In 2025, I did something new: test a lot of gear. Not only was it interesting work, but I also got to stock up on some items that I probably wouldn’t have tried otherwise, like an 85mm lens. However, going forward, I’ll be testing a lot less gear. Why is that?
Photography Life
One of our favorite and longest running traditions in Click Community is our forum photo contest, offering you a glimpse into the extraordinary talent and creativity of Click Community members.
The theme of our November/December contest was “bokeh” and members were encouraged to enter their favorite photo representing this theme.
Congratulations to Nicole Ball for her winning image (above)! Nicole won a self paced course of her choice from Click Photo School.
You can win, too! Enter our current forum photo contest by February 28th, 2026 with your favorite image representing the theme “black and white” for a chance to be featured here on the Click Community Blog, published in an upcoming issue of Click magazine, and win a self paced course of your choice! Not a member? Join at theclickcommunity.com!
But first, please enjoy this collection of some of our favorite and inspiring images from this contest:
Would you like to see your work featured on the Click Community blog, published in Click magazine, and even have a chance to win a self guided course (of your choice!) at Click Photo School?
If you’re not yet a member of Click Community, we’d LOVE to have you come join us! As a member, you get access to photography tutorials, video demos, Q&A threads, image critiques, photo challenges and contests like this one, and so much more! Become a member today!
The post Through the Blur: Announcing the Bokeh Photo Contest Collection appeared first on Click Community Blog: Helping you take better pictures one day at a time.
Click Community Blog: Helping you take better pictures one day at a time
In our latest video, which we published earlier this week, you could travel to snow-covered Europe and join me as I searched for the world’s northernmost population of chamois. And now I am already working on another video, in which I will take you directly to the South American equator in the middle of the mountain cloud forest of the eastern Andes. There, I will introduce you to one of the strangest ducks in the world – the Torrent Duck.
Photography Life
We tend to think of the Amazon rainforest as the moist, fresh-green lungs of our planet. An endless ecosystem constantly nourished by life-giving rain, threaded with thousands of rivers, oxbow lakes, and lagoons. This image of the Amazon as a place with a more or less stable, humid climate held true for millions of years. Unfortunately, extreme weather swings are becoming increasingly common in this cradle of biodiversity beneath the world’s longest mountain range.
Photography Life
Good bokeh on a lens is a bit complicated. It might seem like you can just take a portrait with a blown-out background, and if it looks good, then the lens you’re using must have good bokeh. But the truth is a bit more complicated than that.
Photography Life