Tara O’Brien

Tara got back to us fairly quickly, and it sounds like she’s pretty excited to have won.  We’ll be shipping the bag out to her as soon as possible.  Maybe we’ll check in in a few weeks to see what she thinks.  Of course she’ll love it.

Again, if you missed the review, you can read it here:  Lowepro Passport Sling Review

This is now our second giveaway, and we had a pretty good turnout.  We hope to continue to do these giveaways, so keep an eye on the site. Thanks again to all who entered, and thanks for getting the word out about Shutter Photo.

(photo courtesy of Lowepro)

This giveaway is now closed.  A winner has been chosen.  Once we are able to get in touch with the winner, we will post a formal announcement.

You read the review, and you considered buying one for yourself.  But before you spend your own money on the Lowepro Passport Sling, why not try to win one from Shutter Photo first.  The truth is, I loved using the Passport Sling during our testing period.  But one can only have so many bags.  And this one is just a little too small for my needs.  I could hog it all to myself on the light days where I don’t need to carry all of my gear – including my tripod.  But that would just be selfish.  I’d rather if one of Shutter Photo’s faithful readers were able to use it for their daily purposes.  It is, after all, an exceptional bag for most of you.  You can carry a small camera kit and a few personal items, sling it about your shoulder and be on your way.  Public transportation users would especially love having one of their own.

How to Enter

Entering is simple.  Just respond to this post – on the website (e-mail subscribers, you’ll have to visit the site) – and tell me that you’re interested and why you think this bag would be good for you.  Your response does not affect your chances of winning.  I simply like to hear about other people’s thoughts on such a fine bag.  Please make sure that you’re e-mail address is accurate (e-mails are not shared with the public) as it will be our only means of contacting you.

Bonus Entry

You can earn an additional entry (that’s two entries in all) if you are a twitter user.  All you have to do is follow us, @shutter_photo, and tweet something resembling the following:

Lowepro Passport Sling giveaway at @shutter_photo – easy entry http://tinyurl.com/sphotosling #spgive2

If you wish to change it up, that’s fine.  But make sure you include @shutter_photo and #spgive2 in order for your entry to count.  Please don’t tweet more than once, it will not earn you extra entries.

Drawing & Announcement

Entries and responses posted after midnight (GMT) on June 25th will be ignored.  At that time, we will randomly select a winner from the valid entries and make a formal announcement as soon as possible.  We will contact the lucky winner via e-mail (again, make sure your e-mail is valid) to confirm shipping address.  Shipping will be covered by Shutter Photo.  The winner will not be responsible for any costs.  Unfortunately, this means we can only ship within the United States.

Rules

1. This giveaway is available only to United States residents only.  We apologize to our foreign readers, and we hope to be able to include you in the future.
2. A maximum of two entries are possible per person:  one entry for replying to this post, one entry for tweeting the message above.  Additional tweets and additional replies to this message will be ignored.
3. If tweeting, please only tweet the message once.  We do not want to annoy your followers.  Please note that if you are not following @shutter_photo at the time of the drawing (June 25th), your tweet will not count.
4. If we are unable to contact the winner via e-mail after 7 days, we will be forced to select another winner at random.
5. The bag offered as part of this giveaway was used for our review for a period of about 14 days.  The bag is otherwise in mint condition and has not been altered in any way.

Thank you and good luck to all entrants.

How to Enter: All you have to do is post a reply to this post on the website (e-mail subscribers, you’ll have to visit the website, e-mail replies won’t be counted) and say that you’re interested.  That’s it.  Please make sure that your contact information (e-mail address – not shared publicly) is accurate.  We will need to get in touch with you via e-mail.  Please do not include personal information in your reply.

Bonus Entry: If you use twitter, you can earn an extra entry by following @shutter_photo and tweeting the following (verbatim):

Sun Sniper Camera Strap Giveaway (US only) -  Enter at @shutter_photo magazine: http://tinyurl.com/spgive-01 #spgive_01

Drawing / Announcement:

On March 10th, we will randomly select a winner from the valid entries and make a formal announcement here on Shutter Photo.  We will contact the lucky winner via e-mail (again, make sure your e-mail is valid) to confirm shipping address.  Shipping costs will be covered by Shutter Photo, the winner shall not be responsible for any costs.

Rules:

1. This giveaway is available only to United States residents only.  We apologize to our foreign readers, and we hope to be able to include you in the future.
2. A maximum of two entries are possible per person:  one entry for replying to this post, one entry for tweeting the message above.  Additional tweets and additional replies to this message will not incur additional entries.
3. If tweeting, please only tweet the message once.  We do not want to annoy your followers.  Please note that if you are not following @shutter_photo at the time of the drawing (March 10), your tweet will not count.
4. If we are unable to contact the winner via e-mail after 7 days, we will be forced to select another winner at random.
5. The strap offered as part of this giveaway was used for our review for a period of about 7 days.  The strap is otherwise in mint condition and has not be altered in any way.

Special Thanks: We’d like to thank the Bron Imaging Group, the distributors of the Sun Sniper and the wonderful group that provided us the Sun Sniper for review and of course for this giveaway.

Finally, we’d like to thank you all, our wonderful reader base, for following us these past two years and helping us to get where we are today.  If you’re new to Shutter Photo, I encourage you to take a look around, read a few articles or participate in our Shutter Photo @ Flickr Group.

In the meantime we have some things to clean up here on the site.

Thanks for your understanding.

We here at Shutter Photo are very excited to announce our very first photo competition for the members (and soon to be members) of the Shutter Photo @ Flickr Group.  As regular readers of Shutter Photo already are aware, at the top of our page is a cropped photo we refer to as the ‘ribbon’.  To date, this photo is the product of one of our own.  But that will no longer be the case.  The ribbon shown on the main page could very well be yours, if you are, perhaps, the winner of this competition.

The Ribbon Photo Competition is going to be a fairly regular competition which we will offer four times per year, once every three months.  The winner gets their photo displayed as the ribbon for a period of three months, and their full credit (complete with links) will be provided in a prominent place on our main page.  This is a great way to get your work exhibited and displayed.  It’s also going to be a fun competition.

Entering is simple, and certainly worth a try.  For more detailed information about the competition, please see below.  If you have questions, comments and/or thoughts, please feel free to discuss in response to this post.  As this is our first competition, we’re looking for any thoughts and feedback to help us make sure that this, and future, competitions run smoothly.

I hope to see your photos submitted – we’re really looking forward to this, and to the possibility of a new ribbon here at Shutter Photo.

Photo Requirements

The ribbon shown at the top of the page is 965×70 at 72 DPI.  Any photo entered into this competition shall be at least that size and shall have the same aspect ratio.  Our current photo is nearly monotone, but don’t let that influence your contribution.  We will accept all types of photos, including color photos (even hand-colored photos).  Subject matter is up to you, as is the cropping.

How to Enter

Your photo must be submitted to the SP@Flickr Pool and must be tagged “SPR-CONTEST1″ (copy/paste without quotes just to be sure).    As mentioned above, the official photo must be 965×70 at 72 DPI (or larger with the same aspect ratio).  Feel free to submit a full-size uncropped photo for support, but let it be known that the official image used for judging will be the one at 965×70 size.

The submission deadline will be January 29th, 2009 at midnight, GMT.

Update: Each person may submit up to three entries.  If a person submits more than three, we will take their first three entries based on date submitted.

The Prize

The winning photograph will be displayed as the “ribbon” across the top of the main page here at Shutter Photo.  Additionally, full credit will be provided in a prominent location (contained within the “Welcome” block at the top-right of the home page) including the name of the photographer, the name of the photo, a link to an uncropped version of the photograph (if available) and up to two links to the creator/owner’s website(s) of choice (personal blog, personal gallery, etc).  Shutter Photo guarantees that the ribbon, credits and associated links will remain in place for a minimum of three months (based on calendar months).  Winning photos, and associated credits and links, will be maintained in an all-star gallery, which is intended to be maintained indefinately.

The Judges

This will be a judged event.  I will certainly be the first judge, but I won’t go it alone.  Helping me with judging will be Lisa Newton and David Clark, both great photographers in their own right.  Here’s a little more information about each of us:

Lisa Newton is best known for her work with her blog, Travelin’ Local.  Her site is all about the local travel opportunities one will find in Southern California, though I one day expect some franchises all over the country, or even the world.  Her photography, which can be characterized as travel photography or even photojournalism is of course complimentary to her site.  Photography takes a bit of a side-stage to her main works, her writings of her journeys around Southern California, but it is an essential part of her blog.  In addition to her work on her own blog, Lisa is a contributing guest writer to Digital Photography School. Lisa’s works are avaiable on her blog, Travelin’ Local and at Flickr.

David Clark is an experienced nature and industrial photographer.  His photography has been featured here at Shutter Photo.  A mathematician by trade, Clark is skilled at making minute calculations in the field with his camera.  He also has an apparent steel arm, shooting often with lower shutter speeds than most photographers would be comfortable without a tripod – yet his work is tack sharp.  His work is inspiring; not only for its ability to bring beauty out of presumably ugly subjects (industrial ruins, burned out buildings, and so on) but also because of his ability to provide interesting perspectives on wildlife nature.  Who else would provide to us a poster-worthy photo of a Squirrel eating a French Fry?  David’s work can be found at his blog, Cliffs and Ruins, his portfolio site, David Clark Photography, and of course Flickr.

D. Travis North – well…that’s me.  If you’re here, I assume you know quite a bit about me already.  But for those of you who aren’t familiar, here’s a short introduction.  I am a Professional Landscape Architect with a strong interest in photography for the past fifteen years.  I like to shoot just about anything, but I tend to be most attracted to landscape photography, architectural photography and any details of either.  My work has been featured in Soura Magazine, as a guest photographer at The Carey Adventures and on Digital Photography School. I of course edit and maintain Shutter Photo, but my works are also available at my portfolio site, D. Travis North Photography, my photo blog No Words and, of course, Flickr.

The Essential Disclaimer

By entering this contest, you agree only to permit the use of your photo by Shutter Photo or its affiliates for the purpose of promoting the site, Shutter Photo, or for sharing in a designated gallery for the purpose of sharing entries into said competition.  Shutter Photo, and it’s affiliates, agree to fully credit the creator/owner of the photograph in every instance of the photograph’s display.  The full ownership and copyright shall be of the creator/owner of the photograph(s) in question and Shutter Photo will not claim ownership and/or copyright of any photo entered in this competition.  Shutter Photo, or its affiliates, reserves the right to alter the winning photo in any means necessary to display as part of the website.  All edits, if any, will be noted within the designated crediting block.

The winning photographer/owner’s website selection is subject to review of Shutter Photo staff.  Any links to websites considered inappropriate for our audience, websites that are clearly designed for spam or malware purposes or otherwise will be rejected.  Shutter Photo reserves the right to reject any link or to remove a link without warning.