As all of you know by now, I really love photography. I love doing photography. I love writing about it and sharing what I have learned over the years with all my fellow Factoiders. As the new moderator of the Photography Channel, I was looking for ways to make our site more interesting and helpful for our photo enthusiasts when one of my followers, Erin DeSantiago, suggested that we hold photo contests that would be judged by the Factoidz Community. Most of the photography sites that I belong to have them so I thought that it was a great idea so I ran it past Michael to get his input. He thinks it’s a fantastic idea. You might say we’re Beta testing it. Before I get into what the first challenge will be, I need to cover a few other details with you.
The first thing that we need to do is use a common, off-site, photo-storing site that we can all access. I think that “Memeo Share” is a good photo-sharing program to work with. It’s freeware that you can download and install in minutes. The great thing about Memeo Share is that you can create both public and private albums that all the other members of our community will be able to access with the link that you will provide with your entry for each contest. This software is free to download and free to use. The freeware program provides you with 12GB storage but if you want to upgrade to unlimited space, you can buy the upgraded version for $4.95. Here’s the download link http://download.cnet.com/Memeo-Share/3000-2193_4-108621html.27. This is a great program. I have it on all my computers.
The second thing that I need to cover with you is a legal one. Although I really don’t feel that any member of our community would submit a photo that they didn’t own the rights to; we need you to swear to that anyway when you submit your entry. That will be a part of every entry form. During the beta testing of this concept we will be using the Q and A section for the actual submissions and the voting can take place right there just as the community votes on short answers now. Mike is working on a way to have the current contest appear at the top of the Photography Channel page as a highlighted-posted note.
Being a small, relatively new site, all we can offer the winners of each contest, at least for the moment, are badges that will go on your profile page, much like your Factoidz Rank does now. I think three badges per contest-one for first place, one for second place, and one for third place.
My goal is to use these photo challenges/assignments as a teaching tool so each new assignment will be described at the end of an article describing some aspect of photography. The first assignment will be attached to the second installment of my portrait photography series: How to Take Great Outdoor Portraits. These challenges will be open to every photo enthusiast-beginners to old pros. They will be open to everyone except me, as the Moderator of the Photography Channel; I’m disqualifying myself from the awards.
Ok, folks, download and install Memeo Share now so you’ll be ready to rock and roll when “How to Take Natural Light Portraits” hits the Photography Channel.
