Photography, Hide & Seek, Six Word Photo Story | February’s Conclusion

“Hide & Seek” Six Words & A Photo: Conclusion

SWPSC: “Hide & Seek” & Freestyle Stories — February’s Conclusion

Rough to spot — welcome darkness, crickets.

Can you identify what’s hiding? If you can’t figure it out — stay tuned to find the answer tomorrow — with March’s next challenge!

“Hide & Seek” Challenge Conclusion

February was a fabulous month to play Hide & Seek! I needed to squint or magnify the photos to spot some of the hidden items.

Some writers tricked or stumped me and I was about to reject their submissions until they told me what the hidden thing was because I totally missed it or thought it was something else! As the editor — I got to “cheat” because I see the answers before the stories are published when I ask the writers what the hidden object is (if I can’t find it first) before I publish it so that I can confirm that other readers can find it too.

Submissions were clever and surprising— I loved the clues and guessing games.

I had to be “strict” on accepting submissions for the February challenge as some of the “hidden things” were too obvious or easy to find. Wonder how I judged this? If I saw the hidden thing right away — it was too easy, and then to confirm, I double-checked with my 11-year-old son and asked him what he saw in the photo. He always spotted the “hidden object” but sometimes it took him a few seconds.

Note: There were a few submissions where I forgot my own rules and published the articles anyway— because either the photo was cool, made me laugh, or there was an unusual take on the challenge.

Thank you for playing this game of “Hide & Seek” this month — for driving readers blind, batty, or making them feel a stab of satisfaction or rush of joy once they discovered the hidden gems! As it was a tougher prompt to meet this month — I didn’t receive as many submissions and also didn’t accept several submissions because they didn’t meet guidelines.

Writers had to push harder, be clever, dig deeper, and pay attention to the details in their photos or environment — while utilizing their creativity to embrace this month’s challenge — thank you for participating and persevering!

Editor’s Picks on February Stories

I enjoyed reviewing all photo stories, but here are 16 stories that stood out in either “Hide & Seek” or “Freestyle” or wowed for different reasons — out of the 90+ submissions to my publication this February. The photos were either unusual or vibrant in some way, made me laugh, had a unique take on the challenge, or nailed the prompt — because it was tricky for readers to find the “hidden object.”

“Hide & Seek” Challenge Stories

For the “February Monthly Challenge: “Hide & Seek” check out the latest stories under the “Monthly Challenge” tab.

Eleven stories that empowered “Hide & Seek”

Susan Alison (“Little Peace” — almost missed him), K. Barrett( “Who Scuttles” — hard to spot), A. Grace (“Dweller” — dangling creature/night photography), Raine Lore (“Good Company” — Raine got me on this one!) Sandi Parsons (“Red Dirt”— I needed Part 2 as I’d never have figured this one out) pockett dessert (“Baring It” — surprise shape) Mahgol J (“Introvert” — unique take on challenge) Ian Hanson (“Should I?” — a rare shot), Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles (“snug” — made me go batty) Kathryn A. LeRoy (“Humility” — awesome camouflage), and Gauri Sirur (“Catch me” — tricky find)

Before clicking on the links below, check out the photos and test yourself to see if you can guess what’s hiding. You’ll be surprised at what you missed first glance (I was!), after you click on the links!

Freestyle Stories

For the “Freestyle category,” check out the latest stories under the “Freestyle” tab. It was delightful to see a few new writers and photographers for the Freestyle category. These writers showed either unusual takes either in their photos or stories through different perspectives or simply made me smile.

Five stories that wowed Freestyle:

Franzi Kinzel (“Trees” — vivid photo & story), Mahgol J (“Escape” — dual perspective), Penny Grubb (“Reflecting” — super snapshot), David Acaster (“Back home” — popping heads), Divina Grey (“Stop and Smell” — pink gives me joy!)

Note: This article officially ends February’s “Hide & Seek” Challenge and no further submissions will be accepted. Stay tuned for the new March Challenge which will be announced tomorrow on March 1, 2022 — with a special guest!

Stay tuned for the March Six Word Photo Story Challenge!

It’ll be posted on this publication on March 1, 2022. Get those cameras clicking or dig into your photo archives! If you’ve read this far — here’s a hint for March. Don’t worry, it should be an easier challenge this time and there’s a clue in the featured photo.

If you’d like to be added as a writer and submit to Six Word Photo Story Challenge, please read and follow the submission guidelines. Note: Formatting guidelines are unique to this publication — please read the formatting guidelines thoroughly.

Please follow Mary Chang Story Writer and this publication to stay tuned for guideline updates (yes I change them sometimes!) and new monthly challenges.

— Village hugs, Mary Chang Story Writer — Editor of SWPSC

Looking for stories in this publication?

This publication only displays the most recent 25 stories on the main page and the most recent 25 stories under each of the Monthly Challenge and Freestyle tabs.

To view archived Monthly Challenge tagged stories, click on this Monthly Challenge link. To view archived Freestyle tagged stories, click on this Freestyle link. This will list all the stories under each tag from the latest to the oldest.

About the Editor

Mary Chang is an award-winning short story fiction writer, memoir writer, blogger, and editor of the Six Word Photo Story Challenge publication — inspired by her original 6-Word Photo Story Summer Challenge writing prompt (2021) on Medium.

She’s also a parent, fitness enthusiast, snaps a good photo sometimes — and loves creating monthly challenges!

Read her blog at www.marychangstorywriter.com.