Thanks so much to all the participants for your wonderful images of Cheer!  It really did bring a smile to my face going through all the images and selecting a winner!  As always, the decision was quite difficult, but ultimately, the nod goes to Pan Shovel for the annual holiday giveaway.  As you all may recall, the prizes this year were donated by the good folks of Craft & Vision (David DuChemin), Thinktank Photo, and Photojojo for the books, bags and lenscap holder respectively.  So if you get a moment to check out their respective product lines, you can say thanks to them in your own way too!

The downside after all this excitement is that the January giveaway does not have a sponsor (same as last year), so this means the prize will be the ability to choose the theme for the February contest giveaway.  Think of January as a practicing month to take your own shots of whatever you find appealing.  No themes to restrict your creativity, but the rest of the standard rules apply:

1.  One photo per person

2.  Must be work-safe/family-friendly

3. Posted to the Flickr thread

4.  Largest side must be no more than 800px or less than 600px (this is only so that the winning image can be displayed well…)

5.  Taken within the last 60 days (preferably during the contest window)

6.  Images must be done by Feb 3rd (Friday).

7.  Theme is open (no theme)

8.  And most importantly, have fun!

Congrats again to Pan Shovel, and good luck to everyone in the coming months for the 2012 giveaways – keep the great shots and creativity churning!

For the official contest rules, visit the blog post from near the beginning of December here, and to submit your images to the Flickr thread, visit this link here (or via the quick link on the top right of the homepage!  Again, good luck to all, and may the best photo win!

Dream Lake by Tom Crossman

Thanks to everybody for some really fantastic images – it was extremely tough this time as there were a lot of just amazing shots!  Thanks also to the sponsor for the contest in November, the good folks over at Image Wizards!  The lucky winner will be able to get a print of their choice assembled by the folks at Image Wizards – up to a 16×20″ print!  (Tom, if you could kick me an email with your contact info, I’ll get things coordinated with Image Wizards!  Congrats again!

With November closed and in the books,  the new contest is now underway, and we have a new contest thread  open for entries too for December – the last one of 2011!  The prize list is a literal cornucopia of goodies!  Check it out:

 And of course, a holiday bonanza giveaway wouldn’t be the same without the particulars for entry, so here goes:

*Important*  I will cover up to $20 in shipping costs.  If the winner is international, there may be a small additional cost of shipping required to get the books to you.  If the winner is unable or unwilling to cover the additional costs of shipping, an alternate may be selected at the discretion of the judging panel (me).

So, get out your cameras and get on shootin – as we have just a smidge under a month to get the last winner in for 2011!  Thanks for stopping in and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!

I should be getting a print soon, and you know a review will be forthcoming once in hand, but for now, it’s exciting and news enough to announce the giveaway!  Thanks to the folks over at Image Wizards for sponsoring the November contest!  Here’s the particulars:

1.  One image per person, with the longest side between 600-800px.

2.  Share your photo in the Flickr thread here.

3.  The theme is Shiny!

4.  All images must be work-safe/family-friendly.

5.  Taken within the last 90 days (preferably during the contest window).

6.  Image submissions must be done by December 2nd.

7.  Have fun!

Notice that the deadline actually extends past the end of November.  This is partly due to the fact that we are starting a tad late, but also because November ends in the middle of the week, so it just makes sense to finish things up on that Friday.  The winner will be announced the following Monday, and the December giveaway will also be announced then.  Good luck to everyone!

Special thanks and shout outs go to the folks at Image Wizards!  (I can’t wait to get the print to review!)  If you have some time, do check out their products and services over on their website – the results seem to certainly speak for themselves!

inspiredbytime (Josh and Jamie Noah)

Something about the idea of stacking up soda caps, the angle of view here, and the inclusion of one color tab randomly just kind of spoke to me this month.  A clever take on the theme, and nicely blurred background also gave this some points in the judging.  While many photos were well done, this is the one that stood out for me. (Believe me, it was very tough to choose!).  So, congratulations to Josh and Jamie Noah (I am guessing it’s a joint Flickr account)!  Please contact me via email to get the details and logistics done to claim your Lensbaby from our sponsor over at Stack Exchange!

Coming up this month – another awesome sponsor has stepped up to the plate.  We are finalizing the details, but the folks at Image Wizards will be sponsoring the November giveaway with an awesome print on some of their stock, which I understand produces amazing prints.  The contest details and particulars will likely be announced tomorrow, so do stop back for the specifics.

One last shout out to the October sponsors at Stack Exchange, as their contribution of a Lensbaby Composer for the monthly contest series was super generous – if you have some time to check them out, it’s really a great photography resource!

The ones that made the top ten:

So, we made the top ten travel gadgets with the camera! Some other notable items that included camera type things were batteries, USB drives, and an extension cord (for charging electronics)!  Kind of a cheesy post for Friday, but it does make me wonder what people would consider their top ten photo accessories for their camera bag!   What’s the census out there in photo land?  Got your own travel gadgets you must have?  Or even camera gadgets for your photo bag?  Sound off in the comments, and if enough crop up repeatedly, a poll may be in the future! Have a great Halloween, and don’t eat too much sugar!

*****

P.S.  Don’t forget, this weekend is the last chance to enter for your chance to win a free Lensbaby Composer, courtesy of the folks over at Stack Exchange!  Enter today!

Bill M. Carroll

Congrats again to Bill – if you could drop me an email, I’ll coordinate to get your info over to the right folks at NAPP to process everything going forward! You are sure to enjoy countless resources, tips, tricks, tutorials, and other content NAPP provides to all its members!  Everyone, if you could take a moment out of your day to congratulate Bill for his awesome shot (and a great expression on the kid too!) that won the contest!

*****

Don’t forget, the October Contest is now also underway, so gear up those cameras to capture the idea of “stacks” somehow!  The winner this go around will become the proud owner of a Lensbaby Composer!

Self-study may even get you to a point where you can cut through the water relatively easily, but imagine how much easier it would be if when you first started learning to swim, you had a coach.  Someone there to stand at the pool, shouting out encouragement and instructions:  “Reach out with your hands!  Kick your legs!  Good job!  Keep going!”

Coaching always makes learning anything easier, whether it’s swimming, science or photography!  One of the things I’ve noticed as progressing on my own learning curve is that much of what I gathered would have likely been learned moer quickly if someone had been there to say “Hey, the Rule of Thirds works nicely with landscapes…put the sun in one of those cross-sections!”  or other axioms common to learning the nuts and bolts.

This raised a question in my mind, and is actually one of the fundamental reasons why I started this blog – to share experiences as I learned them to help others hopefully reach those levels of understanding sooner.  When someone asked me once how long I had been mentoring other photographers is when it dawned on me that I actually had become something of what I had needed!  Talk about a sense of fulfillment!

These thoughts and experiences were recently shared with my good friend Kerry Garrison of Camera Dojo, and as we talked about the whole concept of mentoring, decided this would be a great podcast topic!  So, enjoy the latest episode of the LDP Podcast (#63):  Choosing a Mentor:

Show notes:  What to Look for in a Mentor

We go into all of this in much greater detail in the show, as to why each trait is important, and we even throw in a few bonus considerations for you too, so be sure to catch the show!  Thanks again to Kerry for participating – it was a great discussion and sure to be one that will draw a lot of attention!  Be sure to stop over to Kerry’s blog to find out the latest activities there too at Camera Dojo.

Food for thought:  As you listen to the show, consider the following talking points…have you ever had a mentor?  Been a mentor?  Wanted a mentor?  Had one that worked or did not?  Think about what did and didn’t work, and why.  What would you want to see in a potential mentor?  As is always the case, we share our own ideas, but would love to hear from others on what their own experiences are, so please let us know in the comments and/or via email, social media, etc.

Happy shooting!

*****

A couple short reminders for this week:

1.  We are in the last week of the Monthly Contest Series for September.  This month you can win a year of membership to NAPP (existing members can extend for an additional 12 months!)!  It’s free, just share your best image in the Flickr thread here.

2.  The Worldwide Photo Walk is coming up this weekend, so if you’ve not registered in your nearest city yet, be sure to check out where the closest place is.  It’s a lot of fun, and is totally free too, so get out and shoot with fellow photogs, socialize, and network!  Oh yeah, and a ton of books are being given away – something from the Kelby arsenal of education will go to one lucky photographer in each city!  (If you live in the Denver Colorado area, there’s still room in the Louisville walk too where you can walk around with yours truly!)

Without further ado, I’m pleased to announce that Drobo has selected Dave King to receive a Drobo for his participation in the giveaway.  Dave, I’ve reached out to you to solidify the details and particulars, so when you get your email, please take a moment to respond with the needed information for shipping.

Many thanks to the folks at Data Robotics for their support and sponsorship!  Thanks to everyone for their participation, and even if you didn’t win, remember, backing up your data/work is always a good thing – the Drobo is an easy solution to that task, so consider their products for your backup needs.

On the subject of contests, the monthly photo contest to win a year of NAPP membership is still underway, so there’s time to get an image into the contest thread over on Flickr as well.  Don’t miss out on this opportunity to learn about Photoshop and photography from one of the premiere learning resources available today!

Keep on shooting, and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow…more tk.

1. Follow me (@CBJason) and @Drobo (no need to unfollow and re-follow if you already are…)

2. RT the text message in the blog post:

RT I’ve registered to win a #Drobo with @CBJason at http://bit.ly/qdqg6Z

3. Share your best story about why you need a Drobo on the blog here (my blog) and on the Drobo Facebook page! (Note the embedded links… )

4.  Don’t forget to register with Drobo in case your name is picked – if you’re not registered, you can’t win!

5.  All entries must be submitted no later than midnight MDT on Wednesday!

This means you only have 3 days to enter – do it now before you forget.

*Special Contest Note*  You only have to re-tweet the message once – multiple tweets will not gain you more entries, and will likely annoy any followers you have.

Many thanks to the folks at Data Robotics for their exciting support.  If you’d like to learn more about what a Drobo is, and what it can do for you, here’s a couple useful resources to read through (and videos to watch) including one from my review here on the blog!  It’s a great data storage solution for people who don’t want to take the time to build out their own RAID solutions (i.e. photographers).  I own one myself (yes I bought it…), and have absolutely fallen in love with its ease of use.  Beyond the initial formatting time frame for a new disk, it’s been an absolute dream, and gives me the peace of mind knowing my data is protected!

My own Drobo Review

Drobo Website

Amy Eklund

Her photo of nostalgic envelopes and old-time postcards was beautifully done and very much in keeping with the theme of the contest – yet also very much outside-the-box in her approach.  Please take a moment to give her some congratulatory hugs and feel-goods over on her Flickr thread.

With the August giveaway now complete, we can also announce the September giveaway – and we’re ready to rock the house again.  Yesterday I mentioned that the folks at NAPP are hosting the bi-annual Photoshop World event going on now in Las Vegas.  If you’re not in attendance, then fear not because the folks there are still supporting the giveaway here, and want you to join in the learning experience that only the folks at Kelby can provide.  That’s right – the giveaway is a one year membership to NAPP!  (Existing members will qualify for a one-year extension to their membership…)

Thanks to NAPP and Kelby media for the support – here’s particulars for the month:

1.  The theme is PARTY

2.  one image per person

3.  Family/work safe

4.  Longest side must be between 600-800px

5.  Must be submitted to the Flickr thread here.

6.  Have some fun!

Thanks again to NAPP for sponsoring the contest…happy shooting all and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow from the Empire State of New York!

His image, clearly thinking “outside the box” of a taxicab in NYC just jumped off the page for me:

So, Miguel, drop me a line via the blog or Flickr to claim your Streetwalker Pro and I’ll get this shipped out to you in short order!  Congrats to Miguel, and thanks to everyone who participated – this was an excellent month with lots of great ideas, creativity, and inspirational types of imagery!

With July in the books, I’ve got a really cool product up that saved my bacon more than I’d care to remember.  it came to me from none other than David Ziser when I attended his workshop here in Denver.  He had mentioned a little product called PhotoRescue and it does exactly what you’d think – recovers photos off a card that were deleted accidentally!  Sheer brilliance in design, and even affordable to the tune of $30 if you end up not winning the giveaway!  Here’s the nuts and bolts:

1.  Two images per person

2.  Work/family safe

3.  Shared via the Flickr thread here

4.  Downloadable by me (so I can announce you as the winner on the blog)

5.  Deadline is August 31st (this is a Wednesday too, so not a weekend as is the norm)!

6.  This is a software product so the key is distributable globally which means – no country border limit!

7.  And the theme is…”SAVE!“

So, enjoy it, embrace it, and win!  Some extra goodies may be added depending on how sponsorships and such pan out in the next week or so! Hint hint – more coming than what meets the eye!   Thanks to the folks at DataRescue for the sponsorship, support, etc.

1.  I am moving hosting companies!  The timeouts here on the website have gotten pretty bad, and I hear you all loud and clear.  To those ends, the confidence in my current provider has waned pretty substantially to the point where I am laying the groundwork to leave for a VPS solution that can accommodate my budget.  So, the blogging may be spotty for the next couple days while I prep the behind-the-scenes stuff.

2.  I’m updating the photography website.  Yup, aside from the blog (which generates the greater of the traffic), I am also giving my photography website a serious makeover.  Truth be told, I’ve never really given it the attention it deserves, since most of my work has been through word-of-mouth, and not through my online presence (do as I say, not as I do!   )

3.  And last but not least, I am updating my portfolio.  We all have our favorite designed and layouts, so will be tinkering with a few to present on both the blog and the other domain.  But, since you all like pictures the best (at least Google Anayltics tells me that’s the case), here’s some selects from the latest upgrade to the portfolio:

And since any portfolio also needs a gallery to really give it the full semblence of appeal, here’s the entire collection assembled.  Ideas, thoughts, comments, suggestions and critiques, are always welcome!

Before I go, just two quick reminders for you today too:

1.  The Live Learning Lab Webinar is coming up this Wednesday – where Kerry Garrison and I will be tackling the topic of “Mastering Exposure”.  All about the essentials of getting your exposure spot on each and every time.  Tag a reminder to join us now, and we’ll see you Wednesday!  http://tinyurl.com/6aexmnm

2.  Nations Photo Lab is also in the final two weeks of their scorching hot Sizzling Summer Super Size Sal (say that 10x fast)!  Get 50% off all enlargements up to 16×20.  And if you don’t have an account, open one and use promo code “Jason” to get $50 free in prints when you sign up!  Can’t beat that pricing, eh?

3.  We’re also in the final two weeks of the monthly Flickr Contest – submit your own photo to win a free StreetWalker Pro bag courtesy of yours truly and Think Tank Photo!  Click the link in the upper right corner of the blog to submit your best “Street” themed photo before it’s too late!

JawDoc

His image of the Tilt-a-Whirl (or whatever you call it) really stood out for me in terms of the sense of motion and speed, so congrats to you sir.  If you could be so kind as to drop me an email, I will forward your name and info over to the folks at Camera Bits who are ready for delivery of your installation code for Photo Mechanic!  One final nod of thanks to them as well, for their generous contribution for the June Giveaway!

And now, for the July Giveaway, our next prize is yet another doozy!  The good folks over at Thinktank Photo have generously sent some of their latest product line to me for review, and now up for grabs is none other than their already well-received Streetwalker Pro bag.  This holds an astounding amount of gear for its size, allows for a tripod, and much more.  I’ve not had a chance to kick its tires yet (so to speak), but you know a review is going to come up soon for this month, so keep an eye and ear open!

It retails for $159 US, and this one is a beauty!

Again, because the prize will be shipped from my location rather than Thinktank, the shipping requirementsare built into this months guidelines:

1.  All images must be between 600-800 px on the longest dimension.

2.  Each person can submit up to two images

3.  The theme is STREET, fitting for a Streetwalker Pro

4.  Contest Deadline is:  July 31st at midnight Mountain Time (GMT -7).  Add or subtract for your own time zone as needed.

5.  US Residents only…sorry international folks.

6. The photo must be included in this Flickr thread.

7. The Flickr photo must be downloadable – we share the winning photo via announcement here on the blog and in newsletters – so I need to get it to do that!

8. Have fun! Remember photography is supposed to be fun so keep that in mind as you approach the May giveaway.

9. Reminder Guidelines and Rules of Engagement links are here for easy reference.

Special thanks to not only Camera Bits and Think Tank photo, but to all the sponsors – and for readers out there, if you would like to see a product reviewed and/or offered up for a giveaway, feel free to drop suggestions in the comments – that’s where vendors look!

The link to enter the contest is here – good luck to all!

For those of you who might not know who Dave is – he’s one of the original “Photoshop Guys”, and has been teaching Photoshop classes since version 2!  He is currently the Senior Developer, Education and Curriculum for NAPP, a Certified Photoshop Instructor through Cs4, and  Certified Technical Trainer.  With several books under his belt, and a 2009 inductee to the Photoshop Hall of Fame, he is certainly no stranger to the world of Photoshop!

Here’s the nuts and bolts of our discussion, but to get the full schmear, grab the podcast either from here or in iTunes!

Talking Points:  Shooting with Photoshop in Mind

• What’s the point of Photoshop:  Fixing photos or creating visions?
• Compositing Photos in Photoshop
• Story boarding, green screens, extracting – options galore
• How do you get there from here?
• Fine Art versus Business
• Learning Workshops versus Seminars
• Watching versus Doing
• HDR:  Art form or a Solution?
• Links
  • Dave Cross Workshops
  • Dave Cross Blog
  • Dave Cross on Twitter
  • Dave Cross on Facebook

It was so fun talking to Dave about such a wide variety of subjects and we really hit on quite a bit for only 40 minutes of talk time!  Do check out his web resources there as I think the smaller sized workshop setting he has set up in Tampa will become the trend-setter of things to come.

*****

As a final reminder for the podcast and website a couple things wrap up this week:  The month long Flickr contest series, so do get your photos in for a chance to win Photo Mechanic!  Also ending this weekend is the promotional deal on the Deeper Vision eBook from David DuChemin – 20% off through July 2nd w/ promo code DEEP4.  Have a happy 4th of July, and we’ll see you next month!

I do have to say with absolute sincerity though, this was far and away one of the most difficult contests to judge as there were so many good submissions that were in keeping with the “Light” theme. So, a big congratulations to all actually for every single talented submission…the ongoing participation in this series always continues to amaze me with the quality of work! A special thanks also goes out to Faxon Moulder, the owner of www.Backlitbox.com, who approached me about sponsoring one of the giveaways…it was an honor to bring him aboard and expect a review shortly from the product line as well!

Anyway, moving right along, with the April contest closed, and the May contest now open for the Hoodman Loupe^TM, the Flickr thread is now open for submissions here. The theme for the Hoodman Loupe contest, as you may recall from Friday, is BLOCK. Here’s the particulars:

A nod goes out to Hoodman for their sponsorship of the May Giveaway too, and yes, a review is forthcoming here as well. Good luck to everyone!

This month the folks at Hoodman have stepped up to contribute one of their patented Loupes to the giveaway series.  I know, I am overdue on several product reviews, including the Backlitbox from last month, and now this Hoodman Loupe, as well as some RadioPoppers that are currently being tested for another review prior to the giveaway!  Since the Hoodman Loupe is next on the agenda, they get the honor of the May giveaway!  Here’s the rules:

1.  One photo per participant

2.  A new wrinkle – the winner must be able to receive the prize at a U.S. address.  With the blog and pocast having an international following, I typically have the vendors ship the prizes direct, but because I have to ship it this time, in order to keep costs down – a U.S. address is required.

3.  Photo must be work-safe/family friendly.

4.  The longest side (either the top/bottom or the left/right) must be no larger than 800px or smaller than 600px.

5.  The photo must be included in the Flickr thread (which I will post up on Monday) with the May 2011 title.

6.  The Flickr photo must be downloadable – we share the winning photo via announcement here on the blog and in newsletters – so I need to get it to do that!

7.  Since the prize for the contest is a Hoodman Loupe – the theme for photos is:  BLOCK (The Loupe blocks stray light…get it?   You can interpret any way you like, so get creative as that always makes it interesting.

8.  Have fun!  Remember photography is supposed to be fun so keep that in mind as you approach the May giveaway.

9.  Reminder Guidelines and Rules of Engagement links are here for easy reference.  (I’ll also update the link to the contest page on Monday too).

10.  If you don’t follow me on Twitter, do so here, then tweet the following:  “I just posted my photo in the #CanonBlogger Hoodman Giveaway!  http://tinyurl.com/3jlw78x”

Thanks to the generous folks over at Hoodman for their contribution!  Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here on Monday!

Buying used cameras versus new cameras

It’s no secret by now that the best place to invest the bulk of your money is in your lenses.  However, you still gotta have a camera, right?  So, should you opt for using last years model and risk having a client show up with better gear than you?  Or, should you just step up, spend the bigger dollars and always be on the leading edge?  If it’s a matter of economics, and there’s no gear limitations that stand in your way (slow shutter speed/clicks per second, etc), my answer is to always go used.  There are some of the perils and pitfalls of buying used gear though, so here’s a few tips to keep in mind when shopping around for used gear:

1. Shutter count – the shutter has an expected lifecycle of clicks it is built for. If you can get the shutter count (lots of software programs to do this) make sure you have at least 50% of them left.

2. Overall camera condition – check the camera for nicks scratches, scuff marks, and the like. If it’s all beat up, that cold be indicative of interior problems.

3. Sensor and other internals – Some problems aren’t as easily determined on a visual inspection, and it’s always best to take a few shots with the camera. Check to see if the sensor is scratched, nicked, has dust spots, etc. If it’s dust, that can be easily cleaned, but nicks and/or scratches can be a deal-breaker.

There’s obviously more to it than that, but those are the basics in looking at used camera bodies. In general, my rule of thumb when buying/selling used gear is to start at retail minus 10-15%. If the price is in that ballpark, it’s likely well cared for. I also look at seller ratings whenever possible. Fred Miranda is one of the better places to buy and sell, but Craigslist can be good since they are most often local and you can go do a visual inspection before throwing money out the window…

What experiences have others had with buying and selling new gear?  Any places that are preferred?  Places to avoid?  Sound off in the comments with your own thoughts and experiences!  In the meantime, remember, it’s really not about the gear – it’s who’s behind it, so keep on shooting!

One last thing to mention today – the April contest is live (I announced it over the weekend in the free newsletter blast), and the winner will get an 8×10 image of their choice printed and mounted in a pretty cool Backlitbox!  Very cool prize and thanks to the folks at Backlitbox for sponsoring the April giveaway!  I promise more details are forthcoming here soon in the form of a product review, but time’s a-wastin’, so be sure to get your entries in soon!  Congrats also to Evelyn for her win of the March giveaway!  She’s getting a very cool Tether Table from the folks over at Tether Tools – just drop me an email to claim your prize!  Here’s her winning image up in lights!

In the meantime, here’s the nitty gritty details for the contest:

• The Number:  1 image per person
• The Size:  Longest side must be between 600-800 pixels.
• The window:  30 day window for capture date (nothing earlier than February of 2011
• The theme is:  Flat
• The deadline:  March 31st at midnight (my time)
• The rest:  You can read more about it at the Contest Guidelines page and the Rules of Engagement

Good luck everyone, and here’s the link:  March Contest Giveaway

For the record, the Tether Table will be very slightly used, as you know a hardware review is likely forthcoming quite soon on this equipment…but then again, that’s something to look forward to, right?

As a final postscript today, a new poll is up on the sidebar, so if you don’t visit the archives much (maybe take some time soon – lots of good stuff there! ), be sure to take a moment and sound off in the latest poll:

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

And now – the moment you’ve all been waiting for:  the February co-winners, each of whom gets $150 in printing from NPL, the ones whose images were most compelling, the ones…all right already, they are:

Mason Long

Frank Sammut

You can find their respective Flickr streams of these and their other photo libraries here and here respectively!  Congrats to both of you and I’ve sent your names over to our contact with Nations Photo Lab so they can deliver the coupon codes for your prizes to you!  Thanks again to Nations Photo Lab for their generous donations for the month of February!  Be sure to tune in on Monday for the announcement of the March contest!

I know, you’re all really here to find out who the winners are, so without further ado – comment submissions #6 and #10 are the lucky folks:

Thanks to everyone for their participation…and to Chris and Joe, if you could send off a quick email to me, I’ll make sure the folks at Peachpit get in touch to arrange fulfillment for you.  Once again, I’d also like to thank Nicolesy and Jason Cate for their participation in the show as well as Peachpit for their generous contribution.  It was a lot of fun, and the comment contest also ratcheted things up a notch too, so hopefully we can make these more of a regular occurrence with the podcasts.  With that in mind, are there any other authors, photographers, or folks you’d like me to bring on a show,?  Now’s your chance to sound off and get the folks on that you really wanna hear from!  Sound off (you knew it was coming) in the comments!

Happy shooting (and Happy Valentines Day for the romantically inclined out there), and we’ll see you back again soon right here – same time, same station!

That’s right, two people will be announced the winners for the February contest and giveaway!  Each winner will receive a generous donation from Nations Photo Lab – a gift certificate worth $150 of free printing!  That’s right, $150 of free printing from Nations Photo Lab! This prize is available to anyone, regardless of whether you are a current NPL  customer or not.  The theme for February, as chosen by our always talented Sue from the Flickr group (due to her win during the non-award winning off month submission) is the applicable theme of Love!

A couple new wrinkles that are being thrown in this time for such a huge contest…first off, all previous winners are usually ineligible for consideration in the month immediately following their winning entry – we are starting with a new year, so it’s also a clean slate, so everyone is eligible!!!

The second wrinkle (and probably the most exciting), is that for February only – every entrant will receive a $50 gift card to Nations Photo Lab – just for participating! That’s right, all you have to do is submit a qualifying entry in the Flickr contest thread for February to win a $50 gift card for printing on any product of your choice at Nations Photo Lab! *   So, all that’s left to say are the criteria to qualify.  It’s super easy:

• Make sure your image is theme-appropriate (and family friendly/work safe).
• Make sure I am able to download your image from Flickr.  (See the explanation for how to make sure I can download it here.)
• Each image considered must be in the contest thread.
• Each person is entitled to submit one image for eligibility.  Multiple entries will not be considered.
• Each image must conform to the standard guidelines in terms of dimensions (longest side must be no longer than 800 pixels or shorter than 600 pixels).
• All images must be taken after January 1st, 2011!
• Entrants retain full copyright and ownership of images, but allow me to display the image here on the website to display when winners are announced, and in the monthly newsletter.
• Entries must be submitted no later than 11:59pm on Sunday, February 27th, 2011.
• Last but not least, have fun with the images you capture!

Questions about the submission process should be addressed in either the Contest Overview Page or the Rules of Engagement Page.

Last but not least, you may be interested in how to get to, sign into and participate in the Flickr Contest thread!

Good luck to everyone and remember to have fun!

*ETA:  In the interests of full disclosure, the $50 certificate is for new customers, so if you are already an NPL customer, feel free to enter your images as well, but the goal here is to not only encourage people to take pictures, but to print them, and to consider Nations Photo Lab as your lab of choice.  I use NPL almost exclusively (except in rare cases where they don’t have what I need, like printing on aluminum) and highly recommend them.  Here is your chance to sign up for an account for free and get up to $50 worth of printing just for participating in the contest.

Congratulations to you – and by virtue of this post, simply email me a short note with your contact information and I’ll get you in touch with the right folks at Red River Paper. Thanks to them for their sponsorship, and to everyone who entered. All the images were really deserving this month, so finding one that stood out was really really difficult. I would suggest to everyone who entered (and those on the sidelines) to still take a moment to consider getting yourselves a pack of this paper, as any of these would look really great on the Polar Pearl Metallic paper.  Here’s a link to the specific page from Red River for those interested. 

And with November closed out, I am sure everyone is wondering what is in store for December.  Must be a humdinger, right?  Yes, I promise you it is, because I am throwing the doors wide open on this month.  The prize is quite simply, the bragging rights for the month.  Photography for the sake of photography is important enough too, and without having to worry about restrictions or any guidelines, anyone is welcome to share a picture anywhere this month.  Whether it’s a link in any of the blog post comments, in the group Flickr Pool, or the December thread, as long as you let me see an image – you are eligible for the bragging rights!  (You know there is likely some prize at the end too, but this go around, it’s a surprise!)

To make it official though, there are three criteria:

That’s it – the theme is wide open, the sizes are wide open, and you can show it to me anywhere…be it Flickr, the blog in a comment, or in the group pool (please no emails though – part of the idea is to let you showcase your own best work not only to me, but to everyone)!  Good luck, and here’s to lots of entries!  Enjoy the ride, and take as many pictures as you can, because you can only submit your best one from December!  The winner will be announced in 2011!

The last little nugget for today is that a special discount is going to be announced in the December newsletter, so if you haven’t signed up yet (it’s free), don’t forget to get subscribed to it before Friday!  Here’s a link to make it nice and easy for y’all! Sign Up for the Newsletter  Happy shooting all, and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!

So, without further ado – I am happy to announce the winner of the October giveaway – it goes to a first time contributor to the LDP Contest series…I give you:

Study!

Digital Cole

The creative energy from the double exposure in this is just awesome, and since I often feel like that when reading about new things, it’s a totally understandable emotion that the image brings to the viewing experience.  Hats off to Cole for the win!  Please take a moment to stop by their Flickr stream, and congratulate them there!  It was a tough decision and well deserved!  If you could get in touch with me to get some contact information, I’ll get things forwarded to the NAPP staff for processing!  Speaking of, thanks go out to the folks at NAPP for sponsoring the contest series!

And now, with October closed – a new contest begins for November.  Get your cameras ready because this month is a doozy!  The theme is “POP!“  Since I always try to tie the theme to the sponsor – here’s the connection – the winner gets a package of the exquisite Polar Metalic Paper from the folks at Red River Paper.  If you’re into the print, and like the look of photos just jumping off your paper, then this is the paper to use.  It’s especially good for HDR prints, but works equally well with all styles.  The drama this paper brings to an image is just amazing – you’ve got to try it to really understand it.  And, now you can – just submit a POP-themed photo to the Flickr thread. The contest starts today, and standard guidelines apply, with one exception – you can submit TWO photos!  Only one will win, but now you have two chances!

Contest Overview and Rules of Engagement are always good resources to begin with…good luck to all and HAPPY SHOOTING!

September Winner - Cameron Gardner

The sense of movement and tack sharp quality really made it stand out – I think this could even be submitted for stock (where shots have to be absolutely flawless…)!  Congratulations to Cameron – please email me your contact information so I can ship the RS7 out to you!  Special thanks to the folks at Black Rapid for their sponsorship of the contest series, and to everyone for the participation!

October Begins

A special month begins here because as most know by know – this place is all about learning, whether it’s sharing tips and tricks, composition techniques, and everything in between.  One of the most invaluable resources I have used in my own learning has been that of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals – or NAPP!  These folks offer great training, tutorials, and the forums are a special group of people.  I can’t tell you how much I’ve learned about photography from these folks.  Why am I talking about NAPP so much though? Because the winner of the October contest will be able to take advantage of a year of membership with NAPP!!!  That’s right, a one-year membership with NAPP is up for grabs.  Given the nature of the organization – the theme for the month is appropriately picked as:

STUDY

To get all the details and information on the October theme, submission guidelines and all that stuff, head over to the contest thread on Flickr and enter your best shot!  Entries are being accepted today! Good luck, and here’s to a month of happy shooting!