At the beginning of April, Unleashed Education released a free photo challenge called Grid Games for anyone who wanted to join. Participants had two weeks to photograph their pet, edit the image, and submit it.

This challenge was designed to give photographers an inside look at how the Embark challenges are set up.

Embark is made up of 12 challenges that must be completed within a six month period. You get two weeks for each challenge, and every brief is designed to make you think carefully about your choices.

You are given specific instructions to follow, and if your image does not meet the brief, it will be disqualified. I learned that the hard way during one of my Embark challenges when I was supposed to use natural light but used off camera flash instead.

After each challenge ends, Charlotte Reeves and Craig Turner-Bullock review every image and provide detailed video feedback. Some of those videos have been over three hours long, and honestly, every second has been worth watching.

You do not just learn from your own mistakes. You learn from everyone else's feedback too, and that has been incredibly valuable.

The challenge theme for Grid Games was Rule of Thirds. The goal was to capture an image of your pet using the rule of thirds, with composition created in camera and as little cropping as possible.

Here is the final image I created for the challenge:

When I signed up for this challenge, I already knew I would only have two days to complete it. Did that stop me? Of course not. Nothing like a little pressure to get the creative juices flowing 😂

The brief came out on April 3rd, and I was traveling on April 5th. I was not going to be back before the challenge ended. Technically, I could have photographed it on the 3rd or 4th and edited it later during the two week window, but there was one major problem. I had access to my laptop while traveling, but not my monitor. If you have read some of my other Embark blogs, you already know I had been struggling with color issues while editing, and it was incredibly frustrating.

After Embark ended, I spoke with Charlotte and she advised me to invest in a good monitor. Laptops are known for not always displaying accurate color, even when calibrated.

I took her advice, and the difference was night and day. At first I was confused because both my laptop and monitor were calibrated the same, yet the colors looked shockingly different. On top of that, the amount of detail I could see on my new monitor compared to my laptop was incredible.

Because of that, I now rely completely on my monitor for editing. The downside is that I cannot edit the way I used to while traveling, which meant I truly only had two days to shoot the image, edit it, and pack for my trip. No stress at all, right? 😂

The weather could not decide whether it was winter or spring, and many of the trees were still bare. Thankfully, dog photography only needs a small area to work with, and I did manage to find a nice location.

The problem was that I became fixated on a beautiful path I wanted to include in the image. I was trying to force it, even though it clearly was not working. The background was messy, which should have been my first warning sign. My angle was also wrong because my husky's head was farther away from me, but I kept going anyway. Then I decided to place a flash on the path aimed toward the camera just to try something creative. I did not like the result.

At that point I gave up on the path, but I still kept the angle. Of course, my husky also kept looking the opposite direction I wanted him to. With rule of thirds, that would have placed him on the left side of the frame looking back and out of the photo. That would have made the image feel unbalanced because everything would have been weighted left, leaving the right side with no real purpose.

Finally, I took my dog's cue. Since he was determined to look left, I changed both my position and his. The moment I got back down to shoot, I realized this was the angle I wanted all along. A few shots later, I captured the image you see at the top of this post. Funny how often the best solution comes right after you stop forcing the wrong one.

The feedback video was divided into two categories: newcomer and veteran. Newcomers were photographers who had never taken part in the challenges before. Since I had completed Embark, I was placed in the veteran category. There were 158 total participants: 83 newcomers and 75 veterans.

The judges loved my dog's expression and described it as wild and wolf-like. They felt the environment suited him perfectly. They said the dog was placed nicely on the rule of thirds intersection, and that the curved composition works well and feels balanced in this shot.

They explained that:

1) The dog was standing three-quarter toward the camera, creating energy that moved downward and toward the side his body was facing.

2) His head was prominent, which pushed the viewer back into the image toward the interesting texture of the tree trunk.

They also said the photo would not have felt balanced without that trunk on the left side. They loved the muted palette, thought it fit the story well, and felt the dog was placed nicely within the frame.

The judges mentioned a slight masking issue on the left side of the dog, and they felt the back left foot may have been darkened a little too much, which made it look muddy.

That kind of feedback is one of the reasons these challenges are so valuable. It pinpoints exactly what you need to improve and work on.

I was very pleased with the feedback. This image placed Top 20 out of 75 veterans, and considering how quickly I had to pull everything together, I feel that is a huge accomplishment.

It showed me that my technique is improving with every photo I take. It also reminded me that practice really does lead to progress, and the more you practice, the faster and more confident you become.

I also learned, yet again, that trying to force a vision usually delays you from finding an even better shot than the one you originally imagined. I need to remind myself of that during every shoot. 😂

For anyone debating whether to invest in a professional monitor for design or photography, I absolutely encourage it. It has been life changing for me.

The monitor I use, and absolutely love, is the BenQ PhotoVue SW272U 27-inch 4K HDR Monitor, which I purchased from B&H Photo. And here is a little tip: if you are ordering from B&H, call them instead of ordering online. They are incredibly knowledgeable, very helpful, and if you politely ask whether they can offer a discount, you might be surprised. So far, I have managed to get the price reduced every time I asked.