$1,000 Photo Challenge

Studies show it takes 21 days to form a habit.  So the goal of this challenge is to get your camera out and take photos for 21 days.

You can take pictures of anything you want — pets, family and friends, your breakfast, cups in a cupboard, you name it.  The goal is simply to get in the habit of taking photos.

We’re asking for three photos so that you’re encouraged to shoot something new rather than sift through your old collection.  Remember — the goal here is to get in the habit of photographing something new every day.

After January 31, our staff will pick a winning series that meets these criteria:

• Tells a story or follows a theme
• Images are taken with care and intention
• Has good composition (see this article for help) 

The winner will get a check for $1,000! And we will publish the winning photos in our e-letter.

You might try shooting…

• The same location every day, in different weather, or with different circumstances. You could capture the bus stop with different people… the dock on three different fishing days… the city skyline with different cloud formations above, etc…
• The passing of time, such as an apple as it decomposes…
• Breakfast, then lunch, then dinner… 
• Three different winter scenes in your town…
• Three detail shots of a place you like to go…
• One wide-angle shot, one closer, and one up-close of the same thing…
• Any theme you love.

Here are some rules…

1. You must be an amateur photographer to enter the Photo Challenge. “Amateur photographer” is defined for our purposes as a photographer who has earned less than $10,000 from their photography.

2. You must be 18 years of age (or the minimum age required by law at the time of entering) to participate. Employees and contractors of GREAT ESCAPE PUBLISHING and its affiliated companies are not eligible.

3. You MUST attach three photos to your entry.  One entry per person.   Duplicates will be deleted and removed from the competition.  Entries with one photo attached will also be deleted as you’re supposed to attach three photos in a series.  You must include all three on the same email.

4. You must hold the copyright to any photo you submit. (If you took the photo, you automatically own the copyright.) If a photographer violates copyright law, his or her photo will be disqualified.

Note: The copyright remains the property of the photographer. By entering this challenge you are giving Great Escape Publishing unlimited rights to publish your photograph on our website, in our newsletter or in print.  Any photo submitted to the challenge may be used to promote this challenge or to educate our readers about photography.  There are no exceptions to this.  Stating that you want to enter but that you do not give us permission to post your photo on our website or announce you as the winner means we must disqualify you from the contest.  These are the contest rules.  If you want to make your own contest rules, then start your own photo contest.

5. We reserve the right to reject unsuitable images, which may be seen as pornographic, vulgar, hateful, threatening, or otherwise in violation of laws. Please don’t submit any photos containing nudity.

6. To enter, send your submission to this email address.  Photos should be about 50-80KB in size or 300-500 pixels in width.  If you don’t know how to resize your images, you can google: how to resize a photo.

7. GREAT ESCAPE PUBLISHING reserves the right to substitute prizes of equal value should the advertised prize become unavailable due to circumstances beyond our control.

8. GREAT ESCAPE PUBLISHING is not responsible for lost, late, misdirected, or incomplete files.

9. If, for any reason, the challenge is unable to run as planned — due to infection by computer virus, tampering, technical failures, or other causes beyond our control — GREAT ESCAPE PUBLISHING reserves the right to cancel, modify, or suspend the challenge.

10. All entries for this photo challenge must be received no later than midnight EST on Sunday, January 31, 2016. To participate, simply send your submission to this email address along with your first name, last name and phone number so that we might reach you if there are questions or problems with your entry.  It’s also how we’ll contact you if you win.

The Grand Prize is a $1,000 check.  Taxes are your responsibility.

Good luck!