Well, it's time for the 2010 SMWYG Photographer of the Year competition.
This competition is designed to encourage people to focus on their shooting skills (instead of gear fetishes 
). The basic premise is to get out and shoot during the week and post your best photo here. We will however allow any photo taken from June 1 2009-April 15, 2010 as a valid entry.
Each week's photo submissions will end every Friday night 9pm pst. The weeks winners will be posted here every Sunday night by 6pm pst. The month's winners will also be posted here, as soon as the judges have finished voting.
There are some rules though, so be sure you read through them before you enter your photos. If the rules are broken, your photos will be disqualified and you won't be eligible for the prize. (Rules are the same as last year.)
This is the discussion thread. I will link the first photo thread in the 2nd post. PLEASE KEEP THE PHOTO THREADS for PHOTOS ONLY. Any comments relevant to photos should be posted on this thread. Thanks!
RULES:
1. You must be a member of POTN prior to Sept 15, 2009 in order to participate in this contest.
2. You may enter only one photo a week.
3. All cameras are allowed AS LONG as you are an active member of POTN, and not just here for the contest Scanned film shots are also allowed as long as they were taken within the required dates. And just a reminder: banning disqualifies you from the contest.
4. The photo must be your own, original work.
5. If you are "banned from the forums" during the competition, your photos will be disqualified.
6. You may enter any photo you like (landscape, macro, sports etc) EXCEPT nude (since this is not the G&N section).
7. You do not have to enter every week, but obviously if you do, you'll have a better chance of being one of the top 3 for the month.
8. The monthly winning photos will be hosted in a special gallery on my zenfolio site (just like last year) so if you enter the contest, you are agreeing to allow them to be hosted if you win the month.
9. Please remember to include the EXIF for your photo. This contest is also to help others to learn and grow from what they see.
10. click for PROCESSING GUIDELINES
NOTE: PLEASE REMOVE ALL WATERMARKS FROM YOUR PHOTOS TO ALLOW THE JUDGES AN UNBIASED OPPORTUNITY TO SCORE YOUR PHOTOS. Thanks!
Contest ends April 15, 2010, the top photos (3 from each month) will be posted for everyone to see and by June 1, 2010 the winning photo will be announced and the 2010 SMWYG Photographer of the Year awarded.
Good luck and have fun.
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask here.
NEW THINGS TO NOTE FOR THIS YEAR:
1. The winning photos will be made into a calendar for 2011. The Grand Prize winner will receive a free calendar & the title "2010 SMWYG Photographer of the Year". By entering this contest, you are granting permission for your photos (should they win the month) to be published in the calendar. If your photo wins the month, SMWYG judges will be contacting you for a high res. photo for the calendar. If you don't wish for your photos to be in the calendar, please do not enter the contest.
2. Grand prize winner from previous year may enter the contest but is not eligible for the grand prize.
What I look for in a photo.
