Webshots Blog

Happy Halloween, everyone! As promised, we’ve chosen a winner for last week’s caption contest for bulliemaniac’s playful pup Rooney.

Thanks to all of you who participated in the caption challenge. We received over 100 entries, but our favorite came from Syd:

Luke, I am your father. And one more thing, it’s “Dogwalker”, not “Skywalker.”

So wish Syd the best and remember to upload your Halloween photos and add the keyword “halloweencostumefun” to be included in our special collection later in the week!

The best part about Halloween is the costumes! Well, the costumes and tons of candy. The spooky holiday is Tuesday, but we bet some of you have already attended parties dressed up as witches, princesses or clowns.

We want to see your creative costumes, so:

• Upload your costume photos to Webshots
• Create a new album and tag it “halloweencostumefun”
• Or just post a link to your photo in the comments section of the blog

We’ll show off the results in a blog post, so make sure you look good!

Webshots is about to launch video, and we want it to be a success. That’s why we’re going to spend some more time tweaking everything so it’s just right. We said earlier that we’d unveil in October, but we’re going to need a bit more time. We tested an early version of video today, and there’s a few bugs we need to fix before we release for everyone to enjoy.

So keep taking videos and store them up for our big debut! Here’s our length limits and accepted formats, so you can get a head start:

Length limits
Up to 5 minutes for free members
Up to 10 minutes for premium members
Want to upload longer videos? Sign up for premium right now!

Accepted formats

• MPEG audio,
• MPEG1 systems
• MPEG2 PS
• MPEG2 TS
• ASF
• AVI
• WAV
• Macromedia Flash
• FLV
• Real Audio and Video
• Raw AC3
• Raw MJPEG
• Raw MPEG video
• Raw PCM8/16 bits
• mulaw/Alaw Raw CRI ADX audio
• SUN AU format
• NUT
• QuickTime
• MPEG4
• Raw MPEG4 video
• DV
• 4xm
• PlayStation STR
• Id RoQ
• Interplay MVE
• WC3 Movie
• Sega FILM/CPK
• Westwood Studios VQA/AUD
• Id Cinematic (.cin)
• FLIC format
• Sierra VMD
• Matroska

We’ll keep you updated about video’s status in the blog, so check back for the latest details.

Do you have a way with words? Whether you’re a master of prose or the king of one-liners, show us your skills in our creative challenge. We provide the funny photo and you provide the witty remarks in the Comments section. The winning caption will be displayed on Halloween!

This week’s photo was taken by member bulliemaniac and features her playful pup Rooney.

If you have great photo and want to suggest it for our creative challenge, email to our editors and include a link to the photo.

NOTE: THIS POST IS NOW CLOSED - WE WILL POST THE WINNING CAPTION ON HALLOWEEN!

Webshots is what you make it, and we have to say, you’re doing a great job. We’d like to show our appreciation to all the members whose albums and homepage photos we feature by rewarding them with a badge—a little award that lets them show off their new status.

The featured album and featured homepage photo badges can be added to a blog, personal website (such as MySpace or Facebook), profile page on a website (you can use the badge as your member homepage photo on Webshots) or an email signature so all your friends and family can share in this great achievement.

We hope you wear your badges proudly and spread the word that your photos and albums were featured on Webshots. If you see an album or photo on the site that you think should be featured, send the link in an email to our editors. Oh, it’s totally okay to suggest your own work, too!

P.S. We’re working on more badges to recognize our members whose photos and profiles are featured in the channel pages, so look for more info on that soon!

Extra! Extra! Note from the editors on Monday, October 23:

If your photos or albums have been featured in the past and you would like to download and display your badges in an email signature or on a website, please follow these instructions:

1. Right-click (or CTRL-click on a Mac) on the badges above and save them to your desktop.

2. Upload your badge to the email-signature area or website.

3. Include a link to your featured photo or album in the email or on the website.

For example, if you have a Blogger account, you can create a new blog entry:

Then you can upload your badge:

Once your badge is in the blog post, you can write about what was featured and include a link to the photo or album in the post:

You can also select the badge itself and make it link to your album or photo when someone clicks on it. Just select your blog or website’s link tool and enter the URL of where you want to send people:

When you post your blog, your visitors will be able to see that you’ve been featured on Webshots, and when they click on the link or badge, they’ll go to your featured photo or album:

Looking for great fall-themed images for your desktop? Or even to decorate your walls? The fall frenzy in photos has begun! And if you just want to find the pro shots for any search term, you can use advanced search to help (though the images that come from the Community are pretty nice too!)

You can try ‘autumn,’ or ‘fall colors,’ or if you’re in the spirit already, ‘Halloween.’

Enjoy the bounty of the season!

** (Post closed for comments now - over 7 days old and more than 100 comments) **

While Oktoberfest is officially over in Munich, Germany, the party is still raging on Webshots and around the world. We put out a call for your Oktoberfest photos, and so far, you’ve uploaded 605 images tagged “oktoberfun”—that’s a lot of good times!

If you’re planning to attend an Oktoberfest event—many cities hold their festivities during October, while Munich’s is held in late September and early October—be sure to take your camera and snap lots of great pictures.

Member beautiful54 was in Munich for this year’s Oktoberfest and enjoyed some good eats like this huge stein of beer and some yummy-looking cheese bread. In Covington, Kentucky, member darkeyedredhead attended Oktoberfest at MainStrasse, where she got a butterfly painted on her face.

There’s still time to attend an Oktoberfest event and upload your “oktoberfun” pictures to Webshots. Check out these upcoming festivities—and don’t forget your camera!

Upcoming Oktoberfest events

Huntington Beach, California: Now–October 29 http://www.oldworld.ws/okfest.html

San Francisco, California: October 12–15 http://www.oktoberfestbythebay.com/

Torrance, California: Now–October 29 http://www.alpinevillage.net/oktoberfest.htm

Helen, Georgia: Now–November 5 http://www.helenchamber.com/oktoberfest.htm

Boston, Massachusetts: October 8 http://www.harvardsquare.com/oktoberfest/index.htm

New York City, New York: Now–October 31 http://travelmax.kilroytravels.no/sisp/index.htm?fx=event&event_id=11709

Tulsa, Oklahoma: October 19–22 http://www.tulsaoktoberfest.org/

San Antonio, Texas: October 13–14 http://www.beethovenmaennerchor.com/oktoberfest.htm

Pembroke, Virginia: Now–October 28 http://mountainlakehotel.com/oktoberfest.htm

Leavenworth, Washington: October 13–14 http://www.leavenworthoktoberfest.com/

Cheers!

Make a Difference Day, a national day of helping others, is October 28th, and we’d like to know if you have any recommendations for photos or albums to feature on that day. It’s a celebration of neighbors helping neighbors, so please let our editors know if you have any suggestions. (Please include links in your email).

And in case you haven’t seen it, take a look at our public service editor’s collection for inspiration.

With the holidays just around the corner, now is a great time to get some early gift shopping done. Come December, everyone else will be dealing with crowded malls and long lines, while you and your family relax together because your gifts are already wrapped!

We’ve got the perfect present for anyone on your list: a 12-page calendar featuring your photos. Created with love and personalized for each gift recipient, these calendars will be enjoyed year round.

To make a 12-page calendar for yourself or friends and family, simply:

1. Upload your photos to Webshots.
2. Go to the Webshots store and select your calendar size.
3. Order your gifts and have them shipped to you or the recipient.

Enjoy the festive season, and don’t forget to send out those holiday cards!