Webshots Blog

The Creative Challenge: Windows and Doors was suggested by Amy at Webshots, so it’s only fair that she got to look through all your wonderful entries and choose the winner. We all tried to fight her for it, but it’s not good to mess with someone’s who’s eight months pregnant! Here are her top three:

#1. Congratulations to fedora00, this week’s Creative Challenge winner! The combination of vivid, arresting colors and the inclusion of both a window and a door, makes this our top choice this week.

#2. Webshots Member evanreese takes our runner-up spot this week. The unique perspective of an old wooden door and iron knockers makes me wonder if he was lying beneath the door to get this shot.

#3. Our final winner this week is bjclarke1, with a picturesque shot of a courtyard. The multiple entryways really caught my eye.
Thanks to everyone for sharing such amazing images with us. Don’t be surprised if we feature you on the channel pages or the homepage sometime soon! You’re all winners in my book.

Summer’s in full swing, and I’m loving all the fresh produce—strawberries, melons and peaches are my favs—so this Weekend Warrior is dedicated to all things fresh. Your photos don’t have to be of produce, though, as this activity is all about thinking outside the box.

How it works: Each Friday at noon, we’ll post the criteria for the photo, and you’ll have until Sunday to take new pictures featuring all three criteria, upload them to Webshots and post a link to them in the comments section. You can submit as many photos as you like, so get off the couch, grab your camera and start snappin’!

Criteria
1. Something fresh
2. Shot from above or a high angle
3. Something curvy

Have fun, and if you need some inspiration, check out the food and drink channel on Webshots.

P.S. Your entries won’t be judged–this is just for the fun of it!

If you own a point-and-shoot camera, then you’ve probably taken a blurry shot or two, which can be caused by the camera’s slight delay. For the sharpest photos possible, don’t poke quickly at your camera’s shutter button. Instead, try holding down the shutter button halfway to focus first, then gently squeeze the button to trigger the shutter when you’re ready to take the photo. Don’t lift your finger off of the button unless you want the camera to take the extra time to refocus the scene.

Another factor that would contribute to blurry photos is low lighting. If you’re taking photos in a low light situation, you may need to turn on your flash, add more ambient lights in the room or adjust your camera’s ISO setting to 400 or higher. Note, if you’re shooting a distant subject in dim lighting such as a concert or a basketball game, your camera’s flash probably isn’t strong enough to help. In those cases, if you only have a compact point and shoot, it would be better to skip the flash and try the higher ISO setting.

Tunisian Doors

Windows and doors are entry ways into the world, so let’s see what you can do to make them Creative Challenge worthy. Perhaps it’s an interesting location, fascinating subject or mysterious silhouette that adds a special touch to your submissions. Show us your best windows and/or doors pics, and we’ll display the winning photo on the homepage!

Submission Guidelines
1. Our editors look for sharp, clear horizontal images that are at a minimum resolution of 800×600. 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.

3. Please do not submit photos that have already been featured on the homepage.

4. The Creative Challenge runs from 12:01 a.m. on July 25 to 3:00 p.m. on July 30 (all times PDT).

5. 3 photos per member. Please edit your work—show us only the best!

You can easily grab the links to all photos by copying the URL from the yellow action box on each photo page and pasting it in the blog. Click on the photo below to enlarge.

*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.

NEXT WEEK’S THEME: Hometown Pride
Some members suggested the idea of having more time to take new pictures for the Creative Challenge, so we’re letting you in on next week’s theme, which is Hometown Pride (thanks to member summerjade for the suggestion!).

Got an idea for a Creative Challenge? Send me an email!

Submitting Over the Weekend? Read This!
Some members have let me know that they’re not seeing their entires show up in the comments section right away and that they get the error message: “Duplicate comment detected; it looks as though you’ve already said that!” We have the spam filter set pretty high on the blog to protect you, so some of your comments may go into moderation over the weekend before showing up. Rest assured that we’ve received them, and they’ll show up soon! No need to repost.

Hey all, we’ve had a few power outages here at HQ and other parts of San Francisco and as a result the site might be acting up a bit.

Rest assured your photos are safe and backed-up a million times (well, not quite) and the site should be working at full-steam soon.

Ironically, when the power is up, we’ve been checking sfgate.com for updates.

Have a great afternoon!

After looking at the first 100 entires in the Creative Challenge: Sunrises and Sunsets, we had to put on sun glasses! The bright rays, rich colors and engaging scenes made us wish we were actually viewing these beautiful moments with you! After watching the sun rise and set many times, our editors picked the top three…and then promptly submitted vacation requests.

#1. When we saw the golden sunset by member elysea100, we knew we’d found our winner. The saffron-y glow, the silhouetted shore and the sailboat all add to this relaxing, golden scene that just makes us want to sail away. Congrats to elysea100! We’ll feature this photo on the homepage tomorrow.

#2. You can’t go wrong with a sunset in Greece as member vikfit shows us in his stunning entry. The shot is well framed with just the right amount of sky and sea, all of which are glowing in the most vibrant colors thanks to Mother Nature. Great job!

#3. We chose member assistantchief84’s sunrise photo because he captured the moment exactly! We felt like we were watching the sun shoo away the fog in Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains with him, and that’s what great photography is all about. Well done!

Thanks to everyone for sharing such amazing images with us. Don’t be surprised if we feature you on the channel pages or the homepage sometime soon! You’re all winners in my book.

Hey folks!

You already know about our great store and the fun things you can do with your photos: make prints, gifts and even art. But sometimes, it’s hard to keep up on all the new products and sales we have. That’s why we’re launching the new Webshots Store newsletter.

Here’s a sneak peak:

This monthly email will give you the inside scoop on what’s new in the store, and best of all, you’ll be the first to know of special sales and promotions!

We’ll be sending the first one soon, so head to your Account Page and sign up now!

Hmm, can you guess what the first sale might be? Hint: It’s not photo mugs.

The seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, hits store shelves on Saturday at midnight, so in honor of all things Hogwarts, this Weekend Warrior is dedicated to the wizard himself! Your photos don’t have to be Harry Potter-themed, but you’ll get bonus points if they are.

How it works: Each Friday at noon, we’ll post the criteria for the photo, and you’ll have until Sunday to take new pictures featuring all three criteria, upload them to Webshots and post a link to them in the comments section. You can submit as many photos as you like, so get off the couch, grab your camera and start snappin’!

Criteria
1. Something magical
2. A trio
3. Macro format

Have fun, and if you need some inspiration, check out these macro albums on Webshots.

P.S. Your entries won’t be judged–this is just for the fun of it!

We’re releasing some new code for Webshots, so parts of the site will be down for about 30 minutes beginning at approximately 12 p.m. today (all times PDT).

What to do? Tell me your 3 favorite things about Webshots. These are mine:

1. Enjoying all the amazing Creative Challenge entries.

2. Getting email alerts of the featured albums (I am amazed at the variety).

3. Coming up with cool new features for our members.

Update: And we’re back! Enjoy!

Sunrises and sunsets are a popular theme on Webshots, so let’s see what you can do to make them Creative Challenge worthy. Perhaps it’s an interesting location, fascinating subject or mysterious silhouette that adds a special touch to your submissions. Show us your best sunrises and/or sunset pics, and we’ll display the winning photo on the homepage!

Submission Guidelines
1. Our editors look for sharp, clear horizontal images that are at a minimum resolution of 800×600. 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.

3. Please do not submit photos that have already been featured on the homepage.

4. The Creative Challenge runs from 12:01 a.m. on July 18 to 3:00 p.m. on July 23 (all times PDT).
*Note: Due to the amount of entries we’ve been getting, we’ll be ending the Challenge at 3 p.m. on Mondays now to give the editors more time to chose the winners.

5. 3 photos per member. Please edit your work—show us only the best!

You can easily grab the links to all photos by copying the URL from the yellow action box on each photo page and pasting it in the blog. Click on the photo below to enlarge.

*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.

NEXT WEEK’S THEME: Windows and Doors
Some members suggested the idea of having more time to take new pictures for the Creative Challenge, so we’re letting you in on next week’s theme, which is Windows and Doors (thanks to member akoene100 for the suggestion!).

Got an idea for a Creative Challenge? Send me an email!

***UPDATE***
Some members have let me know that they’re not seeing their entires show up in the comments section right away and that they get the error message: “Duplicate comment detected; it looks as though you’ve already said that!” We have the spam filter set pretty high on the blog to protect you, so some of your comments may go into moderation before showing up. Rest assured that we’ve received them, and they’ll show up soon! No need to repost.