PhotographyCorner.com - PhotographyCorner

Vote for the Best Premiere Project Photograph of 2011

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:57:16 -0500

Premiere Projects, hosted in the Premiere Corner every couple of weeks, are group photography projects where Premiere Members challenge themselves to grow as photographers by participating in themed “assignments.” Each projects outlines a topic for the members to photograph. The photos are then submitted for discussion/critiquing/reactions. At the end of the project period, a vote is held to determine which photo best represents the theme while maintaining high photographic quality. If you follow along closely in the forums, you’ve probably seem some of the winner announcements in the Conversation Corner.

This week, we take a look at the Premiere Project winning photographs from the past year, and the community is voting on their favorites. Originally the vote was only going to be among Premiere Members in the Premiere Corner, but the Premiere Members wanted to open voting up to the community at large in attempts to encourage non Premiere Members to support the Corner and become Premiere Members themselves. So for the next week, Lifetime Premiere Memberships will again be on sale for HALF PRICE for the duration of the contest. Learn about Premiere Membership here, and sign up to become a Premiere Member for HALF PRICE here.

The contest is being sponsored by our friends at Think Tank Photo - a group of designers and professional photographers focused on studying how photographers work, and developing inventive new carrying solutions to meet their needs. By focusing on “speed” and “accessibility,” they prepare photographers to Be Ready “Before The Moment,” allowing them to capture those historic moments that reflect their personal visions and artistic talents. For some companies, it is only about the product. For them, it is more: It is about supporting photographers doing their job. If Think Tank can design products that help photographers travel easier, take pictures faster, and organize their gear more efficiently, then they will have accomplished something beyond the bags themselves. As a special offer to members of PhotographyCorner, when you order $50 or more of Think Tank gear through this link, at checkout you will be able to select a product to receive for free!

The winner will receive a Think Tank Photo Retrospective® 5 camera bag (Valued at $137.50)! Voting ends at approximately 4:30pm EST on Wednesday, February 8th, 2012 (9:30pm GMT), so head on over to the voting thread to check out the 26 Premiere Project winning photographs from 2011 and cast your vote today!

Happy Holidays from the Corner (with Bonus!)

Sun, 25 Dec 2011 16:36:06 -0500

For many of us in the Corner community (and around the world), we’re right smack in the middle of the holidays (Christmas, Hanukkah, Festivus, whatever). Of course, around the Corner that also means that we’re in the middle of our annual Photograph of the Year contest. I’ve received hundreds on entries so far (I’m still working my way through them, so you will get a response from me eventually to let you know if your entry was accepted or not) and I can’t wait to show them all to you when voting starts in a couple of weeks.

One of the neat things about the contest this year is that Premiere Members can grab some bonus prizes (take a look at the prize list here)! If you want to have the opportunity to win some of the prizes, you have to be a Premiere Member. Lucky for you, from now until January 6th (when entries are due for the 2011 Photograph of the Year contest), you can get a Lifetime Premiere Membership (either level 1 or level 2), for HALF PRICE!! Not only are you giving yourself an opportunity to win bigger and better prizes (not only in the Photograph of the Year contest, but also in the Contest Corner Challenges and the Photograph of the Month contests), but you’re also supporting the site!

So if you’re not a Premiere Member yet, now is the best time to become one - at HALF PRICE! Click here to become a Premiere Member today.

Thanks to all those that continue to support the Corner with donations, and thanks to those who are already Premiere Members - you are really the heart of the community, and I am very thankful for each and every one of you. If you’re not part of the Premiere Member fold yet, I encourage you to become one today. Happy Holidays from all of us at the Corner.

It's Your Turn to Help with the 2011 Corner Fund Raiser

Tue, 10 May 2011 16:29:36 -0400

We’ve talked about it in the forums already, and now it’s time to take some action. Our server is getting old (over 65 in computer years!) and we need a new one - badly. In addition, as mobile computing because more and more popular, we’d like to be able to create an iPhone/Android app that you can download (for free) to browse the Corner a little easier. Unfortunutely, the cost of both upgrading the server and producing and releasing an app is fairly expensive. Advertising does cover most of the day-to-day operating costs of the Corner, but these upgrades/addtions are going to cost above and beyond what the Corner makes in standard advertising. Luckily, as an active member of the Corner, you can help.

We have a goal to raise $3,500 (US dollars), which will pay for all the server upgrades, as well as the increased monthly costs of the new server for the next year+. In addition, your donations will allow for the production and release of a PhotographyCorner iPhone/Android app (which will be available for FREE).

You can read through all the details of the fund raiser here on the 2011 Corner Fund Raiser page: where the money will be spent, who’s donated so far, and what you can win if you donate. Wait, what? There are prizes, too? Of course!

Thanks to some of our favorite sponsors (Tamron, Lowepro and Acme Made so far…), we have some prizes to give away to those that donate to the cause! If you donate $25, you get 1 entry, $50 gets you 3 entries, $100 gets you 8 entries, $250 gets you 25 entries, and $500 gets you 100 entries! Once we’ve raised the $3,500, I’ll throw all the entries into an randomizer, and send out some prizes (we’ve got over a dozen prizes so far - check out the fund raising page for details!). In addition, everyone that donates something gets their name listed down at the bottom of the fund raising page, and the eternal thanks and gratitude from the rest of the community.

You can make donations via PayPal by credit card, PayPal and even check. Decide how much you can help out, and click the “Pay Now” button at the bottom of the fund raising page.

Can we hit our goal of $3,500 by the end of May? Make your donation today!

Do You "Like" the Corner?

Sat, 26 Mar 2011 15:52:35 -0400

You’ve been asking for it (well, at least the moderators have been asking for it), and the Facebook “Like” buttons are finally here at the Corner. On the homepage and blog pages:

and at the top and bottom of each thread:

So if you like the Corner, give us a “like.” And if you like a thread, give it a good ol’ Facebook thumbs up. It’s a great way to show that you like thread, and a neat way to share some good photography with your friends on Facebook.

The Winner of the 2010 Premiere Project Photograph of the Year

Tue, 11 Jan 2011 11:27:44 -0500

After a week of voting (check out the voting results here), the community has decided that 4 in One by cup4tml, the winning photograph of Premiere Project #87: Multiples (and also the November 2010 Photograph of the Month) is the best Premiere Project photograph from 2010. Congratulations, Doug, for winning the second annual Premiere Project Photograph of the Year contest!!!

Premiere Projects are theme based, and with each project, Premiere Members have the opportunity to challenge themselves to grow as photographers. Each projects outlines a topic for the members to photograph. The photos are then submitted for discussion/critiquing/reactions. At the end of the project period (there’s a new project every couple of weeks), a vote is held to determine which photo best represents the theme while maintaining high photographic quality.

If you haven’y already, join the over 400 Premiere Members for HALF PRICE! The half price sale ends on Friday, January 14th, 2011. As a Premiere Member you can win bigger prices in contests, participate in Premiere Projects, have access to private forums, special rank icons and custom ranks. Check out all the benefits here, and sign up to become a Premiere Membership here.

Think Tank Photo, who graciously offered to sponsor this contest, is a group of designers and professional photographers focused on studying how photographers work, and developing inventive new carrying solutions to meet their needs. By focusing on “speed” and “accessibility,” they prepare photographers to Be Ready “Before The Moment,” allowing them to capture those historic moments that reflect their personal visions and artistic talents. For some companies, it is only about the product. For them, it is more: It is about supporting photographers doing their job. If Think Tank can design products that help photographers travel easier, take pictures faster, and organize their gear more efficiently, then they will have accomplished something beyond the bags themselves. As a special offer to members of PhotographerCorner, when you order $50 or more of Think Tank gear through this link, at checkout you will be able to select a product to receive for free!

For winning the 2010 Premiere Project Photograph of the Year contest, Doug will receive a Think Tank Photo Airport Addicted® V2.0 camera back pack (Valued at $329)!! (Read out new review of the Think Tank Photo Airport Addicted® V2.0 Camera Backpack here!)

Make sure to drop by the award thread to see a larger version of the winning photograph, and to congratulate Doug on his win!

Vote for the Best 2010 Premiere Project Winning Photograph

Tue, 04 Jan 2011 15:12:15 -0500

For the second year in a row, while we transition from entry period to voting in the 2010 Photograph of the Year contest, a great primer for the big contest is looking back at the past year of winning photographs in our Premiere Projects. Premiere Projects, hosted in the Premiere Corner every couple of weeks, are group photography projects where Premiere Members challenge themselves to grow as photographers by participating in themed “assignments.” Each projects outlines a topic for the members to photograph. The photos are then submitted for discussion/critiquing/reactions. At the end of the project period, a vote is held to determine which photo best represents the theme while maintaining high photographic quality. If you follow along closely in the forums, you’ve probably seem some of the winner announcements in the Conversation Corner.

Now it’s time for the community to vote for their favorites. Originally the vote was only going to be amoung Premiere Members in the Premiere Corner, but the Premiere Members wanted to open voting up to the community at large in attempts to encourage non Premiere Members to support the Corner and become Premiere Members themselves. To that end, the HALF PRICE Premiere Membership sale will continue through to the end of the voting for this contest. Learn about Premiere Membership here, and sign up to become a Premiere Member for HALF PRICE here.

Voting Ends at approximately 5:00pm EST (10:00pm GMT) on Monday, January 10th, 2010. Current 2010 Photograph of the Year Sponsors, Think Tank Photo, are offering up a Think Tank Photo Airport Addicted® V2.0 camera back pack (Valued at $329) to the winner. Nice! Think Tank Photo is a group of designers and professional photographers focused on studying how photographers work, and developing inventive new carrying solutions to meet their needs. By focusing on “speed” and “accessibility,” they prepare photographers to Be Ready “Before The Moment,” allowing them to capture those historic moments that reflect their personal visions and artistic talents. For some companies, it is only about the product. For them, it is more: It is about supporting photographers doing their job. If Think Tank can design products that help photographers travel easier, take pictures faster, and organize their gear more efficiently, then they will have accomplished something beyond the bags themselves. As a special offer to members of PhotographerCorner, when you order $50 or more of Think Tank gear through this link, at checkout you will be able to select a product to receive for free!

To sum up, whether or not you’re a Premiere Member, we need your votes to decide who will earn Premiere Project Photograph of the Year honors for 2010. If you’re not yet a Premiere Member, help yourself become a better photographer by participating in the Premiere Projects, and become a Premiere Member (HALF PRICE SALE) today.

The 2011 Corner Calendar's are Now On Sale!

Mon, 08 Nov 2010 15:08:11 -0500

It’s a project that’s been in the works for months, and we’re finally ready to begin taking orders. We’re talking, of course, about the 2011 Corner Calendar. Featuring 24 beautiful photographs by many of the most talented and most popular members of the PhotographyCorner community, this spectacular-looking calendar, being printed courtesy of Mpix.com, is finally ready to be printed and shipped. The 8.5×11 (11×17 open) calendar will be printed on high quality, pearl paper. Shipping (worldwide!) is included in the price ($25 for 1, $20 for each additional up to 5, $18 for any additional beyond 5). Remember, all proceeds from calendar sales go towards supporting the Corner (it ain’t cheap to keep the servers for this place running, you know).

It went on sale for Premiere Members last week (yet another perk of Premiere Membership), and they’re already flying off the proverbial shelves. The calendar boasts 24 photos (2 per month) from some of the best photographers and most popular members around the Corner: Photograph of the Year winning photos, Contest Corner Challenge winning photos, Premiere Project winning photos, and Photograph of the Month winning photos. Check out a small version of the cover below:

We anticipate getting the calendars in before the end of the month, and should have them shipped out to everyone well before Christmas (these will make AWESOME stocking-stuffers!).

Get all the details and place your order (before they sell out) here on the 2011 Corner Calendar ordering page. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them in the comments.

The 2011 Corner Calendar is Coming

Thu, 28 Oct 2010 01:53:02 -0400

About a month ago, we sent out a survey asking if the PhotographyCorner community would be interested in putting together a calendar that featured a variety of PotM, PotY, and CCC winning photographs, and if there was enough interest to sell them as a fundraiser. Results were mixed, but definitely the majority liked the idea, and more than enough said you would be interested in buying one or more to support the Corner. After tallying the results from the survey, we’re going to go ahead and give it a go. We’ll start by doing a limited run.

We’ve already begun gathering photos (and release forms) from photographers, and we’re in the process of getting the calendar put together. Mpix.com has graciously offered to print them for us (so you know the quality will be fantastic).

Several hundred of you took the time to provide feedback on the idea, both positive and negative, and allow me to thank you all for all you input. Based on your feedback, here are some details on the calendar:

The calendar will feature mulitple photos per page so that we can include a couple dozen featured photographers
The calendar will be a standard 8.5×11 (11×17 open) size to save on shipping costs
The purchase price for the calendars will include shipping and any applicable taxes
Photo releases have been and are being obtained for each photo used in the calendar
The pricing structure will be as follows: $25 for 1st calendar, and $20 for each additional calendar (remember, shipping is included - world wide!)
Premiere Members will receive an additional discount of $2/calendar
The calendar will include international holidays (but not country-specific ones - this is an international community afterall!) as well as important days around the Corner
The calendar will be printed on high quality, pearl paper

The calendars will go on sale for Premiere Members on Friday, November 5th, and will be available for the community to purchase beginning on Monday, November 8th. The calendars will ship out before the end of November, so should be delivered well in time for Christmas (these will make awesome stocking stuffers!).

If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments - I’m looking forward to seeing our photos hanging on everyone’s wall!

PrintedArt and the Corner Launch Joint Photography Collection

Wed, 27 Oct 2010 17:59:01 -0400

In case you missed the press release earlier today, we’ve got a huge announcement to share the with the community. PhotographyCorner is partnering with one of our newest sponsors, PrintedArt, to launch a joint fine art photography collection, based on our Photograph of the Month contest! All future PotM winners will be invited to participate, and the joint collection will be marketed by both companies through our websites and other channels.

As you probably already know, PrintedArt is a web-based fine art photography collection that curates a highly selective gallery for the home decor and hospitality markets. Every image in the collection is sold in a limited edition and produced in a modern gallery-grade display format mounted either on aluminum dibond and finished with acrylic, printed on canvas, or as fine art prints on archival paper for custom framing.

Caption Contests Closed (for the Summer)

Thu, 01 Jul 2010 01:00:31 -0400

For almost 5 years, the Caption Contests have been a popular section of the Corner Forums. The premise: Someone posts up a funny photo, and we all come up with witty captions for said photo. The winner gets to pick the next photo and we start all over again. If you want to check out some hilarious photos with even better captions, take some time to wade through the first 200 caption contests.

That being said, as of late, we’ve noticed a dip in participation in the caption contests - maybe we’re doing them too often, maybe we need to offer token prizes? Maybe funny captions on photos are just “so 2007.” Regardless, we’re going to take a break from the Caption Contests for the summer. If you cry, beg, scream, wail and offer bribes throughout the summer in the comments thread here, we may bring them back in the Fall… maybe. Make sure to say thanks to digital2006 for hosting the contests over the past 1+ years… it’s more work than you’d think.

Forum Spotlight: Photography Equipment

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 03:16:40 -0500

The PhotographyCorner forums are filled with dozens of different forums; from the Conversation Corner and Member Introductions forums, to the Photo Sharing Corner and Critiques & Feedback Corner, to the Premiere Corner, Photography Contests and The Marketplace, and all the other forums in between. One group of forums that is often overlooked however, is the Photography Equipment forums. Almost all of us have a camera (it’s not a necessity around the Corner, though you’ll find that almost everyone that participates around the Corner has at least 1 camera), and the Photography Equipment forums are all about our cameras and accessories. We can talk about our new sigma lenses, the new Olympus dSLR, which filter set you prefer, point-and-shoot cameras, lighting, computers, software, etc.

Uncommon View is the 2009 Premiere Project Photograph of the Year

Sat, 16 Jan 2010 19:34:58 -0500

Last week we announced that, for the first time ever, the winning photographs of the Premiere Projects from the past year will be pitted against each other and voted on to determine which photograph will be the Premiere Project Photograph of the Year. Voting is now complete (check out the results here), and with over 20% of the votes, Uncommon View, the Premiere Project #59 winning photograph by tamara has emerged as the winner!

Originally the vote was only going to be among Premiere Members in the Premiere Members Only Section of PhotographyCorner, but the Premiere Members wanted to open voting up to the community at large in attempts to encourage non Premiere Members to support the Corner and become Premiere Members themselves. To that end, the HALF PRICE Premiere Membership sale will continue until Monday, January 18th, 2010. Learn about Premiere Membership here, and sign up to become a Premiere Member for HALF PRICE here.

The contest is being sponsored by DayMen Photo Marketing, and tamara will receive a prize pack courtesy of Daymen valued at over $100.

To participate in future Premiere Projects, sign up to become a Premiere Member here for HALF PRICE (Hurry - only a couple of days left to get in at HALF PRICE!!).

Make sure to drop by the award thread to congratulate tamara on her win.

2009 PotY Voting Delayed & PPotY Voting Announced

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 14:27:49 -0500

It’s taken longer than expected to wade through the entries for the 2009 Photograph of the Year contest, so voting is going to be delayed a day or two. To tide you over, however, voting for the Premiere Project of the Year contest has just begun! Premiere Projects are theme based, and with each project, Premiere Members have the opportunity to challenge themselves to grow as photographers. Each projects outlines a topic for the members to photograph. The photos are then submitted for discussion/critiquing/reactions. At the end of the project period (there’s a new project every couple of weeks), a vote is held to determine which photo best represents the theme while maintaining high photographic quality.

Today, for the first time ever, the community will vote for the best Premiere Project photograph from the past year. Originally the vote was only going to be among Premiere Members in the Premiere Members Only Section of PhotographyCorner, but the Premiere Members wanted to open voting up to the community at large in attempts to encourage non Premiere Members to support the Corner and become Premiere Members themselves. To that end, the HALF PRICE Premiere Membership sale will continue through to the end of the voting for this contest. Learn about Premiere Membership here, and sign up to become a Premiere Member for HALF PRICE here.

The contest is being sponsored by DayMen Photo Marketing, and the winner will receive a prize pack courtesy of Daymen valued at over $100.

Check out the entries and cast your vote in the voting thread in the Photograph of the Year forum. Voting ends on January 15th, 2010.

To participate in future Premiere Projects, sign up to become a Premiere Member here for HALF PRICE (for a limited time only).

Half-Price Premiere Membership Sale (& $25 Off from Mpix.com!)

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:47:21 -0400

If you’ve been around the Corner for a while, you’re probably familiar with all the benefits of Premiere Membership: exclusive forum access; bigger prizes; Premiere Projects; Post-Processing Projects; larger Corner Photo Galleries; the ability to nominate photographs for the Photograph of the Month contests, and the list goes on and on. Now, until the end of the month, you have the opportunity to become a Premiere Member for HALF PRICE!!

Until the end of September, you can become a Level I Premiere Member for $39.50 or a Level II Premiere Member for $64.50!! In addition, the first 40 new Premiere Members will receive a $25 discount (no minimum purchase, and discount can be applied to shipping!) off your next order at Mpix.com!

To sum up:

Become a Premiere Member at half the regular price
Support the Corner
Get free $25 worth of free stuff from Mpix.com

To find out more about becoming a Premiere Member, visit www.photographycorner.com/premiere-membership, and to become a Premiere Member today, visit the Paid Subscriptions section of the UserCP in the Corner Forums. For more information on Mpix.com and to see what products they have to offer, visit www.mpix.com.

You only have until the end of September to take advantage of both half-price Premiere Membership and the $25 discount from Mpix - so BECOME A PREMIERE MEMBER TODAY!.

Minor Update to the Photo Sharing/Critiques & Feedback Guidelines

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:43:30 -0400

Since the recent restructuring of the Corner Forums, we also updated some of the guidelines, including the guidelines for the new Photo Sharing Corner, and the guidelines for the updated Critiques & Feedback Corner. After some discussion, we’ve decided to make a minor update to the guidelines. Now, the guidelines for the Photo Sharing Corner and the Critiques & Feedback Corner contain the following note: “It’s often easier to show people rather than tell them how you’d change their photographs. Some people, however, don’t appreciate it when you edit their photographs. If you want to edit someone’s photograph, please make sure to ask before going ahead and making those changes.” Pretty straight-forward and simple: if you want to help someone by editing someone’s photograph, just ask first. Other than that, everything is the same as it ever was. If you haven’t jumped in to the new Photo Sharing Corner and Critiques & Feedback Corner, you should check them out - lots of great photographs being shared in the Photo Sharing Corner, and some great feedback and critiques in the Critiques & Feedback Corner.