While you were sound asleep last night, the servers that bring you PhotographyCorner were pumping out thousands and thousands of emails, delivering the October 2011 edition of the Corner newsletter to your inboxes. If you haven’t already, check your inbox and have a read through. If, for some reason, it didn’t arrive, or you’ve chosen not to receive it, you can read it online here in the Corner Newsletter Archives.

The newsletter was sponsored by Proud Photography: Are you PROUD of your photos?

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Usually a couple of days before each Corner Newsletter goes out 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 three members receiving awards this month: digital2006, no16caddis, and Jriepe. Jriepe is receiving a broze commitment award for reaching the 1,000 post mark (in just over half-a-year!); no16caddis is receiving a silver commitment award for reaching the 2,000 post mark (took him about 3.5 years to get there!); and a Platinum Commitment Award (only the 7th given out to date!) for reaching 10,000 posts goes to digital2006 - not only has Marty reaching a huge post milestone (in less than 5 years!), but he’s also an invaluable member of the Mod Squad here around the Corner. Thanks for your dedication and commitment to making PhotographyCorner an awesome online destination for photographers!

Due to some server problems, we had to wait a couple of extra days to find out the winner, but after the votes were tallied, Shanna-Marie grabbed her first Photograph of the Month victory with her stunning shot of three eagles titled “Waltz on Wingtips.” With over 21% of the votes (see the final voting results here), Shanna-Marie beat out the eleven other nominated photographs for the title of “October 2011 Photograph of the Month.”

The contest was sponsored by our friends at DayMen Photo Marketing (an innovative manufacturer and distributor of high quality imaging products and accessories) and Acme Made (best known for incorporating innovative textiles and materials with contemporary styling to produce attractive bags, cases and sleeves for laptops, eReaders, smart phones, and digital cameras). Since Shanna-Marie was not a Premiere Member, she will receive a Lifetime, Level I Premiere Membership!

Check out a larger version of the winning photograph, and congratulate Shanna-Marie on her victory here in the award thread. To have your photograph considered for the next Photograph of the Month contest, all you have to do is post your photographs up in the forums and galleries, then hope a Premiere Member nominates it (or become a Premiere Member and nominate it yourself!).

For the past 7+ years, the last week of every month has always been “voting week” here around the Corner. We take the time to browse through the best photographs that have been posted up to the forums and the galleries (although you actually have to be a Premiere Member to nominate photographs), and vote on which one will be displayed as the Photograph of the Month on the homepage of the site. It’s the last week of September (yikes!) which means we’re voting on the October Photograph of the Month (the photograph that was posted up in September, but will be displayed on the homepage in October).

Take a couple of minutes to browse through the nominated photographs in the October 2011 PotM Photo Gallery, then head on over to the voting thread in the forums before the end of the month to cast your vote.

The contest is being sponsored by our friends at DayMen Photo Marketing (an innovative manufacturer and distributor of high quality imaging products and accessories) and Acme Made (best known for incorporating innovative textiles and materials with contemporary styling to produce attractive bags, cases and sleeves for laptops, eReaders, smart phones, and digital cameras). If the winner is a Premiere Member, they will receive an Acme Made Laptop Sleeve or an Acme Made Kindle Hardback Folio case. If the winner is not a Premiere Member, they will receive a Lifetime, Level I Premiere Membership.

We’ve got 12 fantastic entries up for the October 2011 PotM, so make sure you check ‘em out and cast your vote today!

Again left until the last day of the month, the October 2010 Corner Newsletter managed to squeak out just in time. As always, if you’re a member of the PhotographyCorner forums and have elected to receive email from the administrators (me), it should be waiting for you in your inbox. If you’re not a member of the forum (register here!), you can still read the entire newsletter online here (how nice of us, eh?).

The newsletter was sponsored by our friends at Tamron and the SP 70-300mm Di VC USD Best-in-Class Tele Zoom. In the pursuit to achieve the most outstanding image resolution in the 70-300mm class, Tamron’s 60th Anniversary lens - the SP 70-300mm F4-5.6 Di VC USD (Model A005) - utilizes an advanced optical design that features an LD (Low Dispersion) and an XLD (Extra Low Dispersion) lens element made from specialized materials that prevent chromatic aberration. As a result, the SP 70-300mm Di VC USD boasts sharper contrast and greater descriptive performance than all others in its class. This is the first Tamron lens to sport USD (Ultrasonic Silent Drive), Tamron’s very own ultrasonic auto-focus drive mechanism. This USD mechanism delivers fast focusing, making it a perfect telephoto zoom choice for photographing sports, racing, or other fast-moving subjects. The lens also boasts Tamron’s proprietary VC (Vibration Compensation) image stabilization to assist in hand-held photography, not only at long focal length ranges where blurring is common, but also under low-lit conditions, dramatically enhancing photographic freedom. This combination of best in class image resolution, Ultrasonic Silent Drive and Vibration Compensation is a new achievement of Tamron technology, culminating in the production of a premium 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens. Winner of EISA Best Zoom Lens 2010-2011. Available for full-frame and APS-C sensor cameras in Canon, Nikon and Sony mounts (the latter without VC). $50 rebate thru 12/31/10.

Next month, it is my goal to have the newsletter out before the last day of the month. Think I can do it?

I’m in the middle of preparing to send out the Corner Newsletter and almost forgot to hand out the Commitment Awards earned in the past month! We have only 1 award to hand out this month: a Gold Commitment Award to chellezfotoz. Commitment Awards are awarded to those who reach certain post milestones (10,000 posts for a platinum award, 5,000 posts for a gold award, 2,000 posts for a silver award, and 1,000 posts for a bronze award) and have shown dedication and commitment to the Corner. Thanks to everyone who continues to contribute to the Corner, and a special thank-you to Michelle - a fantastic moderator, and all-around great person to have in the PhotographyCorner family. Without her help, the Photograph of the Month contests would start late every month!

Photographs of soft, flowing water have taken the last two Photograph of the Month contests (see the August 2010 Photograph of the Month and the September 2010 Photograph of the Month) and jaharris1001 (aka Jim Harris) continued the trend by taking October 2010 Photograph of the Month honors with his photograph “Early Morning Flow” (pictured right). The voting was ridiculously close, though, as Jim pulled off the win by ONE vote, and TEN other entries within 9 votes - one of the tightest votes we’ve ever seen!! Check out the final voting results here.

The contest is being sponsored by one of our newest sponsors here around the Corner: PrintedArt - an online collection of emerging and established fine art photography sold as finished artwork on advanced display material such as acrylic and aluminum dibond. Photographers can also use the PrintedArt photolab to print their own work on the same modern display material.

Since Jim is a Premiere Member, he will receive a production of his photograph on aluminum dibond with acrylic finish (a $150 value) courtesy of PrintedArt. And that photo is going to look fantastic on aluminum dibond.

If you haven’t already, make sure to drop by the award thread and congratulate Jim on his second Photograph of the Month win.

It feels like we just announced the winner of the September 2010 Photograph of the Month, but here we are ready to begin voting on the October 2010 Photograph of the Month - September just flew by. As we truck along, the photographers that call the Corner home continue to improve, and the impressive line-up of nominated photographs this month easily prove my point - check out the 15 photos up for the October 2010 crown in the October 2010 Photograph of the Month Gallery. Double kudos to squirl033, Spicoli & jaharris1001 for each having 2 photos up for the award.

Voting began late last night/early this morning, so once you’ve had a chance to check out the photos, head on over to the voting thread and cast your votes. Voting ends at approximately 3:00am EST on Friday, October 1st, 2010 (7:00am GMT), and we’ll announce the winner later that day.

We’ve got a new sponsor for this contest, who you should be seeing more of around the Corner in the coming months (don’t want to give away all the surprises, though ) - PrintedArt - an online collection of emerging and established fine art photography sold as finished artwork on advanced display material such as acrylic and aluminum dibond. Photographers can also use the PrintedArt photolab to print their own work on the same modern display material. If the winner is a Premiere Member, they will receive a production of their photograph on aluminum dibond with acrylic finish (maximum length or height of 20 inches - a $150 value). If the winner is not a Premiere Member, they will receive a production of their photograph on aluminum dibond with acrylic finish (maximum length or height of 15 inches - a $90 value).

We’ve got some other surprises coming from PrintedArt soon, but you’ll have to keep your eyes on the Corner Blog to find out what they are. In the meantime, make sure to cast your vote for the October 2010 Photograph of the Month (and don’t forget to congratulate those who have photos up for the crown!).

Forget the morning paper. What you’re going to want to read is Volume 6, Issue 10 of the Corner Newsletter. The October 2009 edition is hot off the press and waiting for you in your inbox. This issue is packed full of video corner’s, resources, contests, forum discussions, challenges, info on the new Lensbaby optics, and lots, lots more! If someone stole your newsletter from you inbox, you can always read it online here in the Corner forums: Volume 6, Issue 10 - October 2009.

Usually a couple of days before each Corner Newsletter goes out, we take a couple of minutes to recognize and award members of the Corner who have hit posting milestones over the past month. With 5 days left in October, we’re cutting it awfully close to get the October newsletter out in October. Nonetheless, we want to celebrate those members of the Corner who are receiving Commitment Awards this 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 three members receiving awards this month: Gems, tealsky and NNYorkie. Thanks for your dedication and commitment to making PhotographyCorner an awesome online destination for photographers!

You’re probably as surprised as I was to find out that the winner of the October 2009 Photograph of the Month contest, squirl033 had never received Photograph of the Month honors until now. Winston “Rocky” Rockwell’s PhotographyCorner resume include the winner of the 2006 Photograph of the Year, and he placed third in the 2008 Photograph of the Year contest. But the October 2009 Photograph of the Month marks his first monthly win. The winning photograph titled “Shuksan Afternoon,” is a 5-shot vertical stitch taken in the beautiful Pacific Northwest (Mount Shuksan in Washington).

You can see the other photographs that were nominated for the October 2009 PotM in the Contest Corner Galleries, and browse through the final voting results in the voting thread. The contest was sponsored by Lensbaby.com, and since Rocky is a Premiere Member, he’ll receive the recently reviewed Lensbaby Composer.

Make sure to drop by the award thread to congratulate Rocky on his first Photograph of the Month win!

It doesn’t happen very often - at least I try to schedule it so it doesn’t - but this month the voting for both the October 2009 Photograph of the Month and the voting for Contest Corner Challenge #67: Food For Thought have completely overlapped. Voting for both contests started yesterday (September 23rd), and both end on September 30th, with the winners being announced on October 1st. There are a lot of photos to go through, but every vote counts. Below, in point form, is all the info you need to make an informed decision.

When we originally released the Corner Community Chat schedule for 2008, we hadn’t figured out the topic of our October 29th chat. newlove, the wonderful mod here at the Corner that has been organizing all these chats, came up with a fantastic theme: Story Time. It’s just what the name suggests, we will be sharing our best and worse experiences while out in the field. So put your brain on rewind and bring your stories to the Corner Chat Room Wednesday night at 7pm ET (11pm GMT), and we’ll be going until around 9pm ET (1am GMT). It should be a fun, amusing, educational and enlightening night (and for those of you that need it, I’ll be sending out a PM reminder about an hour before the chat starts)!

Just a quick post to let you know that, as promised, the newsletter is complete, and it should be waiting for you in your inbox (the server is sending them out as I type this). If, for one reason or another it doesn’t show up, or your choose not to receive it via email, you can always read it online here: PhotographyCorner.com Newsletter: Volume 5, Issue 9 - October 2008. Oh… and don’t forget to check out the sponsor of the newsletter, KubotaImageTools.com - their photoshop actions are incredible!

The October 2008 edition of the Corner Newsletter is set to go 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). We have four members receiving awards this month. Thanks for your dedication and commitment to making PhotographyCorner an awesome online destination for photographers!

A week ago, we held a Corner Community Chat with the open-ended topic of “Questions & Answers.” All-in-all, 40-50 people showed up over the 2-hour chat, and we had a great discussion. Sure, some of the chit chat was purely socializing, but is that what it’s really all about? We get a chance a couple times of month to just chat with other photographers. We did touch on some great questions, though, which are outlined below (but if you want the full scoop on what goes on in each chat, you’ll have to show up - I can’t give away everything in the recap, right?).

When we originally released the Corner Community Chat schedule for 2008, we had the chat tonight listed as an “Ask a Pro” chat. Unfortunately, we had a couple of pros lined up that are now unable to attend (at least, they’re unable to commit to being there). So instead, we’re going to hold a general photography “Questions & Answers” chat. It will basically be an opportunity to chat with other photographers, ask questions, answers questions, and participate in general photography shop talk. We’re meeting in the Corner Chat Room tonight at 7pm ET (11pm GMT), and going until around 9pm ET (1am GMT).

So bring your photography-related questions and answers, and we’ll see you tonight (and for those of you that need it, I’ll be sending out a PM reminder about an hour before the chat starts)!

It’s the first of the month, and that means one thing here around the Corner: time to award the Photograph of the Month. Over the past week, the community has been voting on 10 fantastic photographs, and the winner was announced today… Reeflections (aka Mike Roberts) with his photograph Morning Tides.

Are you looking for a fun, photography outing? Have you wondered what it might be like to meet some fellow members of PhotographyCorner? Then circle Saturday, October 18th on your calendar for the first PhotographyCorner Photo Walk! The concept is simple and sure to be a lot of fun.

It’s the last week of September (how did that happen already??!?!), so that means it’s time to vote for the October 2008 Photograph of the Month. We have 10 fantastic photographs up for voting this month, which you can check out in the October 2008 Photograph of the Month Gallery and then you can check them out again and cast your vote in the voting thread.