  Carved stone piers in the Twin-Minarets Madrasa, Erzurum, Turkey
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  Telecommunication tower in Prague, Czech Republic
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  An icy wind blows over the Put van Nederhorst (wind force 9 at -2 ° C). Through the splashing water ice deposit on tree stump and branches.
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  Plaque, Giorgio Morandi's studio, Bologna, Italy
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  Lion. Location, Chinese garden, the Hidden Realm of Ming in the Hortus Haren in the Netherlands.
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  Cape Zanpa's Light
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  Cat in a Cat Cafe
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  Zanpa Lighthouse
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  Chimney of the University Institute of Mental Health in Quebec City, Canada.
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  BPS22, museum in Charleroi. "Between light gray and dark gray, there is always light."
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  Auf einer Plancha marinierte Miesmuscheln
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  Grey Lake at Torres del Paine National Park, Chile.
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  A large berg floats on a dull gray day at the Grey Lake in Torres del Paine, Chile.
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  A dull gray day at the Grey Glacier at Torres del Paine National Park in Chile.
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  Buffalo at Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
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  Building at Levant Mine, Cornwall
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  Glacier Point View of Half Dome at Sunset at Yosemite National Park, Calfornia
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  Donnington Castle, England
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  Sieben graue Köpfe
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  Baumstruktur am Strand von Jekyll Island
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  Snowy moutains of Valle Imagna
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  Valle Imagna in the clouds
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  Steinwand in La Caleta auf Teneriffa mit Blick auf den Atlantik
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  Sonmarg
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  Sonmarg
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  Ufa, the mansion of Buhartovskie
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  Boreholes in a blasted block in a quarry
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  The heavy cloudy over Tamsui river left bank sky
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  Snowy Qixing mountain
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  Foggy and chilly mountain scenery outside Hualien station
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  Cork - bark in Portugal
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  The rock of Gibraltar - as seen thru the mist
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  Sailing by Gibraltar
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  Scree slope at the Pizzo Carbonara, Sicily, Italy
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  Grey ribbed vault, Exeter Cathedral St. Peter, UK
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  Sperbereule (Surnia ulula) IMG 7704WI
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  Trees and shrubs are reflected in a small pond in the Majorelle Gardens in Marrakesch
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  It's raining outside
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  Cloudy sky over the beach in Warnemünde
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  Walkers on the sun-drenched bridge in Mostar
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  Kreuzer "Aurora" in St. Petersburg. Крейсер "Аврора" в Санкт-Петербурге 2H1A4609WI
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  Banded gneiss
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  Sunset over La Gomera
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  Zahmer Kaiser north face
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  Fraueninsel island in Chiemsee lake
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  Olympiaturm in Munich
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  Reflection of clouds
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  Church of the Jesuit College
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  Canary Islands Grey Shrike
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  Ringeltaube, Columba palumbus 2H1A9471WI
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  A ceiling in Riddarholmen Church
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  Public toilet in Rostock, Germany
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  Mariott Hotel in the Bundesviertel in Bonn
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  A mast of the USS Massachusetts from below
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  A 1937 Oldsmobile Model L37 club coupe at the RE Olds Museum in Lansing, Michigan.
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  A Leaf imprint on a concrete sidewalk during a rainy day
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  Naples Pier in the Fog
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  Outside the window
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  Mannequin
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  Bolshevik
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  Светильник
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  Мотор Chopper Bike 250cc.jpg North Macedonia
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  At the edge of the glacier Nigardsbreen, Norway
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  two stone sculptures in a backyard in Palermo
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  A skylight that has become foggy over the years
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  Sculpture of the horseman, the ancient Macedonian king Philip II, North Macedonia
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  A storm is brewing with heavy rain clouds, North Macedonia
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  Vergangene Schönheit
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  Funghi Coprinopsis melanthina nel terreno in un giardino all'interno del Parco naturale Regionale di Bracciano-Martignano
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  risto Blanco statue in Cuzco, Peru.
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  North sea beach at Sankt Peter Ording with black lumps washed ashore
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  The breakwater at the end of the Cobb in Lyme Regis, Dorset, England
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  Pebbles at the Portland end of Chesil Beach in Dorset, England
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  The beach at Perranporth against the sun
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  Reflections - Shyok River
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  Grays underground in a cave on Mallorca
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  Grays underground in a cave on Mallorca
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  Historischer Grenzstein an der Bayerisch/Hessischen Landesgrenze
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  Historischer Grenzstein an der Bayerisch/Hessischen Landesgrenze
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  Historischer Grenzstein an der Bayerisch/Hessischen Landesgrenze
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  Silver Gray-Vizag beach-India
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  The grays of ancient times
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  The grays of ancient times
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  Eléphant
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  Nuages Gris
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  Tourterelle à collier
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  Briques Pilier
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  Climbing wall, Tokyo, Japan
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  Christ the Redeemer on the Corcovado mountain at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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  Grigi di Roma: i Sanpietrini, la tipica fontanella nasone e i piccioni
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  Atmosfera di grigio cielo e di acqua, Lago di Bracciano
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  A gray stone Presbyterian Church on a cloudy day
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  The GRAY-te samurai warlord, Todo Takatora (1556-1630), on a misty day at Imabari Castle, Japan
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  A foggy road
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  Snowy trees in winter
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  Mount Shakushi, Japan
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  Suburban Belgrade
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  Suburban Belgrade
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  Grey cat
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  The Devil's Bridge in the Vasilevo Estate
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  Juvenile Zebra Dove in the morning
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  Nosarara Nosabatutu Tower in Palu - South Sulawesi at dawn
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  dark clouds in the sky at Hong Kong
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  Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy, New York
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  Celebration of the Patron Saint of Firework Makers in Tultepec, Mexico
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  People walking on the beach in California
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  Maryhill Stonehenge in winter
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  To submit pictures please follow this link

2024 – March – Courthouse

The new challenge features Courthouses.

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 March 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. March 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 12 hours left before this challenge ends. (refresh)

Examples

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Entries

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  Gulating lagmannsrett og Festplassen i Bergen
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  Inside Salisbury, Engpand guildhall]
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  Steinernes Wappenschild "Hessisches Amtsgericht" des ehemaligen Amtsgerichts Ober-Ingelheim in Ingelheim am Rhein (Rheinland-Pfalz)
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  District of Columbia Court of Appeals
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  Gulating lagmannsrett i Bergen
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  Lagos City Mall
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  Buildings Along Race Course Lagos
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  Cloud, Wire and Electric Pole
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  Embroidery on Cloth
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  The cloud, moon and tree at night
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  Fine Wire Embroidery
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  Supreme People's Court in Beijing
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  Soon being used as Court building again
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  County magistrate in ancient China
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  Court building of Constitutional Court of Korea
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  Ceiling at the Fitzgerald Tent
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  Hamburg-Harburg district court
• Fara Filliorum, Abruzzo, Italy
  Fara Filliorum, Abruzzo, Italy
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  Мещанский районный суд. Москва.
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  Hamburg-Harburg district court
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  Palace of Justice in Prague, Czech Republic
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  Palace of Justice and fountain, Prague, Czech Republic
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  Local court Swakopmund, Namibia
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  Palazzo di Guistizia with Courte di Cassazione at river Tiber, Rome, Italy
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  German Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court) Karlsruhe, Germany
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  Local district court Speyer view from the Willy Brandt square
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  Local district court Speyer view from Gutenbergstrasse
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  Chur in Graubünden. Courthouse in Chur.
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  Amtsgericht Hamburg-Harburg
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  Municipal Court in Prague, Czech Republic
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  Municipal Court in Prague and fountain with Saint Joseph column, Czech Republic
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  The old courthouse of Passos-MG/Brazil
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  Amtsgericht Hamburg-Harburg
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  Amtsgericht Nordenham
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  Langweer. Voorm. right house Doniawerstal Buorren 1. (National Monument).
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  Amtsgerichtsgebäude Aue- Bad Schlema, Erzgebirgskreis 2H1A5375WI
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  Amtsgerichtsgebäude Aue- Bad Schlema, Erzgebirgskreis 2H1A5434WI
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  Das Land- und Amtsgericht in Zwickau 2H1A2356WI
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  Das Land- und Amtsgericht in Zwickau 2H1A2342WI
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  Fórum Milton Campos, Jequitinhonha , Brasil
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  Fórum Doutor Antônio Peixoto, João Monlevade, Brasil
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  Palace of Justice in Antwerp, Belgium
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  National monument. Former courthouse in Hattem.
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  Gebäude des Bundesverwaltungsgerichtes
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  Tushnov House, Arbitration Court of the Republic of Bashkortostan since 2010
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  Tushnov House, Arbitration Court of the Republic of Bashkortostan since 2010
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  Tetbury Old Courthouse with Pride Flag
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  Cardiff Crown Court with Union Jack
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  Security service also in front of the side entrance to the Paris Palace of Justice
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  The main entrance to the French Palace of Justice in Paris
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  The Paris Palace of Justice next to "Sainte Chapelle" (Sacred Chapel)
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  The entrance of the palace of justice in Paris near La Chapelle
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  Ort der Nürnberger Prozesse
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  Leninsky District Court of Ufa with a paddy wagon in front of it
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  Tower of courthouse of Paris, France
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  Amtsgericht Oldenburg
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  Main entrance to the Palacio de Justicia (Lima)
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  Justizpalast in Gent, Belgien
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  Palais de justice de Paris
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  Palazzo di Giustizia di Roma
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  Osage County Courthouse, Pawhuska, Oklahoma (front view)
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  Osage County Courthouse, Pawhuska, Oklahoma (oblique view)
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  Oakland County Courthouse, Pontiac, Michigan
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  Rensselaer County Courthouse, Troy, New York
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  Albany County Courthouse, Albany, New York
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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.

February 2024

• Lunar/Lunisolar New Year
• Knot

Previous challenges

January 2024

• Silo ->

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

• Mask ->

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