We had such success with the Oscar Fashion Photo Contest back in the first part of the year that I’m gonna do it again, but on a new theme!
It’s mid-September, and we’re heading down toward Samhain, that time when “when the walls between the worlds grow thin, and spirits of the Underworld walk the earth. A night of masques and balefires, when anything is possible and nothing is quite as it seems.” At this time of the turning of the year, we lean more toward the magical; the sorcerous; sometimes, sadly the demonic. A lot of the photography in the various Grids echo the tendency, and so this photo contest will be centered on Hallowe’en and mages and spirits of the land. The rules:
- Eligible photos must be submitted by addition to the Wizards and Sorceresses group on either Flickr or Koinup. The Flickr group is for Second Life material only; the Koinup group is open to works from any virtual world found in Koinup. Please read the rules before submitting photos to the groups!! Exception to the submission rule: leave a comment to this or future messages concerning the contest, containing a link to the photo. All accepted submissions to the groups from publication time of this article until 12:01 a.m. SLT on November 1, 2010 will be considered for judging.
- As noted, photos must follow the submission guidelines for the groups. Both groups are moderated, and any submissions not meeting the group rules will be rejected and considered ineligible for entry. The same applies for comment submissions.
- Though it’s not stated in the group rules, fae creatures are acceptable: elves, fairies, brownies, etc. I would prefer them to be doing something magical, not simply posing for a fashion shoot. (Holding a glowing wand or staff counts as “doing something magical,” as it carries the potential of action to come.)
- Landscapes are acceptable, as long as they fall within the theme.
- Post-production is allowed.
- Vendor cards will not be allowed; neither will photos with advertising text in the owner notes or comments. (You will be welcome to submit a “stripped” photo for contest purposes.)
- I will review the entries following close of the contest, and announce the winners by November 9. Judging will be based on the appropriateness of the entry to the theme, and the artistic merit. In case of a tie, prizes will be split. All decisions will be final.
- By entering, you agree to allow me the right to republish your photo in a future article in Around the Grid. This will be the only use of the photograph beyond your own publication and other grants of permission to other venues of publication. Your copyright will be noted in a caption to your reproduced photo. I strongly encourage all submissions to be signed in a corner, as in my own photo above! All photos will be linked to their respective pages in the article, so it will be possible for readers to jump to the photo page and leave comments, faves, retweets and likes, etc.
- Prizes will be awarded in Linden dollars only; therefore, only Residents of Second Life will be eligible for virtual cash prizes. However, the best submissions from other worlds will be recognized in the article, as well as my comments on the picture at time of announcement.
- Needless to say, I’m not eligible (grin).
As back at Oscar time, the prize pool will be L$6,500, split as follows (unless there is a tie):
- 1st Place — L$2,500
- 2nd Place — L$2,000
- 3rd Place — L$1,000
- Honorable mention (4) — L$250 each
Go for it, people, and shake the Pillars of Heaven! (Wait a minute; that’s from a kung fu movie. Well, you get the idea.) And make sure to spread the word!!
Around the Grid 