And we are back up. Thank you for your patience.
What to do? Well, how about answering my burning questions: What’s one thing you’ve learned from Webshots and one thing you want to learn. These are my answers:
What I’ve learned: How to creatively interpret a theme in the Creative Challenge.
What I want to learn: How to take better macro shots. Got some tips for me?
Have some fun with my questions, and we’ll let you know when the site is back up! 
Hey y’all,
We’ll be performing a huge back-up of the entire site — 500 million plus photos and videos tomorrow at 5pm (PST).
Don’t worry, your memories will be safe, but we’ll have to take the entire site down for the evening in order to perform the back-up.
As always, check back here for updates and news!
The early bird gets the worm…so set your alarm clocks and take your best sunrise shot! Check out our tips on photographing sunrises, and get inspired by the beautiful sunrise photos already uploaded by Webshots members.
OFFICIAL ENTRY RULES
To officially enter the Creative Challenge, you must tag your three submissions with creative-challenge-sunrise. You can then view them and everyone else’s submissions on the DISPLAY PAGE (it updates about every hour). To find out more about this, read the Using Tags on Creative Challenges post.
Submission Guidelines
1. Our editors look for sharp, clear horizontal images that are at a minimum resolution of 800×600 (submissions can have larger resolutions than this). Currently, vertical images cannot fit in the homepage template. Therefore, we cannot publish vertical or narrow panoramic images.
2. Images with added text or images, including watermarks, logos, copyright symbols, graphic borders, frames and time stamps, will not be considered. Collages, however, are acceptable.
3. Please do not submit pictures that have already been featured on the homepage.
4. The Creative Challenge runs from 12:01 a.m. on January 30 to 3:00 p.m. on February 4 (all times PST).
5. 3 pictures per member tagged exactly (including hyphens) with: creative-challenge-sunrise
*Note: Images that don’t meet the exact guidelines can be submitted and viewed for everyone to enjoy, but please understand that we cannot publish images that don’t meet minimum guidelines on the homepage. Also, now that you’re tagging your entries, you don’t need to post links in the comments section anymore.
NEXT WEEK’S THEME: Symmetry
Artistically, symmetry is a sense of harmonious or aesthetically pleasing proportionality and balance such that it reflects beauty or perfection. For this Creative Challenge, put on your composition hat and find the beauty in balance.
Brrrrr, your photos in the Creative Challenge: Winter gave us a chill…of excitement! Each submission was unique (like a snowflake) and all were very creative, but we felt these three really showed the essence of winter:
#1. It is truly magical when a winter storm transforms a simple landscape into a breathtaking beauty. 
Congrats to member pikanomo— we’ll feature your photo on the homepage tomorrow!
#2. No need to grab your coat and hat to enjoy the beauty of winter from your desktop. Congrats to member kellimays; we think your ice is very nice.
#3 This pictorial demonstration of fire and ice from member bigsister861 is truly a remarkable capture. The striking contrast of the warm setting sun above the chilly horizon compliment each another nicely. 
Thanks to everyone who entered the Challenge and shared their stunning photos with us. To see all the entries in the Creative Challenge: Winter, visit the DISPLAY PAGE.
Photo walks, a popular activity among photo-sharing communities, let us all be a part of something no matter where we are in the world. By taking a walk this weekend and sharing the pictures with us, you’re contributing to a global mural of life.
So put on your walking shoes, grab your camera and go for a walk. You’ll be surprised at the photographic opportunities that present themselves. We’d love to see all of your photos as you can submit as many as you like!
Please tag your photos with Weekend Photo Walk 9 and then post your links in the comment section. Your entries won’t be judged—this is just for the fun of it!
By now, winter should be in full swing for some of you, so we want to see your best winter photos; for those living in warmer climates (lucky you!), show us photos from last winter, somewhere you went that was wintry, or just get creative with the theme—you know you can do it!
OFFICIAL ENTRY RULES
To officially enter the Creative Challenge, you must tag your three submissions with creative-challenge-winter. You can then view them and everyone else’s submissions on the DISPLAY PAGE (it updates about every hour). To find out more about this, read the Using Tags on Creative Challenges post.
Submission Guidelines
1. Our editors look for sharp, clear horizontal images that are at a minimum resolution of 800×600 (submissions can have larger resolutions than this). Currently, vertical images cannot fit in the homepage template. Therefore, we cannot publish vertical or narrow panoramic images.
2. Images with added text or images, including watermarks, logos, copyright symbols, graphic borders, frames and time stamps, will not be considered. Collages, however, are acceptable.
3. Please do not submit pictures that have already been featured on the homepage.
4. The Creative Challenge runs from 12:01 a.m. on January 23 to 3:00 p.m. on January 28 (all times PST).
5. 3 pictures per member tagged exactly (including hyphens) with: creative-challenge-winter
*Note: Images that don’t meet the exact guidelines can be submitted and viewed for everyone to enjoy, but please understand that we cannot publish images that don’t meet minimum guidelines on the homepage. Also, now that you’re tagging your entries, you don’t need to post links in the comments section anymore.
NEXT WEEK’S THEME: Sunrises
The early bird gets the worm…so set your alarm clocks for the Sunrise Challenge! Check out our tips on photographing sunrises and get inspired by the beautiful sunrise photos already uploaded by Webshots members.
Your photos in the Creative Challenge: Inspirational Places took care of our January doldrums once and for all. We’re feeling much better now that we’ve downloaded many of the photos to keep us going for the rest of the year. But of all the submissions, these three really moved us as both the place and the photography are truly inspiring:
#1. The picturesque tree-covered island surrounded by mystical mist creates a breathtaking scene that’s inspiring regardless of the unfavorable weather conditions. Member andreja1 keeps our hopes up with this one—we’ll feature this photo on the homepage tomorrow!
#2. This majestic shot of an enchanted forest by member enemaria100 gives us a dreamlike feeling that inspires us to walk down the path and explore the unknown. The surreal composition and color is stunning!
#3. Member jacobsdevries said it best in this photo’s caption: “What more inspiration do you need, reading Anne Frank’s own thoughts from her diary on the wall of the school where she learned to read, writings of love, optimism and ambitions, written in a confined space, under impossible conditions?”
Thanks to everyone who entered the Challenge and shared their stunning photos with us. To see all the entries in the Creative Challenge: Inspirational Places, visit the DISPLAY PAGE.
Remember when your friends or relatives would trap you in their living room for a three-hour projection slideshow of their latest vacation? Even though slideshows have moved online, the basic elements of presentation remain the same: Edit your work to keep your audience interested. If page views (and your friends and family) are important to you, heed these tips for making your work stand out from the crowd.
Over the last few months, we’ve covered various tips for how to take better photos, but we’ve yet to discuss the importance of photo organization in building a successful album. Editing and presenting your work is part of the entire photo-sharing process as you try to represent your work in a manner that creates the most visual impact.
With that said, the first tip is: Don’t upload every image you’ve taken. As a photographer, I understand the difficulties in being selective and choosing the best images from a recent photo shoot. But while it’s easy to upload every photo from your memory card, realize that displaying every image will only take away from the appeal and impact of your best images.
As you’re editing, consider what you’re trying to achieve with your images and remember to keep it simple. Ask yourself, “What story am I trying to tell?” While it’s important to document and archive events that are special to you, keep in mind that sometimes less is more when it comes to photos. Not everyone will understand and appreciate numerous vantage points of the same subject, so reconsider including 15 similar shots of your favorite rose from your garden.
If you’re covering a specific span of time, then by all means keep the photos in a structured order. For instance, a photo album of a birthday party may include photos of the guests, the cake, the decorations, the birthday person blowing out the candles, the guests singing and the opening of gifts. It’s not necessary, though, to include 10 photos of the birthday boy next to his cake while everyone’s singing. Just pick out one to three of the best shots and move on in your story telling.
If your story has no timeline and you simply want to show visual highlights, I’d recommend arranging your best photos first and then mixing it up a bit, displaying the photos with contrasting colors and opposing distances for a memorable visual feast.
How do you know what to keep? First, weed out the out-of-focus and over or underexposed images—it only leaves the viewer with a negative impression. Next, I recommend general sorting in terms of individual images. For me, each image needs to be visually strong enough to stand on its own to make the cut. When editing your work, watch out for presenting images with crooked horizons or images that have extra visual distractions.
Some photographers say that for every 24 images taken, you’re lucky to walk away with two real keepers. While that may be true for commercial photography, for online photo sharing, I probably wouldn’t be that strict. If you shot 250 images, perhaps narrowing them down to a variety of 60 might be a good target number to work towards.
To figure out what your best photos are, use the ABC method. When I was editing over 800 photos I had taken on a recent visit to Oahu, I classified them as A, B and C shots: “A” meaning the best, “B” meaning common shots and “C” meaning nice photos, but with more personal attachment. In the end, I uploaded only 39 images in my Webshots album. It was a more manageable number to physically edit, and in the end I felt that the album best conveyed the beauty as well as my personal visions of the island of Oahu.
If you’ve sorted your photos into As, Bs and Cs and you still can’t decide what’s best, ask for others’ opinions. Your friends and family can give you unbiased opinions if they’re not emotionally attached to the image. Be prepared, though, that their favorite might not be your favorite. In my experience, most people seem to gravitate toward the same images, so exploring why some images are more successful than others will only help you become a better photographer.
Once you’ve got your best shots, don’t forget the final touch: captions. They only enhance the visual experience of an album, and a creative description is so much more appealing than a file name of vcf12345.jpg.
Check out the most popular albums in outdoors and travel, and ask yourself what qualities these albums share with one another.
If you have an album that you’re currently working and would like some feedback, feel free to post the link below.
On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, a day when we remember and commemorate a great individual, we also look at ourselves and what we want and can do for a better future.
Dr. King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech has inspired me to ask you, “What’s your dream?” Share it with us in the comments section, and include photos, too!
Photo walks, a popular activity among photo-sharing communities, let us all be a part of something no matter where we are in the world. By taking a walk this weekend and sharing the pictures with us, you’re contributing to a global mural of life.
So put on your walking shoes, grab your camera and go for a walk. You’ll be surprised at the photographic opportunities that present themselves. We’d love to see all of your photos as you can submit as many as you like!
Please tag your photos with Weekend Photo Walk 8 and then post your links in the comment section. Your entries won’t be judged—this is just for the fun of it!