As is the ongoing custom around here it seems, the newsletter just managed to make it out before the end of the month in which it draws its name. It went out earlier this afternoon, and our poor server managed to chug out all 20,000 of them in a couple of hours (see how you can help our server here). So, if you’ve opted in to receiving the newsletter, it should be waiting for you in your inbox. If it didn’t make it, or you enjoy reading it online, you can browse through the May 2011 Corner Newsletter here in the Corner Newsletter Archives.

The newsletter was sponsored by a new sponsor to the Corner: Animoto. I’ve used Animoto in the past, and it’s a service that comes highly recommended by me personally. Animoto Pro is an award-winning new tool for pro photogs that lets you instantly combine your photos and video clips into beautiful, custom videos. See how Animoto Pro can boost your business here. Animoto Pro includes exclusive video styles, a music library of 1000+ commercially licensed songs, and unlimited HD 720p video upgrades. Photography superstar Scott Bourne is no stranger to the trends in technology and social media for photographers. Check out his tips and tricks on the best ways to sell Animoto videos. Best of all, you can try it yourself! If you’re a member of the Corner, we’ve even got a special deal for you: Sign up for a year of Animoto Pro and get 2 months free! Use Promo Code: PC52011.

Usually a couple of days before each Corner Newsletter goes out (in this case, the newsletter should be going out later today), we take a couple of minutes to recognize and award members of the Corner who have hit posting milestones over the past month. Commitment Awards are handed out to those who have shown great community dedication & commitment, and have reached a specific post-count milestone (1k, 2k, 5k and 10k). We have one member receiving an award this month: jaharris1001. Not only has Jim won several PotM’s and reached the 2,000 post mark, but he also played a big role in “recruiting” a bunch of our newest active members from “another forum which must not be named.” Thanks for your dedication and commitment to making PhotographyCorner an awesome online destination for photographers!

He joined the Corner 2 weeks ago, had a photo nominated for the Photograph of the Month contest, and earlier today it was announced that he won his first Photograph of the Month. We’re talking, of course, of Nikonkidforever and the May 2011 Photograph of the Month contest. But I mean, with a photograph like this, it’s not wonder it took over 21% of the votes - it’s a spectacular capture of a bald eagle.

The contest was sponsored by out friends at DayMen Photo Marketing (an innovative manufacturer and distributor of high quality imaging products and accessories) and Lowepro (inventors and designers of popular camera bags, photographers and lovers of the natural world who take their reputation as The Trusted Original™ to heart). Since Jere was not a Premiere Member (tisk, tisk), he’ll receive a Lowepro Cirrus 100 camera bag (a small, but surprisingly cute and useful camera bag).

If you haven’t already, take a browse through the May 2011 Photograph of the Month Photo Gallery and see the photos that were nominated for the title this month, then make sure to swing by the award thread to congratulate Jere on his first PotM win (and to welcome him to the Corner - he’s only been here 2 weeks!).

As many have noticed, there are quite a few images from “new” members up for the May 2011 Photograph of the Month. Don’t believe me? Check out the line-up here in the May 2011 Photograph of the Month Photo Gallery. See many names you recognize? To be fair, there have been a bunch of new members join the forum that have migrated over from another forum recently, so it’s not like the folks new to the Corner are new to photography. And I guess it makes sense that new members will post up some of their best work as a “photographic introduction.” That’s my theory, at least. Either way, it’s great to see a lot of new photographers represented in the Photograph of the Month contest.

The contest is sponsored by out friends at DayMen Photo Marketing (an innovative manufacturer and distributor of high quality imaging products and accessories) and Lowepro (inventors and designers (of popular camera bags), photographers and lovers of the natural world who take our reputation as The Trusted Original™ to heart). If the winner is a Premiere Member, they will receive a Lowepro Apex 110 AW (Blue) camera bag. If the winner is not a Premiere Member, they will receive a Lowepro Cirrus 100 camera bag.

Browse through the 15 nominated photographers in the May 2011 PotM Gallery, then head over to the forums to cast your vote in the voting thread. Voting ends at approximately 6:00pm EST (10:00pm GMT) on Saturday, April 30th, 2011, and the winner will be announced on May 1st. Now perform your civic duty, and GO VOTE!

Over 50 photographs (you can check them all out here in the CCC#74: …Bring May Flowers Photo Gallery), and a new way to vote (the ability to vote for multiple photographs instead of just one), made for an exciting conclusion to PhotographyCorner’s 74th Contest Corner Challenge: nrshapiro claimed his 2nd CCC win (by 1 vote, I might add), with his photograph “Wild Beauty” (pictured right). You can check out the voting results here in the voting thread.

The contest was sponsored by our good friends at Red River Paper - Inkjet paper from inkjet paper experts. Look for reviews of new photographic paper and greeting card paper available from Red River Paper coming soon to the Corner Resource Center. In addition, a portion of every purchase made at Red River Paper through this link goes towards supporting the Corner - get some great paper and support your favorite photography site at the same time! Since Neil is a Premiere Member, he will receive a prize pack of a variety of greeting card and paper products courtesy of Red River Paper. If you haven’t already, make sure to drop by the award thread to congratulate Neil on his win.

I’m a week+ late in announcing it on the blog (just moved into a new house & new office), but the May 2010 Photograph of the Month was revealed at the beginning of the month: Pure Beauty by Scott W. You can check out the final voting results here, but Scott grabed over 25% of the votes from the 15 nominated photographs. To browse through the photographs that the fantastic photograph of a mandarin duck was competing with, head on over to the May 2010 Photograph of the Month Gallery.

The contest was sponsored by Tamron, who offered up an SP AF60mm F2 Di II LD (IF) 1:1 Macro Lens (a $569 value!! - pick one up for yourself today!) to the winner - unfortunately, because Scott was not (yet) a Premiere Member, he instead received a Lifetime, Level II Premiere Membership as the prize. After-the-fact, though, Tamron has been kind enough to also offer up a Tamron Domke bag and strap as part of Scott’s prize. Awesome!

For those that are not completely familiar with Tamron, they are a leading manufacturer of photographic lenses. Among its many optical and mechanical innovations since the founding of the company in 1950, Tamron’s development of mass-produced hybrid aspherical elements paved the way for today’s compact high ratio zoom lenses when, in 1992, this technology was incorporated into the groundbreaking 28-200mm. Tamron continues to lead in this category with the award-winning 18-270mm — featuring an unprecedented 15X zoom range - and featuring Tamron’s proprietary Vibration Compensation (VC) system. Tamron has garnered international acclaim for its high ratio zoom lenses.

If you haven’t already, be sure to swing by the May 2010 PotM award thread to congratulate Scott on his first Photograph of the Month victory!

Every month, during the last week of the month, we gather together as a community and cast our votes for the best photograph posted up on PhotographyCorner over the past month. Throughout the month, Premiere Members have the opportunity to nominate photographs they come across in the forums and galleries, then, as the last week of the month approaches, I have the difficult task of narrowing those nominations down to 10-15 photographs. Voting for the May 2010 Photograph of the Month began late last night/early this morning, and you can see the photos that I finally got whittled down in the May 2010 Photograph of the Month Gallery.

Once you’ve had a chance to browse through the photographs, click your way over to the May 2010 Photograph of the Month Voting Thread to cast you vote - voting ends at 2:00am EST on Saturday, May 1st, 2010 (6:00am GMT).

The contest is sponsored by one of our favorite lens manufacturers: Tamron. Among its many optical and mechanical innovations since the founding of the company in 1950, Tamron’s development of mass-produced hybrid aspherical elements paved the way for today’s compact high ratio zoom lenses when, in 1992, this technology was incorporated into the groundbreaking 28-200mm. Tamron continues to lead in this category with the award-winning 18-270mm — featuring an unprecedented 15X zoom range - and featuring Tamron’s proprietary Vibration Compensation (VC) system.

Now, for the prizes… if the winner is not a Premiere Member, they will receive a Lifetime, Level 2 Premiere Membership (a $129 value)… but if the winner is a Premiere Member, they will receive a SP AF60mm F2 Di II LD (IF) 1:1 Macro Lens (a $569 value!! - pick one up for yourself today!) WOW!

Your vote may decide who picks themselves up a brand new Tamron Macro Lens - cast your vote today!

It’s out a couple of days later than I had hoped, but as I’m writing this blog post, our server is sending out over 12,000 copies of the May 2009 Corner Newsletter. If you’re a member of the Corner and have your preferences set to receive it, it should be sitting in your inbox waiting for you. If you’re not a member of the Corner, you can register here. And if you are a member of the Corner, but you didn’t receive it, you can update your mail preferences here by selecting to receive email from administrators. Of course, if for some reason you’ve chosen not to receive it, or you’re not a member of the Corner (it’s free to sign up, you know), you can read a copy of the newsletter here in the Corner Newsletter Archives. Enjoy!

The May 2009 edition of the Corner Newsletter is due out in a couple of days and, as always, that means it’s time to hand out Commitment Awards to those that have reached milestones with regards to their post-count in the past month. Commitment Awards are handed out to those who have shown great community dedication & commitment, and have reached a specific post-count milestone (1k, 2k, 5k and 10k). This month, like in April we only have 1 person receiving an award this month.

Throughout the month of April, Premiere Members have been looking through the Corner Forums and Corner Galleries, looking for the best photographs posted around the site. Then, all of last week, the community voted on the top 10-15 photographs from the past month (14 this month). After a week of voting (and the voting ended up being really close - check out the results here!), shutterbug2007’s photograph titled “Storms…” won out with over 13% of the votes and was crowned the May 2009 Photograph of the Month.

April is almost over, which means it’s time to vote for the May 2009 Photograph of the Month here around the Corner. Every month, the last week of the month is voting time, PotM style. Over the past month, the Premiere Members have been keeping an eye out for the best photographs posted in the Corner forums and in the Corner galleries. I have the (difficult!) job of narrowing the nominations down to 10-15, and now it’s your turn - it’s time to cast your vote for the best photograph posted up to the Corner over the past month. You get to decide which photograph gets to hang out on the main page of PhotographyCorner for May 2009.

Just a quick post (then I’m heading to bed) to let you know that the May 2008 Corner Newsletter has been sent out (so if you’ve set your preferences to receive it, it’s waiting for you in your inbox). If you didn’t receive it, you can always read it online here. Oh, and make sure you check out the newsletter sponsor: Parade Portfolio Management Tools - without their sponsorship, you wouldn’t have received a newsletter this month.

Like clockwork, just before the Corner Newsletter goes out, we take a couple of minutes to see who’s reached posting milestones here around the Corner. We’ve got three this month - thanks to everyone who continues to contribute to the Corner, and congratulations to those who are receiving the awards below!

With his photograph Pearl, fa1sal has won the May 2008 Photograph of the Month. This marks the third Photograph of the Month including a co-win back in July 2007.

It’s the last week of the month, so you know what that means, right? Time to vote on the Photograph of the Month!!

Contest Corner Challenge #33: May Flowers is now complete, with Susan being declared the winner.

Just a quick post to let you know that the Volume 4, Issue 4 - May 2007 PhotographyCorner Newsletter is waiting for you in your inbox.

CCC#32 just came to a close, so that means it’s time to announce the next CCC. It’s a little cliché, but it’s the first thing that popped into my head (believe it or not, I don’t always plan the challenges more than a couple of minutes in advance!): April Showers Bring May Flowers.

Gavin Johnstone (otherwise known as ZHeng), a 17-year-old senior (grade 12) from Sidney, BC, has won the May 2007 Photograph of the Month - his SECOND PotM win since joining the Corner over one and a half years ago.

It’s nearing the end of the month, and that means it’s voting time for the Photograph of the Month again. You can vote for the May 2007 PotM here.