I’m in ur contests winnin’ ur prizes

Much to my surprise, I am now a prize winning photographer. Well, sorta, if you go by the most generous interpretation of that phrase. A few weeks ago Geralyn spotted a photo contest in one of those free magazines –you know, the kind that you often find in the waiting areas of suburban chain restaurants? No, the kind that features wholesome family activities and day care services, not the kind that advertise underground films and plastic surgery.

Anyway, the theme of the contest was “Kids at Play” and Ger thought that out of the bajillion pictures I’ve taken of Sam in the last year that I’d be able to field an entry or two in my ongoing efforts to exploit her for Google Adsense revenue, free diaper bags, and other monetary gains.

In fact, I went ahead and submitted versions of the five pictures below, the maximum number of entries allowed by the contest rules:

  1. Waving on the swing
  2. Blowing bubbles
  3. Looking up at the pool
  4. Grinning on the swing
  5. Lying tummy down on the tire swing

Lot of swing pictures, but we actually thought that the pool pic had the best chance of winning, if any of them did. Which I really wasn’t that optimistic about. So I just kind of mailed them off and forgot about it.

Well, lo and behold, yesterday Ger got a call from the magazine saying that I had won second place! Not exactly a Pulitzer and it’s amazing how going from “loser” to “second place” can make you shake your fist and say you were robbed of the big prize, but hey, still… And to our surprise, it was the bubbles picture that won:

Blowing Bubbles

The best parts are that the photo will be published in the magazine later this month, PLUS it comes with a $250 cash prize. Sweet!

I had originally intended to put that cash back into my photography hobby, say towards a new lens. But you know, there’s nothing I’m dying to get right now, having just gotten a nice new lens, a gadget bag, and a speedlight recently. So I thought that I’d spend my new windfall on something that I really want, but had decided not to buy because it seemed frivolous: a Nintendo Wii. Thanks, Sam! And thanks to Geralyn, too, for encouraging me to enter. I think she was as excited as I was to get the news.

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4 thoughts on “I’m in ur contests winnin’ ur prizes

  1. Arrggh! Envy! Congratulations! And I’d suggest that some of the proceeds of your new-found wealth as a superstar photographer goes to more bubbles for Sam!

  2. Dunno, they don’t go on sale until this Sunday. I’m sure I’ll be compelled to write about it when I do pick it up, though, so I’ll let you know.

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