My camera group has been going out and about, every second Friday morning, for – oh, I don’t know, probably around 12 years now. You can imagine, even in a city as varied as Edinburgh, we’ve been pretty much everywhere. Usually multiple times. So a couple of years ago, around March 2024, we decided to start choosing themes for our photo walks. Themes are great. They encourage us to look at our surroundings with a fresh eye.

For a familiar location, having a theme can mean the difference between a boring morning – coming home with an original set of photos that you would never have thought of. Here are all the themes we chose in our first year of theme-based photo walks.

My camera group has its own blog. Why not take a look at how we interpreted these themes between February 2024 and March 2025?

Symmetry

Yes it’s obvious, but after years of going out with our cameras on a Friday morning, this was the first time we had tried shooting with a theme. It’s an easy theme, and it worked predictably well.

History

This is a great theme for an urban environment. Photographing in Edinburgh’s Old Town, it was probably a bit too easy!

Spring

We chose this theme when visiting a garden in early April. The seasons are an obvious choice for nature walks.

Angles

We chose this theme when visiting an urban park with the cherry blossom at its best. It was a location we’d visited many times, and the theme prompted us to look beyond the obvious blossom and find compositions in the urban environment surrounding it.

Out of Place

Another theme that prompted us to think outside the box. Some people chose things that were obviously out of place – litter, weeds etc. Some people took props with them, photographing household objects which clearly didn’t belong in a country park.

Off-centre

This is a theme which can work in any environment. It obviously invites photographers to use the rule of thirds, but it also suggests some off-kilter compositions.

Flags

We chose this theme while visiting a small local harbour. There was bunting on display, and some of the fishing boats proudly displayed the Scottish saltire. It would be a good theme for an urban environment, forcing photographers to look beyond the obvious buildings and street scenes.

The Letter A

No idea how we ended up with this random theme but it worked well. People found the shape of the letter A in construction vehicles and in decaying trees. And of course in signage and advertising.

Doors and Windows

An obvious theme for visiting a church.

Transport

Bikes, cars, trams, even a distant telephoto shot of a cruise ship. A fun scavenger-hunt of a theme.

The Edinburgh Fringe

Seems obvious, right? You’re attending an event, so make the theme the name of the event. But street performers are the same all over the world. This theme invited us to place the street performers in context. Their location in Edinburgh was as important as their performance.

Black and white

Yes it’s obvious again, but for photographers who normally shoot in colour, it encourages tighter compositions.

Curves

We found curves in street corners, in decorative ironwork, in the chairs of a local café.

Dereliction

We chose this theme in an overgrown urban cemetery. It would be obvious in almost any urban environment, encouraging photographers to go behind the glossy facades and explore the back streets.

Red

The theme was suggested by our location for the day – an urban park with a war memorial, festooned with poppies for Armistice Day. But red was everywhere. A literal fire engine (no idea why!), berries, winter coats, and details from a children’s playground.

Motion

We found this theme surprisingly difficult. It should have been easy because we were on a busy street surrounded by movement. we really should try this again sometime.

Street

Surprising it took us so long to choose this theme. For a group of friends photographing in a busy city full of tourists and commuters, it could hardly be more appropriate.

Look Up

Another scavenger-hunt theme. You’re in a familiar location? Look up. See what you see.

Reflections

This a a location-dependent theme. We chose it when visiting a canal, but it would work equally well after heavy rain, or in a cityscape surrounded by glass skyscrapers.