Our current competition round is on the theme of ‘cold’, and while we already have some great pictures in the pool, some of you have said that you are struggling to come up with anything that doesn’t simply involve snow and shivering.

So I thought I’d make some suggestions, to see if I can help over any lingering cases of ‘photographer’s block’ with this theme …

How do you normally take pictures? Some of you plan, some of you just react to what you see. If you normally just react, my advice is …

… don’t let a competition theme stop you from doing this.

Don’t even think about it.

Just …

… do it.

Keep taking pictures. Look back at what you did as the competition deadline approaches – it’s 5 February – and see what might fit the theme.

At a sim like Furillen, I’d be amazed if you don’t find something in your files that fits ‘cold’.

It’s not as if we called it ‘wheat fields’ …

Now that would be tough at Furillen …

As for the planners amongst you, don’t be too literal with this theme – and don’t over think it.

‘Cold’ is really just a trigger.

It can mean many things, such as …

… a mood …

… an emotion …

… a colour …

… a glance …

… a touch …

… an absence …

… a sky …

and much, much more.

Another way to do this might be to use a thesaurus …

If ‘cold’ doesn’t get you started, perhaps some of these other words will?

Once you have your picture, you just need a title.

If the fit between theme and picture isn’t obvious, use the title to make the relevance of image to theme clear. This could be a quotation, or just a word or phrase that relates the picture to ‘cold’.

Some of the pictures in the first round – about ‘solitude’ – didn’t really do this.

So for example …

A picture with some exposed flesh …

… could be called “goose bumps”.

An image of someone who seems bereft …

… could be called “numb”.

While a picture of a telephone, left off the hook …

might carry the title, “cold calling”.

I’m not saying these are great ideas. But they are ideas that don’t involve snow and shivering – and they came to me in the few minutes it took me to write this.

Whatever you do, please try to do something. It’s a great way to hone your skills – and to celebrate the community of photographers that has been developing at Furillen.