Who am I and what makes this contest different?

Well, first off, my name is Wes, but on social media I go by @derangedvisions. It is a long story and if you want to know why, you can read my introduction post It's official, I am here on Whaleshares - My introduction post to get to know me better. Long story short, I am a professional photographer trying to capture the beauty in the world through pictures or through the films that I make.

So what is the Deranged Photography Contest and what makes it different than all the other ones?

Most photo contest get a lot of entries and then one or two people win because their photos are amazing. Of course it is cool to reward the best photo, but what about those that are new to photography or not quite up to the professional level? Many times those people get discouraged seeing the same few names winning all of the competitions across platforms like this. I saw this happening way too often and I saw people from all over the world with amazing images that could still use some sort of recognition for the work that they are doing. So I decided that I wanted to put together a contest that rewarded people of all skill levels.

The contest will be broken up into three different tiers. Each will have a different payout for the winners based on what tier you enter into. Here is a breakdown of the winning based on the tiers:

Each contest will be open for submissions for one week. I will be posting a new contest theme each Saturday and it will run until the following Saturday. Then I will make a winners announcement post after I close submissions on that Saturday.

How to enter

When you enter a photo in the competition, you will state what tier you want to be judged in and locked in for the month at that level.

For example if you enter a photo, you drop the photo in the comment section, state what level of photographer you are, and then give a description of the photograph. It is always cool to hear about the pictures instead of just having a picture dropped with no description.

If you want to make your own post and reference the contest in your post, that would be awesome, just remember to post your picture in the comment section along with your post link. This is a great way to get more exposure and earn rewards separate from the contest post itself. Plus making a post gives you the opportunity to share a lot of pictures instead of just one. Just remember, the picture that you post in the comment section of the contest post is the one that will be judged.
Be sure to use the tag #derangedphotography when making a post to make it easy to find your posts.

Additional Notes

• Only one submission per contest. Extra submissions will be not be counted.

• You can switch your tier ONE time per month, but only if you are moving up into a higher tier, for example if you are currently in the amateur tier, but you think that you have a photograph that you want to enter in the professional tier, you can state that you are changing your tier to professional. You will then be locked into the new tier for the remainder of the month. You are not able to move down to a lower tier, like going from amateur to the beginner tier.

• If you do not state wish tier you want to be judged in for the month, I will leave a comment to remind you to do so, but if you don't respond, you will be assigned to a tier and locked in for that month.

• Plagiarism will not be tolerated in any form. All submissions must be your own work. I will investigate every entry so if you are caught plagiarizing you will be blacklisted from competing in any future contests. It is not worth it to try and cheat, especially with the 3 tier set up where everyone has an equal shot of winning.

So what is this week's theme?

Well if you couldn't tell by the thumbnail it is going to be pets. I wanted to start off with a theme that everyone could participate in. Everyone should have pictures of their pets, whether they are cats, dogs, iguanas, lobsters (yes, I have seen that), just about anything you can imagine.

^{Photo taken by me @derangedvisions}

This picture is of my buddy Titus. He is my husky that helps me through tough times. He is an awesome dog and a great friend.

Who is sponsoring the contest?

The amazing @krazykrista is sponsoring the contest during its inception. She knows the importance of community building here on Whaleshares. She is definitely a witness that has the interest of the platform at heart and is one that deserves everyone's witness vote.

If you are not sure what a witness does here on the platform, they are the ones that produce or "witness" the blocks that here on the blockchain. They run the servers that keep this thing going. Many of them are developers and many are community oriented. Both types of witnesses are needed to ensure a successful blockchain. It is very important to support the witnesses that devote so much of their time and effort into ensuring a great user experience for everyone here.

To vote for @krazykrista's witness named @krazywitness go to https://whaleshares.io/~witnesses and vote for her there. She is doing an amazing job here and I can't stress enough how important voting for witnesses is.

Now go out and shoot some amazing pictures!

I hope you are all excited about this new contest. The contest themes will be different than what you are used to seeing, and I am doing this to encourage everyone to get out and shoot new pictures. If you are a life long professional nature photographer, some of the themes may push you to try and learn something new. If you are just a beginner photographer, this is a great place to have fun shooting all sorts of exciting styles and learn in the process.

^{Photo taken by me @derangedvisions}
I am looking forward to seeing all of your great submissions. Have fun taking those pictures!!

CHECK OUT THE WINNERS OF THIS CONTEST HERE:

Winners of Deranged Photography Contest - Pets