So You Think You’re A Photographer

I took two photography classes in college and have always enjoyed taking candid shots of people, places and things. I guess I can call myself an amateur photographer. A few months back I went out on a limb and entered my photo in an online photo contest at www.picture.com. Boy was I in for one non-stop direct marketing ride.

I had a great photo I took on an airboat ride of a six-foot gator about four feet from our boat. From the looks of the photo you can’t see that I’m in an airboat and the gator looks very hungry. After deciding my photo was definitely worthy of an award, I decided to enter it in a free online photo contest. I did a search and came across what I thought sounded like a respectable contest at www.picture.com.

After entering my photo, I began to receive correspondence first via regular mail saying my photo was selected as a finalist and I needed to send approval to be included in the annual photo anthology. I could also purchase the anthology for 70 dollars and place it upon my coffee table. Ha! I was suckered in by the thought of me as a famous photographer and signed the approval slip. However, I decided against ordering the anthology. Smart, right?

The next thing you know I receive a special invitation to the “Annual Photographers Convention” in Las Vegas. Registration costs were about 300 dollars. I wondered who exactly would be in attendance. The correspondence continued on and on.

Before too much time passed I began to receive almost weekly emails from www.picture.com telling me again I was a finalist, buy the book etc., etc. Long story short, I signed over the rights to my “prize winning” photo to a company who basically just wanted my money and to sale my info to other companies.

For those of you out there thinking of entering a photo contest, do your research first. If your instincts do fail you, as mine did, don’t fall for the flattery ploy to get you to buy the “anthology.” And, if you see the photo above in any publications, just know that I am the true photographer behind the photo.

Did So You Think You’re A Photographer Deliver on the Promise?
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