The Los Angeles Center for Digital Art is hosting a non-juried show. It's called "Snap to Grid." I have to admit that the title really attracts me. Most of us are currently emphasizing the commercial side of our art, but a little extra publicity never hurts. I've never entered a show sponsored by LACDA, but I know of photographers and illustrators who have. It seems to be a good organization. I'm entering this one. Just thought some of the Dreamstime crowd might be interested.

Here's the link to their web site.

http://lacda.com/juried/juriedshow.html

Pat Ballard

This must be competition season because I'm finding things to enter that look worthwhile almost everyday this week. Or is it just that I'm now on a ton of photography email lists?

This was sent to me in the Santa Fe Photography Workshops email news letter. If they think it's worth entering, it is! Center is another photography non-profit in Santa Fe. It is sponsoring four juried events during the next year. It is mostly aimed at professional fine art photographers who have developed a style and a large portfolio. We all know that the average microstock photographer has many facets to their work, so this may apply to many of you, too. They also sponsor portfolio reviews in Santa Fe and Los Angeles during the year. I do remember my daughter attending the Santa Fe portfolio ...

It seems that either competition season is upon us, or I'm the new Dreamstime contest guru. Interesting photo contests keep popping up in magazines and on web sites that I frequent. Entering contests not for all of us, but for photographers who are so inclined, it's a great source of publicity.....and some extra cash for the winners.

The latest one that I've run across is the Smithsonian Magazine 6th Annual Photo Contest. The entry deadline is December 1. There are 5 categories in which to enter and various levels of prizes. It's worth taking a look at the prospectus. It means wonderful exposure in the Smithsonian Magazine at the very least.

http://photocontest.smithsonianmag.com/v6/index.html

Pat Ballard

Most of the photography blogs that I read have a thread about sensor cleaning. It's the bane of digital cameras. While computers and digital imaging have opened up an amazing new world of vision for us, it's also given photographers some new frustrations. I can't remember ever being so frustrated by dust on the lens or mirrors of my old Canon A1. The occasional inexpensive cleaning and tuneup at my local camera shop always took care of the problem. All my old Canons from the late 70s and early 80s are still working just fine, BTW.

With the cost of cleaning digital cameras through the local camera shops being about $100 the last time I checked, I quickly looked for another way to get my sensor clean. My Canon Mark II is too old to have an automatic cleaning ...