Photograph a faceless portrait for this week's Mashable Photo Challenge, guest-hosted by freelance photographer Chris Cody. The 24-year-old Texas native started this creative trend earlier this year.

"I had never seen anything like it done before," he said. Cody features many fun examples on his Instagram account.

Cody joined the Instagram community a few years ago. "I heard about it from a coworker while I was working at Starbucks," he said. "She explained it to me like it was a haven of inspiration that gave a peek into people's lives."

He downloaded and explored the app, and was impressed that so many users were doing incredible things with just a mobile phone. At first, his account was filled with selfies and typical inspirational quotes. Then he started to put more thought into the composition of the photos he was sharing.

"At one point, I suddenly felt so creatively charged," he said. "I knew I wanted to be a part of whatever was happening within the Instagram community."

Cody now has more than 45,000 followers and has been featured on Instagram itself as a suggested user to follow.

Follow the directions below to submit your photos by Tuesday, April 1 at 3 p.m. ET. Cody's favorite submissions will be featured on Mashable. "One thing I keep an eye out for is a tree or vines that are particularly overgrown," he said. "Bright colors always make for an interesting composition so be aware of what's in the background of your photo as well."

Tips from Cody

1. Use natural light. Look for interesting lighting and shadows everywhere you go, and make them work for you. If you don't have to manipulate the light too much, that will give you the highest quality image and leave you with a photo that is very easy to work with.

2. Pay attention to composition. A photo can have great light with a solid edit, but that can be thrown off by bad composition. Remember the rule of thirds while you're taking pictures, which should give you a very solid foundation.

3. Use your resources. My photos would be nothing without the apps that I use to edit them. VSCO Cam is my go-to app for all of my photos, and is the best mobile editing tool on the market.

How to Enter the Challenge

• Tweet your faceless portraits to @mashablehq with the hashtag #MashPics OR

• Instagram your photo with the hashtag #MashPics OR

• Upload your photo in the photo widget below