Webshots Blog

The interplay between water & sand is among our favorite subjects here at Webshots (how many beach photos do you think are on this site?). For this challenge, we asked our members to submit their best shots that combine these two elements – from shorelines, beaches, sandcastles and sandboxes. There were some pretty spectuacular shots submitted. If you haven’t had an opportunity to browse through all the entries, you can do so by viewing the DISPLAY PAGE!

Congratulations to all of the talented photographers who participated!

This week’s winning photo submitted from member evanreese will be featured as the BIG featured photo of the day on our homepage Wednesday!

#1. Last Photographer, Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach, Oregon by member evanreese

#2. Lunch Shelters After the Rain, White Sands, New Mexico by member Darlaree

#3. Venice Beach by member karee_wants_a_caddy

#4. Wet Sand at Sunset by member zwitser400400

#5.  Picture Yourself Here, Panglao Island, Bohol, Phillippines by member rm_blizzard

#6. Killpecker Dunes by cecilpwhitt

#7. Ocean City Sunrise, New Jersey by member DANMMYERS

#8. Starfish by lynnie440

#9. Footprints in the Sand by member volvob12

#10. Unbelievable Beauty, Channel Islands Harbor, Ventura, California by member lynncb7

Webshots professional photographer Jon Cornforth shares his journey of his photo shoots in an engaging article titled, “Photographing Alaska.”

“When I started imagining how to photograph Southeast’s spectacular rainforests, ice-choked fjords, adorable sea otters, and breaching humpback whales, I decided to do it on a cruise, as well—but one of a very different sort. For the past three summers I’ve explored the region in my 22-foot C-Dory Serenity, a cabin cruiser with a single 90 HP motor.”

Read more about his adventures, and see his amazing Alaska photos, many of which you can download and share on Webshots!

If you’re a Premium member, you can download all 20 Alaska photos by Jon Cornforth with just one click! Just click on the Download Page menu, and then select your photo size.

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 144 and then post your links in the comment section. Your entries won’t be judged—this is just for the fun of it!

Dear Members,

We’ve heard from some of you that you are unable to read the font on Webshots due to the new dark background and font color.

Please know that we changed only the background and font color on the rest of the site, but we didn’t change the font size. However, we will be polishing the rest of the site in the coming months, so the final design will be easy to view for everyone!

Until then, here’s a quick solution to make it easier to view Webshots—or any website:

If you’re on a PC: Hold down the Ctrl key and then press the + key until the font is the desired size.If you’re on a Mac: Hold down Command key and then press the + key until the font is the desired size.

To reset the size increase:

If you’re on a PC: Hold down the Ctrl key and then press the 0 (zero) key.If you’re on a Mac: Hold down Command key and then press the 0 (zero) key.

Please let us know if you have any other feedback in the comments below!

We’re excited to announce our new homepage that has a bunch of features designed just for you!

First, we’d like to congratulate member photographer clarkth for having his photo “From Here to Eternity” featured as the Big Picture on launch day!

If you can’t see the Big Picture, make sure you have Adobe Flash installed. Click here to install the latest version. Also, make sure you have the latest versions of the browsers you are using. Click on the following links to download the latest versions: Firefox 3.6.8, Internet Explorer 8, and Safari 5.

Designed with you in mind, our new homepage features more opportunities to discover amazing photos and meet our community of professional and member photographers!

Top 5 Features For You
1. More opportunities for members and their photos to be featured.

2. New Spotlight feature on our professional photographers.

3. Bigger Photo of the Day, and an easy way to browse through previous ones.

4. Facebook updates of what your friends love on Webshots.

5. Integration of our community—members and professionals—on one homepage.

We have a link on the homepage to a “learn more” page that describes all the changes and new features, but here’s more detail on all the excitement.

Get to Know Our Pros and Members
We’ve added new Spotlight features that showcase our professional and member photographers, so you can learn more about them and the stories behind their photos, and make new friends with our most popular contributors.

Big Picture of the Day
We’ve made the featured photo bigger, so you can really enjoy the stunning details. Also, we’ve added a carousel filled with previously featured photos, so you can easily flip through our top pictures. Plus, we’ll be mixing member and professional photos in the featured spot to showcase our amazing community of photographers.

Member Spotlight
We love our member photographers, so in addition to featuring their photos in the Big Picture of the Day, we added a new Member Gallery that showcases a Photo of the Day and Album of the Day. Instead of just seeing one album thumbnail like on the old homepage, you’ll now see six thumbnails, enticing you even more to check it out!

Navigation
We’ve streamlined the navigation and grouped all your account activities (My Shots, Upload, Sign In/Log Out) in one easy place.

We’ve also created two new menus for photos: Professional Photos and Member Photos. The Professional Photos menu also includes a link to download the Webshots Desktop Application, which is needed to download photos from Webshots.

The Member Photos menu also includes an additional link to upload photos.

Sharing Photos with Your Friends
You can now see which photos people are sharing and liking on Webshots in the Facebook Recent Activity module, and if you’re on Facebook, you’ll see which Webshots photos your Facebook friends are sharing and liking, too.

Plus, coming soon, when your Webshots friends upload new photos, you’ll be able to see them right on the homepage, so it’s personalized just for you.

New Site Design
In addition to the new homepage, we’ve updated the look of the rest of the site with our new sleek, dark background that really makes the photos pop!

Feedback
Most importantly, though, we have a feedback link on the new homepage so you can share your thoughts with us in a quick survey. After all, Webshots is for you, so help us make it better!

These changes are just the beginning of a whole new Webshots, so stay tuned for more updates about what’s to come in the blog, and on Facebook and Twitter!

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 143 and then post your links in the comment section. Your entries won’t be judged—this is just for the fun of it!

***UPDATE: The professional photos have been updated as of 10 a.m. EST. Download them all now: http://www.webshots.com/pro/

Dear Members,

We are working on updating the daily professional photos. Due to a website update yesterday, the daily photos were affected, but we expect to have them published soon.

Thank you for your patience,

Jessica, Webshots editor

The interplay between water & sand is among our favorite subjects here at Webshots (how many beach photos do you think are on this site?). For this challenge, submit your best shots that combine these two elements – from shorelines, beaches, sandcastles and sandboxes, there’s sure to be something in your neighborhood that will inspire a great shot.

OFFICIAL ENTRY RULES
To officially enter the Creative Challenge, you must tag your three submissions with creative-challenge-watersand. 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 for first place or being featured on the homepage at a later date. Collages, however, are acceptable. Images submitted should be your own.

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 August 18 to 12:00 p.m. on August 30 (all times EST).

5. 3 pictures per person (regardless of how many member accounts you have) tagged exactly (including hyphens) with: creative-challenge-watersand

*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 CHALLENGE THEME: Roses
It’s time to stop and smell the roses. We’ve explored flowers, colors and textures, but for the next challenge, we’ll be looking for your best roses. These lush beauties are ancient symbols of love and beauty and as such they deserve a challenge all their own!

It’s been a long hot summer for those of us in the US! Cool down with this challenge and enjoy our editor’s favorite chilled out photos below. From snow and ice to your favorite summertime treat, this challenge should remind us that the hottest month of the year will soon be over and we’ll be faced with the chill of winter soon… Thank you to everyone who submitted and don’t forget…if you can view the display page to see every image submitted!

#1. Ice Cubes by member sricephotography – Congratulations! Your photo will be featured on the homepage tomorrow!

#2. Along for the Ride by member sassyangie

#3. Untitled by member jtanguay2

#4. Cheers by member xwebfoto02

#5. Take a Walk in the Snow by member AsAbel64

#6. Iced Berries Close-Up by member bigsister861

#7. Canazei by member akoene100

#8. Night Swimming by member chiara05

#9. Take Care! Lonely Bear Walking in the Snow by member grosnounours105

#10. Frosty Morning by member lorilee46

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 142 and then post your links in the comment section. Your entries won’t be judged—this is just for the fun of it!