Author Archives: Jason

As you may know Pixoto has been funded by our founders and early stage investors – but the time has come for us to start to generate revenue to pay for additional staff to help support out community.  We have already launched our PRO membership and starting today we will display a single paid advertisement on select pages.  We don’t think the ads detract significantly from the quality of Pixoto’s community and content and we hope you agree.  While we are currently using Google’s AdExchange platform to power our ads we hope to sell this space directly to photography related companies who’s products should be of interest to our members.

That said we think our paying members shouldn’t be subject to ads and they shouldn’t appear next to their images or profiles.  So:

PRO Members now have these additional benifits:

• No ads are displayed for PRO members on any pages
• No ads are displayed on the detail page for PRO member’s images
• No ads are displayed on PRO member’s profile pages

Our plan is to use proceeds from PRO accounts and Ads to fund additional hires (including a category and community manager).

Thanks for your support!

There’s been plenty of good stuff going on in the heavens lately.  An eclipse, a transit and a full moon have left us with our favorite satelite on our minds.  So this week’s challenge is to upload a fantastic photo of a landscape with the moon in it.

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THIS WEEK’S CHALLENGE
“Moonscapes”
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To enter:

1. Submit a new photo under:  Landscapes (any subcategory)
2. Tag the image with “PWCmoonscapes”

Submit your Entries Now

Preview This Weeks Entries

Prizes:

• Top Entry will win a year of Pixoto Pro
• Winners will get Award Badges, 1000 Points plus 1,000 credits for future image submission
• A blog post will highlight the winners

Rules:

• The moon must be clearly visible in the photo (it does not need to be the subject)
• Image must be properly categorized in Lanscape category (non landscape shots will be recatgorized and disqualified)
• Don’t photoshop the moon in the shot.  If it looks fake we’ll disqualify it.
• Enter as many images as you like – only highest scoring one will be chosen for top 10 winners.
• Images must be submitted/resubmitted during the week
• Images must be tagged “PWCmoonscapes”
• You may resubmit an image already on Pixoto, but please be aware that ImageScore, awards and points for the image will be reset upon resubmission
• Duplicates of previously uploaded, and not deleted, Pixoto submissions will be removed
• Entries that do not comply with the above rules will be disqualified (a PWCmoonscapes-dq will be placed on the image)

Sorry for the delay on this one. This week we’re honoring our Photoshop enthusiasts with challenge of their own. Take a picture of a yellow pencil, manipulate it until it’s perfect, and enter it in this week’s challenge!

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THIS WEEK’S CHALLENGE
“Yellow Pencil”
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To enter:

1. Submit a new photo under: Photoshop Art 
2. Tag the image with “PWCpencil”

Submit your Entries Now

Prizes:

• Top Entry will win a year of Pixoto Pro
• Winners will get Award Badges, 1000 Points plus 1,000 credits for future image submission
• A blog post will highlight the winners

Rules:

• A yellow pencil must be the subject of the photo
• Image must be properly categorized in Photoshop Art category
• Enter as many images as you like – only highest scoring one will be chosen for top 10 winners.
• Images must be submitted/resubmitted during the week
• Images must be tagged “PWCpencil”
• You may resubmit an image already on Pixoto, but please be aware that ImageScore, awards and points for the image will be reset upon resubmission
• Duplicates of previously uploaded, and not deleted, Pixoto submissions will be removed
• Entries that do not comply with the above rules will be disqualified (a PWCpencil-dq will be placed on the image)

Our weekly challenges have been a very successful and fun addition to the Pixoto community.  We’ve had thousands of photographers from all over the globe participate.  We are now inviting our community members (that’s you) to get involved as “Guest Moderators”.  Guest moderators will:

• Decide on the specifics of the challenge
• Be featured in the blog (headshot, bio, link to profile)
• Be featured in the email (50,000+ recipients)
• Disqualify entries that do not meet their criteria
• Secure sponsored prizes (optional)

If you’re interested in becoming a guest moderator please send an email with your proposal to pwc@pixoto.com with the following information:

• Your name
• A link to your profile
• A description of the challenge you would like to moderate
• Why you think you are qualified to moderate this challenge
• The category of the challenge
• A list of rules for the challenge
• Sponsored prizes (see below) – optional

In general we want challenges to be something that can be accessed by a wide group of photographers so that we can get maximum participation.  So try to keep challenges to something that anyone can try.

We will give away one PRO account to the winner of the weekly challenge.  In addition, to make your offering more attractive to our members, you can secure prizes from companies hoping to market to our members.  Sponsors must contribute at least $750 worth of prizes but will receive fantastic exposure to Pixoto’s community of high-end camera toting members.  Past sponsors have received as much as 1500 clicks to their web sites and exposure to 50,000+ photographers.  A 300×250 banner ad is required from the sponsor.  Potential sponsors may contact me (jason at pixoto.com) for additional information.  Having a sponsor will help make your proposal more attractive – but is not a requirement.

Thanks for helping make Pixoto great!

Jason

With Memorial Day behind us this week it’s the unofficial start of summer. To celebrate gather up your favorite summer themed shots and enter them in this week’s challenge:

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THIS WEEK’S CHALLENGE
“Natural Summer”
***

To enter:

1. Submit a new photo under: Landscape & Nature (any subcategory)
2. Tag the image with “PWCsummer”

Submit your Entries Now

Prizes:

• Top Entry will win a year of Pixoto Pro
• Winners will get Award Badges, 1000 Points plus 1,000 credits for future image submission
• A blog post will highlight the winners

Rules:

• One look at the photo should say “summer” to us – if we don’t see the connection we’ll disqualify it.
• Image must be properly categorized in Landscape & Nature category
• The main subject must not be a person, an animal or a unnatural object
• Minimal postprocessing allowed – but keep it real (use of special effects will be disqualified)
• No nudity
• Enter as many images as you like – only highest scoring one will be chosen for top 10 winners.
• Images must be submitted/resubmitted during the week
• Images must be tagged “PWCsummer”
• You may resubmit an image already on Pixoto, but please be aware that ImageScore, awards and points for the image will be reset upon resubmission
• Duplicates of previously uploaded, and not deleted, Pixoto submissions will be removed
• Entries that do not comply with the above rules will be disqualified (a PWCsummer-dq will be placed on the image)

May is Memorial Day month in many countries around the Globe (it’s May 28th here in the US) so this week we’re asking you to get in the spirit and shoot an image with a flag in it.

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THIS WEEK’S CHALLENGE
“Traveling Flags”
***

To enter:

1. Submit a new photo under: Travel (any subcategory)
2. Tag the image with “PWCflags”

Submit your Entries Now

Prizes:

• Top 3 Entries will win a year of Pixoto Pro
• Winners will get Award Badges, 1000 Points plus 1,000 credits for future image submission
• A blog post will highlight the winners

Rules:

• A flag must be clearly visible in the photo
• Minimal postprocessing allowed – but keep it real (use of special effects will be disqualified)
• No nudity
• Enter as many images as you like – only highest scoring one will be chosen for top 10 winners.
• Images must be submitted/resubmitted during the week
• Images must be tagged “PWCflags”
• You may resubmit an image already on Pixoto, but please be aware that ImageScore, awards and points for the image will be reset upon resubmission
• Duplicates of previously uploaded, and not deleted, Pixoto submissions will be removed
• Entries that do not comply with the above rules will be disqualified (a PWCflags-dq will be placed on the image)

Finding subject matter in this week’s challenge isn’t going to be a problem – composition and lighting are going to be king.   The Top three will win Pixoto Pro for a year.

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THIS WEEK’S CHALLENGE
“Hands and Feet”
***

To enter:

1. Submit a new photo under: Portrait & People / Body Parts
2. Tag the image with “PWChandsandfeet”

Submit your Entries Now

Prizes:

• Top 3 Entries will win a year of Pixoto Pro
• Winners will get Award Badges, 1000 Points plus 1,000 credits for future image submission
• A blog post will highlight the winners

Rules:

• Photos must have hands and/or feet as the primary subject matter
• A majority of the frame must covered by the subject
• Minimal postprocessing allowed – but keep it real (use of special effects will be disqualified)
• Humans only please
• No nudity
• Enter as many images as you like – only highest scoring one will be chosen for top 10 winners.
• Images must be submitted/resubmitted during the week
• Images must be tagged “PWChandsandfeet”
• You may resubmit an image already on Pixoto, but please be aware that ImageScore, awards and points for the image will be reset upon resubmission
• Duplicates of previously uploaded, and not deleted, Pixoto submissions will be removed
• Entries that do not comply with the above rules will be disqualified (a PWChandsandfeet-dq will be placed on the image)

Last week we launched a super cool integration with Instagram and this weeks challenge is to make the best use of that medium.  All you have to do is connect and shoot and you could win.

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THIS WEEK’S CHALLENGE
“Instagram”

To enter:

1. Connect with Instagram on your settings page
2. Shoot with Instagram during the week (your images will be auto-submitted to Pixoto)

Prizes:

• Top 3 winners win a year of Pixoto Pro* 
• Top 10 Winners will get Award Badges, 1000 Points plus 1,000 credits for future image submission
• A blog post will highlight the winners

Rules:

• Photos must be shot with your mobile phone and uploaded using the Instagram connection
• Photos must be shot during this week (no posting of older photos)
• No nudity
• Entries that do not comply with the above rules will be disqualified (i.e. moved to another category/subcategory)

*Only one PRO membership per member – existing pro members will have their membership fee credited back.

Competition has gotten so stiff on Pixoto that it is becoming increasingly hard for many members to win any awards at all.  To try to give our less experienced members a place of their own we have added a new category “Novices Only”.  This category has subcategories which represent the majority of the main categories on Pixoto and are a good place to start on Pixoto before moving on to the “big leagues”

The Rules:

• Critiques/comments by more experienced members are welcome!
• No cash prizes will be awarded
• If you have won a single Top 5% or better award in a main category (not including mobile or photoshop art) you are now in the big leagues so stay out.
• No photoshop art images allowed

Here are the subcategories:

• Abstract
• Flowers & Plants
• Landscapes
• Macro
• Objects & Still Life
• Pets
• Portraits & People
• Sports
• Street & Candid
• Wildlife

Okay Pixoters, here’s the Weekly Challenge #3 and you can win over $600 in prizes. World famous inventor Gary Fong has generously supplied some cool prizes from his estore, so we’re going with a flash theme this week.

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THIS WEEK’S CHALLENGE
“Flashes at Night”
sponsored by Gary Fong

To enter:

1. Submit a new photo under: Portrait & People Category » Any Subcategory
2. Tag the image with “PWCflashes”

Submit your Entries Now

Prizes:

• #1 wins a Gary Fong Lightsphere Collapsible Pro Kit ($183.55 value)*
• #2 wins a Gary Fong Lightsphere Collapsible Basic Kit ($129.55 value)*
• #3 wins a Gary Fong PowerSnoot ($70.15 value)*
• #4-#10 wins a Gary Fong Origami Difuser ($32.55 value)*
• Winners will get Award Badges, 1000 Points plus 1,000 credits for future image submission
• A blog post will highlight the winners

Rules:

• Images must be shot outside, at night with a flash
• Images must include a person as the main subject
• Flash use must be visible
• Minimal postprocessing allowed – but keep it real (use of special effects will be disqualified)
• Dusk and Dawn images do not qualify
• No nudity
• Images must be submitted/resubmitted during the week
• Images must be tagged “PWCflashes”
• You may resubmit an image already on Pixoto, but please be aware that ImageScore, awards and points for the image will be reset upon resubmission
• Duplicates of previously uploaded, and not deleted, Pixoto submissions will be removed
• Entries that do not comply with the above rules will be disqualified

*Winners will have to pay for any applicable duties, taxes or shipping charges.