Your assignment this week, should you choose to accept it, is to create a self-portrait image that doesn’t include yourself in the image.

Ever since cameras were invented, artists have experimented with different ways to capture their own image in photographs. There’s even a theory that the Mona Lisa is a disguised self portrait of Leonardo Da Vinci! Self portraits can be powerful tools for expression, and I would encourage you to explore what you can do to create a self portrait that’s more than just a “selfie.”

But that’s not what this week’s challenge is about. The idea this week is to create an image that says something about you, without actually including you in the picture. More specifically, let’s make this a picture that doesn’t include your face in an identifiable way.

As with most of our weekly challenges, there are a number of ways you can tackle this. You could take a picture of something or a group of objects that would make people think of you, as in the image below of my camera & gear in front of the fireplace, ready to go:

Do you play a team sport? What about an image of your equipment or a jersey with your name & number on it?

Or, you could take a very literal interpretation of “without the self,” and try your hand at editing yourself out of an otherwise standard self portrait image:

But if you find yourself stumped for ideas on how to create a self portrait image without your face as the subject, what if you turn yourself around so you’re not looking at the camera? What kind of interesting image could you create where you’re facing away from the camera?

Your assignment this week, should you choose to accept it, is to create an image cropped to an extreme aspect ratio.

Aspect ratio is a way of describing the shape of an image. Specifically, it is the ratio of an image’s width to its height. The aspect ratio is represented by two numbers separated by a colon, such as W:H. You can think of this as, “For every W units of width, the image will have H units of height.” If you’ve ever printed pictures to hang in frames on your walls, you’ve probably dealt with aspect ratios without giving it a second thought. An 8×10 portrait, for example, is eight inches wide by 10 inches high. As an aspect ratio, that works out to 4:5.

Consider the following images, which show the same basic composition cropped to 3:2, 4:3, and 16:9 aspect ratios.

All three crops look similar, but on a close inspection you’ll find a few details cropped out around the edges in the 4:3 and 16:9 versions, compared to the original 3:2—perhaps a little unfortunate, but not a huge loss with this particular image.

But back to the point of this week’s challenge, what if you took that same image and cropped it much more severely, perhaps as much as a 4:1 aspect?

Not every image lends itself to such an extreme aspect ratio crop. In this aspect, even though the image seems wider, much of the sky and its reflection in the river are lost, making the whole composition feel more closed in.

On the other hand, with careful composition and framing, an extreme aspect ratio crop can emphasize the size and scope of your subject:

Your assignment this week, should you choose to accept it, is to try your hand at macro photography.

A macro photo is an extreme close-up of a small object. Macro photos are usually done in extremely high definition, to capture details of the subject you might normally miss when viewing it at its regular size.

Insects and flowers are common macro subjects, but they are far from the only options! The beauty of macro photography is that almost any normal, everyday object can reveal interesting details if you look close enough. If you’ve ever seen the National Geographic Kids magazine—it was called National Geographic World when I was a kid, by the way—you probably spent a little time trying to decipher the What in the World…? images on the back cover. Well, those were all macro photos.

Inspired by National Geographic, here are a few macro photos of things in & around my house.

What kind of images will you capture when you put your camera into macro mode this week?

As we come down to the end of the year and enter fully into “the holiday season,” you soon won’t be able to go anywhere without hearing about home. Songs will extol the virtures of being home for the holidays, promise that there’s no place like home, and beg you, Baby to please come home. With that in mind, your assignment this week, should you choose to accept it, is to create an image based on the word home.

Your first thought on this challenge might be to grab your camera & step out into the front yard to take a quick shot of your home. There…done! And that would, technically, satisfy the objective.

But there’s so much more to “home” than just a house.

You’ve heard that home is where your heart is. It’s where you hang your hat. I dare you to think of home without thoughts of family creeping in there, too. When you finally clear the last obstacle you’re home free. Home is a metaphor for comfort and security, for feeling of love, belonging and acceptance. And there’s little else that can unsettle you like a home that doesn’t provide those warm emotions we bundle up with home.

So this week, I challenge you to do more than just take a picture of your home. You might try taking a picture of something special to you in your home. Or if you’re away from home at the moment, what about a shot of a person, place or thing that reminds you of home.

Whatever approach you decide to take with this week’s challenge, do your best to tap into—and help your viewer to feel—the emotions the word home evokes for you.