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

2025 – March – Hiking

The new challenge features Hiking.

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 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 1 days 14 hours left before this challenge ends. (refresh)

Examples

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Entries

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  En utsikt på en fottur rundt Storavatnet i Gjerstad på Osterøy.
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  Mountain hike from Sapün (1600 meters) to Medergen (2000 meters) ln Graubünden. The largest canton in Switzerland.
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  Hiking in Appenzell Innerrhoden with dog and walking sticks
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  hiking at Marble Mountains, Da Nang, Vietnam
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  Trail at Lantau Island (look down from Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car)
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  hiking at Lantau Island at April 2023
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  hiking in Lingnan Phoenix Park, Gaozhou, Guangdong Province, China
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  hiking near the Matterhorn
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  Hiking trail in the nature reserve of Pupplinger Au in Bavaria
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  Hiking trail in the nature reserve of Pupplinger Au in Bavaria
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  Hiking trail in the nature reserve of Pupplinger Au in Bavaria
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  Vindfull og våt sommertur i Fagerdalen på Osterøy.
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  On the trail of the Słowiński National Park, Poland
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  Seagulls walk along the Baltic Sea beach
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  Solitary Hike in the Bug Valley; Drohiczyn, Poland
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  Hiking tour through the Nałęczów region; Poland
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  Resting feet after a long hike
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  Lonesome hiker, Ilha Deserta, Faro, Portugal
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  Hiking up Scheteligfjellet, Brøggerhalvøya, Svalbard, Norway
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  Hikers below the summit of Monte Scorluzzo, Stelvio National Park, Italy
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  Morteratsch Glacier ice cave in Pontresina, Switzerland
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  Foot Trail with Blaze Marker in the Catskill Mountains, New York State
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  Foot Trail Blaze Marker in the Catskill Mountains, New York State
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  Worn-out hiking boots in the shop window of a cobbler in Belgium
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  Group of hiking pensioners with walking sticks all check the hiking route on their mobile phones, Sachsenwald, Germany
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  Hiker on a hiking trail in South Tyrol, Italy
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  Signposts on hiking trail in South Tyrol only for those with a head for heights
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  Sign announcing the Hondjin Health Center in the Toviklin and Lalo Health Zone in Benin
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  Plaque indicating the village of Doko Atchanviguémè in Toviklin in the couffo in Benin
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  Plaque indicating the village of Tokanmè-Montou of Adjahonmè in Benin
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  A picture of three people hiking the path called "Dragon's Back" in Brecon, Wales. Taken by Lauren Moon in June of 2024.
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  Hiking in the fog Roztocze Poland
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  A walk along the beach of the Baltic Sea Ustka
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  Hiking on the beach in the Baltic Sea Ustka
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  Walking along the Baltic Sea Ustka beach
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  Hikers on the Via Alpina Red Trail, R26 (trail 102) in the Tre Cime di Lavaredo region of the Dolomites
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  Hiker in the Damüls mountains
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  Hikers sit next to the summit cross of the Glatthorn
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  Hikers in the Kleinwalsertal
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  Hiking trail in Mt. Jilong and Jiufen town landscape in Ruifang Dist., New Taipei City
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  Hiking crowd on the trail at Mt. Jilong
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  A man walking into the fog on the Hrubý Jeseník mountains (Czech Republic)
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  A wadlopen guide in the Noordpolderzijl area (Groningen, Netherlands).
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  A couple walking towards a pilgrimage shrine (Sacro Monte della Beata Vergine del Soccorso - Ossuccio (Tremezzina), CO, Italy).
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  People hiking around the Rifugio Parafulmine (Gandino, BG, Italy) on a cloudy day.
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  Kozí hřbety ("Goat backs") in the Giant Mountains, Czech Republic
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  Kozí hřbety ("Goat backs") in the Giant Mountains, Czech Republic
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  Schustler's Way through the Úpa peat bog with a view of the Sněžka mountain in the Giant Mountains, Czech Republic
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  View of the Katla Volcano while on a hike at the Dyrhólaey Nature Preserve in Iceland
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  Snowshoe hiking near Sonthofen, Bavaria, D
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  Hiking with donkeys below Col de la Tribale, Cévennes, F
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  Hiking crosscountry, Cévennes, F
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  Coast trail near Lescogan, Bretagne, F
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  A hiking guidepost with different destinations and trails.
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  Going down from the top of the Tatra Mountains
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  Trail to the Hala Gąsienicowa in Tatra Mountains
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  TOPR rescue operation on a trail from Kasprowy to Gąsienicowa Valley
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  View to the Świnica mountain from Czerwone Wierchy
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  A pair of heavily branded Mount Fuji hiking sticks exposed to a stiff breeze at the 7th Station.
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  Brand being applied to wooden Mount Fuji hiking stick at the 7th Station, Mount Fuji, Japan.
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  Scenery of the fern forest near the summit of Mount Karang, Banten
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  Forest Path
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  Winterwanderung. Friedensglocke auf dem Fichtelberg im Erzgebirge, Sachsen.
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  Moselgebiet bei Bremm (Mosel) in Rheinland-Pfalz.
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  A man stand on the ridge of mountain above the cloud, Mount Sindoro, Central Java
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  Escursione al Parco delle Cascate di Fosso Castello a Chia, passaggio attraverso una via etrusca
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  Sentieri sul Monte Rocca Romana all'interno del Parco Naturale Regionale di Bracciano-Martignano
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  Tourist path to the Sněžka mountain, Karpacz, Poland
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  Wandern im Findlingspark Nochten, Sachsen.
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  Tag der Sachsen 2013 in Schwarzenberg, Erzgebirgskreis.
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  Erlebnisklettersteig Simmswasserfall, Holzgau, Elbigenalp, Österreich
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  Hiking on Devil's Garden Trail, in Arches National Park (Utah, USA)
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  Stellisee and Matterhorn, Switzerland
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  Hiking in Vanoise National Park_2024
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  Hiking in Vanoise National Park_2024
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  Dunas de Maspalomas, Spanien, Gran Canaria
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  Ausblick vom Risco de Famara, Lanzarote, Spanien
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  Winterwanderung im Naturpark Habichtswald bei Kassel, Deutschland
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  Footpath sign at the southwest coast path in New Polzeath at the Camel Estuary, Cornwall, England
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  Footpath Hannaburrow Lane in Saunton, North Devon, England
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  South West Coast path crossing Rocky Valley in Cornwall, England
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  South West Coast Path at Lizard Point, Cornwall
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  GR10 near Lac d'Oô in commune of Oô, Haute-Garonne, France
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  GR10 near Lac d'Oô in commune of Oô, Haute-Garonne, France
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  Lac d'Oô in commune of Oô, Haute-Garonne, France
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  Lac d'Espingo in commune of Oô, Haute-Garonne, France
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  Two kids resting during a hike on the Alps
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  Different sizes of hiking shoes
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  Sac de randonnée posé au pied d'un cairn sur le parcours français du Tour du Mont Blanc
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  A coastal view of the mountains on the Otter Trail, South Africa
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  The Guano Cave on the first day of the Otter Trail, South Africa
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  A view of some steps marking a path along the Otter Trail, South Africa
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  A view of mountains and a river through the Otter Trail, South Africa
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  Hikers on the Dolomites panorama trail on the Plose
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  hollow way
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  Something interesting on the route
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  Pilgrim on the Vadiniense Way, Spain
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  Hiker on the Cares Trail, Spain
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  Hikers in the Picos de Europa, Spain
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  Pilgrim on the Vadiniense Way, Spain
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  Hiking on Liufu Trail at Mt. Wujiutong in Luzhu Dist., Taoyuan City
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  Ukrainian botanist Volodymyr Kyyak walking on the Mt Pozhyzhevska
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  Group of the climbers on the Mt Hoverla in Ukraine, Jan 24 2009
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  Short break in climbing Mt Hoverla in Ukraine, Jan 24 2009
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  Hiking on Gebroulaz glacier
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  Hiking in Vanoise National Park
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  Picnic of trekkers - view east from Snowdon Peak
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  View of trekking and Llanberis from Snowdon peak
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  Picnic of trekkers - view North-East from Snowdon peak
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  View of trekkers from Snowdon peak
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  Mountains near Snowdon, with trekkers seen on top of ridge
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  Valley view near Snowdon peak, with some backpackers
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  Among Mesozoic sediments
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  Chalk hills of Dvorichansky Park, Ukraine
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  A way is a bit boggy
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  An urban hiking trail, High Ground Park, Knoxville, Tennessee.
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  A public trail in High Ground Park in Knoxville, Tennessee.
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  Passeggita per i sentieri all'interno della foresta nel Parco delle Foreste Casentinesi, Monte Falterona, Campigna in località Fonte di Calcedonio (1175 mslm)
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  Il Cammino dei Camaldolesi di San Benedetto in Umbria (Viae Sancti Romualdi ). Croce dei fossi è una località interna al parco del Monte Cucco lungo il sentiero del Rio Freddo
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  Enroute to hike
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  The upwards trail
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  Path upwards
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  Trailing through the hike
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  The solo hiker
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  Hikers at rest
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  Atop and awaiting
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  Little local guide for hiking
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  After wet hiking day
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  The ridge trail on the west side of Mt. Kurobi in Gunma prefecture, Japan
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  North Ural. A way to somewhere.
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  mountain of Sant Llorenç del Munt Natural Parc
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  mountain of Sant Llorenç del Munt Natural Parc
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  A break in stone
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  Caldera of Monte Corona on Lanzarote
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  Tremesana trail in Timanfaya National Park
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  Roque Nublo with a human for scale
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  Rejuvenation stage volcanos aligned NE-SW with a view of Los Ajaches in the background
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  Alpinists leaving a derailed train
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  Randonnée Panneaux Navacelles
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  Randonnée Panneau Sidobre
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  Randonnée Panneaux Mazamet Hautpoul
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  Randonnée Panneau Concluses Lussan
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  Three backpackers did walk on the path of Qixing Mountain with wintry scenery during East Asian cold wave in January 2021
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  Travelling along Bobeyan Road, Kosciuszko National Park, in New South Wales, Australia
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  Hike in the Cirque de Garvarnie in French Pyrenees
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  A hiker on the last meters before reaching the summit of the Schneespitze in the Stubai Alps
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  Hiking on a small hill with his son Perambalur, Tamilnadu, India
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  Retkeilijä Käärmelähteellä, Kurjenrahkan kansallispuistossa
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  Mountaineers on Breithorn, as viewed from Klein Matterhorn
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  Zoom in to mountaineers on Breithorn, as viewed from Klein Matterhorn
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  Mountaineers on Breithorn, as viewed from Klein Matterhorn
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  Hikers in Toyama, Japan
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  Silhouette of a female hiker in front of the Massif du Mont-Blanc
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  Hiking through the mountains in Camouflage gear, Nandi Hills, India
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  Hiking in Haisnes.- Cités de la fosse n° 8 - 16 des mines de Courrières, Pas-de-Calais (France)
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  Hiking in the dunes of Stella-Merlimont, Pas-de-Calais (France)
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  Hiking in the Kabardino-Balkaria Nature Reserve
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  Сlimbers are resting on a terrace on a cliff
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  hiking in the Sayan Mountains
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  Wanderung in Schlinig
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  A Wayside inn in India
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  Hiker climbing in Mount Sumbing with Mount Sindoro in the background, Central Java, Indonesia
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  Sunrise in Mount Sindoro with Mount Sumbing and Mount Arjuno in background, Central Java, Indonesia
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  A hill where people often go hiking
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  View from the top of a hill
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  Lost glove of a hiker
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  Lost shoe of a hiker
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  Tree in a hiking trail in Catemaco, Mexico
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  Hiking trail in Dos de Abril, Mexico
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  A lake in a pine forest, Volusia County, Florida, United States
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  To submit pictures please follow this link

2025 – March – Newspapers

The new challenge features Theme and additional explanation.

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 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 1 days 14 hours left before this challenge ends. (refresh)

Examples

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Entries

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  Päivän lehti
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  Detail of a newspaper add showing the CMYK and dithering printing technics
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  Reading newspaper in library
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  old newspapers -free for the taking
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  newspaper (inside the frame) at exhibition about Handover of Macau in Museum of Macau
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  newsstand in Macao which also selling postcards
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  Bundles of old newspapers for recycling in Japan
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  75th anniversary special edition of the Nordwest-Zeitung
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  A weathered newspaper stuck in a chain-link fence in the Almet in Saarbrücken
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  "Avisgutten" i Ålesund skuende mot Tusentrappene
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  Mealtime with newspapers set as dining mats 3
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  Mealtime with newspapers set as dining mats 2
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  Collage made from torn newspapers
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  Newspapers are living history
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  Building of Schweriner Volkszeitung ("People's Newpaper of Schwerin"), Sternberg, Germany
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  Classical newsstand on Piazza del Comune in front of Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta, Cremona, Italy
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  Newspaper reader in Nepals, Italy
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  Linotype, line casting hot metal typesetting machine, mainly for newspaper printing, Museum of Industry, Gent, Belgium
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  Packaged vegetable leek _ greens for soup
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  Advertisement press_Vegetable leek
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  Daily press review
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  :A bottle of tincture for a Sunday getaway
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  Newspaper is a good companion for old people
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  Newspaper-reading bearded man seen from Above, Graz, Austria
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  Woman sits in the middle of parked mopeds and reads the newspaper, Hanoi, Vietnam
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  Paw of a cat that likes to lie on a German newspaper
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  Old pile of newspapers discarded in nature by a newspaper carrier, Germany
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  A newspaper floating on top of a puddle in Saarbrücken
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  A newspaper board for pedestrian in Kolkata, West Bengal, India
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  A newspaper stall in Kolkata, West Bengal, India
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  Multiple stacks of the newspaper Wochenspiegel, also called Die Woch, at a house entrance in Merchweiler
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  Daily newspaper in the house letterbox
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  Rolled up newspaper delivered to a home in Redan, Victoria.
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  Unmanned newsstand in Japan
• Brexit : we're out, June 23, 2016
  Brexit : we're out, June 23, 2016
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  Rocce con resti fossili, involtate nella carta di giornali. Esposizione di Minerali, Fossili e Conchiglie a Roma, Dicembre 2024
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  Newspaper Fire Starter
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  Newspaper stand, Padua railway station, Italy
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  Dinner served on newspaper
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  Hiding behind the news paper
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  Testa con collage di carta di giornali
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  Man reading a wall newspaper in Beihai Park in Beijing
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  Newspaper holder, Japan
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  A Wrapped the glutinous oil rice of plastic bag with a clipped newspapers in Taiwan
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  Wrapped a Food with a clipped newspapers in Taiwan
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  First meal in new home. No dedicated place for bowls yet.
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  Old USSR magazine with a pile of newspapers in the illegal landfill in the forest.
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  Old USSR newspaper with an article about Yuri Andropov funeral, which was found at an illegal landfill in the forest.
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  Old USSR newspaper with a photo of Konstantin Chernenko, which was found at an illegal landfill in the forest.
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  Les Bienfaits de la Bénédictine (A consommer avec modération)
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  L'Écho des Pyrénées
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  Both of the free newspapers of different brand has been forgotten for more than 10 years on the room where of basement 1st floor .
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  TS 3.3.25
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  Newspaper Nord-Eclair, le 18 Février 1948, relating the train disaster of Thumeries on February 17, 1948.
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  Old newspapers on the wall
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  Woman used newspaper as a headdress
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  A Newspaper Sales Person with today's Anandabazar Patrika, the century old daily from Kolkata
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  Newspaper being used to serve sweets.
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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 2025

• Absence
• Healthy living

Previous challenges

January 2025

• Leatherwork ->

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 ->

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

• Photo challenge in 2024
• 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