Monthly Theme - Festive (December 2021)

by bilbaroo on Dec 1st 2021

It's as if by magic we're already into the last month of 2021! Thanks to everyone for sharing what has amounted to hundreds of theme entries over the year! You seriously rock!

Thanks to those who submitted photos for November's “Seasons” theme. As always, you brought many smiles to our faces and we loved looking through all of your photos. (You can check out all of November's submissions here.)

You can find our 6 fabulous finalists below, but first, we'd like to introduce December's theme: "Festive".

While this year's holiday season might still be a little pared back to previous years, we hope you're all easing into the festive spirit with decorations, delicious food, twinkling lights, and all the fun traditions you uphold each year!

To upkeep our very own traditions, please enjoy the "Festive" theme for the last month of the year.

Just in case you're short of inspiration, we've recycled a few of our favourite ideas to get you started...

1. Night Lights

Grab your tripods and practice your night time photography skills by finding the brightest, dazzling houses in the neighborhood, or by taking to the high street to capture the bustling holiday shopping chaos under the seasonal light displays.

We especially love the fun perspective and depth of field in @fotoblah's festive light photo.

2. Fun at Home

Whether you're looking forward to seeing family or will embrace a quieter Christmas at home, there are lots of opportunities to enjoy the magic of the festive season.

From getting creative with homemade decorations, to dressing our little ones in adorable festive outfits or PJs! Thanks for sharing, @gennaowens.

3. Brilliant Bokeh

There might not be a better time of year to put your bokeh skills to good use, with candles and fairy lights you'll find yourself having hours of fun!

We love this simple yet creative shot by @novab!

4. Santa's Little Helper

If you can't resist cute festive outfits for your furry friends, think back to our tips for pet portraits in a previous Animals theme!

In this adorable photo, @janetb shows us that when we have a backdrop of fairy lights, cute outfits are optional for festive photos of our fluffy friends!

5. Tasty Treats

Another favourite Yuletide tradition of ours is to feast on an array of treats - from mince pies and eggnog, to brussel sprouts and cheese boards, there's no time like the holidays to indulge a little.

We love how @novab has used a birdseye perspective and great lighting to make this spread look worthy of a glossy magazine!

6. Traditions and Cozy Comforts

What is most special about this time of year is the different traditions every family has! Whether it's a Boxing Day walk along the beach, Christmas morning on the slopes or a BBQ in the sun, we hope you're able to upkeep your favourite traditions this year, and would love for you to share photos!

We LOVE this fun snap by @kiwichick as she enjoyed some festive laps on the local ski hill with her family a couple of years ago!

Whatever you decide to capture this month, the most important piece of advice we could share is to simply, have fun! We can't wait to see what you get up to - and Happy Holidays!

How to enter this month’s theme

When uploading your photos use the tag section (on the edit/organise screen) and insert this week's theme tag: theme-festive.

Entry Guidelines: Photos must be your own and must have been taken and uploaded between Wednesday, December 1st and Friday, December 31st. 6 finalists will be chosen in the first couple of days in January, then you'll get to vote for the winner!

p.s. Don't worry if you spot some tagged photos from a previous theme, when choosing our six finalists we'll use a special algorithm to only filter the images from December 2021.

Vote for a Winner of November's "Seasons" Theme

We loved checking out your "Seasons" entries! It was almost impossible to choose only 6 finalists, but now it's over to you to vote for the winner of November's theme.

To cast your vote, simply reply to this blog post with the number (in digit form) of the photo you would like to see win, before December 14th. We’ll announce the winner in a separate post shortly after!