Photographic Scavenger Hunt Ideas

There are several fun photographic projects that can be done in one day, in several days, even on a weekend. If you take photographs with the intention of making a profit, then perhaps you can turn one of these projects into some cash, but they are mostly done with the intent of practicing the art and sharing fun times with friends and family.

Consider hosting a scavenger hunt which also involves photography. There are basically two ways of doing this. The first is to take photographs of various items which form the basis of the hunt and having your guests locate these objects. A more difficult yet more entertaining project is to draw up a list of objects or subjects, including, feelings, emotions and things in general and having people photograph these things. The project should end at a specified time, and with the sharing of photos at a gathering, like a BBQ which would not be such a bad idea either.

Plan your hunt carefully. It should include some walking, maybe some driving, a location or a few, depending on the items. Plan to offer some prize, like a gift certificate for the winner or winners if in teams. The images should be captured digitally due to the speed of presentation as well as to speed up the process. Be creative with the presentation or invitation; why not draw a "pirate" treasure map?. How about having teams dress alike or teams made up of only women or men.

One thing to consider is not to be too specific with the objects of the hunt; like an apple, a car, a bicycle. The idea is to have people search for something with wheels, powered by a person, can be eaten and so on. Variations can include photos of items against a specific background, such as against a blue sky (the top of a tree photographed against the sky). Or certain textures, like made of clay (a clay pot). Or images that are open to interpretation, like things that look like a face (a car grille and head lights), something found in a store (a man's tie), or inside a museum or church (a religious painting). Things that are hidden (a single caterpillar inside a bush), are used to guide (a traffic signal), imitates life (a mannequin). Photographs of repetition (like the steps in a staircase), items found under (anything found under water). Spell a word (images of individual letters that spell the word).

The list of items and ideas is only limited by your imagination, and perhaps the weather and the accessibility of the location or general area where the hunt is to take place. Your objective should be to give as much detail or instructions as to make the hunt detailed, not too hard, but not too easy either, without outright naming what the items/subject are.

Emotions are good subjects too; things like love, happiness and so on should be included in the project, but you should add the caveat that these images cannot be of anyone participating in the hunt or anyone related or known to the photographers/participant.

The project can provide hours of entertainment and are better if done on location, but distance does not have to be a deterrent. If your participants are separated by long distances and the project cannot be done or it's not feasible because of this, then an alternative is to host it online. Social sites are great venues for this, with Facebook being one of the best and the progress can be tracked via Tweeter.

You can make the adventure more challenging such as posting the next tip or clue on Tweeter/Facebook to a team after they have found the previous one. See the links for many more ideas as well as suggestions which you can also print and use as a guide: Scavenger Hunt Ideas, More Ideas.

If your write for a blog, then this can be a good source for an article, for general photographic publications too, and off course consider selling the images to the participants. This is also an excellent project for birthday parties, social gatherings, bachelorette parties, although they are usually adult themed, fundraisers, corporate events and it works well with adults, kids and teens. Before I forget, have fun!

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