i must say this site is by far the best online photo contest site i found.
the website is layed out beautifully, isn't obscured by flashing ads, and allows to you interact across a multitude of forums very easily.
plus its seems to be filled with a bunch of great people who are willing to offer help and mentor.
my main reason for wanting to join is for the contests, i enjoy taking pictures but i need a theme to help me focus, i guess i'm a little ADD with the camera, shooting all sorts of stuff but not focusing on a particular subject, and I need to learn how to do that. Plus this offers great insight as to how well my photos actually look to someone beyond me or someone who doesn't want to criticize (ie family).
So as it currently stands I am only able to enter/vote on about 1 contest per week, if I become a paying member will i have access to a lot more challenges?
I don't really need all the features of the site (selling, portfolios, prints, etc) but i'm sure i will use them if they are available.
if I become a paying member will i have access to a lot more challenges?
Yep. :)
At least five extras per month (weekly challenges + monthly free study).
At $25 for the year, we're not talking a huge chunk of change. You could spend that much on a how-to photography book that you never read, or even if you did, wouldn't teach you a quarter of what you could learn here in a few weeks.
So as it currently stands I am only able to enter/vote on about 1 contest per week, if I become a paying member will i have access to a lot more challenges?
yes! if you become a paying member you will have access to member's challenges, but not only...
Plus you get the ease of storage if you want to participate in side challenges (which are way fun!) and its the members who help keep this site going!!
Mike, you know you can enter one point something more challenges as a member. As well, you can spend way more time at DPC which will not necessarily alleviate Photographic ADD, but if taken seriously the themed challenges can go a long way to acheiving focus. It can be an intense ride: you might feel devastated by reactions to a photo that is really quite good, and falsely encouraged by reactions to a photo that has few artistic merits but exhibits photographic bravura.
It is all about getting your feet wet in a larger pond. But you don't really have to become a member for this. You might just try out for awhile as a registered user.
I say, absolutely join! You will learn so much! I started out as a member on this site totally clueless about serious photography. Now, after 6 years, I have a fine art gallery, and have left my job to pursue photography full time, and I'll tell anyone who asks that I learned more here than at any of the classes I took, books I read, or cameras I upgraded to. Besides that. The community totally becomes part of your life. Some of my best friends on this planet are friends I met here.
I've been a member longer than Sandy and haven't accomplished a single thing. Just a reminder that the "your mileage may vary" caveat applies. I have met some GREAT people but do wonder sometimes whether membership is detrimental after a point. :)
I've been a member longer than Sandy and haven't accomplished a single thing. Just a reminder that the "your mileage may vary" caveat applies. I have met some GREAT people but do wonder sometimes whether membership is detrimental after a point. :)
Meet Deb, head of the welcoming committee and leader of the DPC Glee Club. :P
You sound like an Agent Provocateur to me, Mike. We are all aware that anybody who answers "No," will immediately be banished, and have their account deleted, as if it never existed.
It's happened many times before, so we don't talk about it.
FWIW, I've been largely inactive here for the last 3 years, but I've been putting 25 bucks into it every year.
I haven't entered any challenges for quite some time, and I still feel that it's money well spent.
Yes, it's true that there are lots of other sites that allow much more free hosting, but there are indeed some things that set this place apart.
That's probably an odd thing to hear, but think about it this way: If you have a set of dumbells at home, and a membership at a gym, which is likely to actually get you doing more?
I participated month to month at $5 a pop for a little while, until I was certain I would get my use out a yearly membership fee. c'mon, drink the kool-aid, you know you want to. Just a little sip...
Yes, or maybe no? Do you want to be part of the site or an active member? Do you want extra challenges or not? Do you want AN UPDATE BUTTON!? Do you want to drift along with the site or get stuck in?
Any more questions? If so, ask an expert please:))
the worst best $25 i've spent in a long time. addiction has a new name, and it is dpc.
all jokes aside it's well worth the $$$...like steve i floated for about 6 months at $5 a month before i finally realized i was hooked.
but wow how much i've learned in such a short time.
dive in.
I have to agree, okay cameras have improved and most of us have upgraded, but look at 1st challenge entries and last entries, can you see any difference?? $25 is peanuts, and I don't like peanuts much! Go for it.
I know of no other online community (with about 20 people I know only through interactions here at DPC) I am willing to drive more than 4 hours on a hot summer day to go and hang out with...and that is something I will be doing this weekend. Over the 4 years, I have met over 25 fellow DPCers in HI, VT, CT, NY, and soon PA. It is a wonderful community full of some really great people.
I've been a member longer than Sandy and haven't accomplished a single thing. Just a reminder that the "your mileage may vary" caveat applies. I have met some GREAT people but do wonder sometimes whether membership is detrimental after a point. :)
Meet Deb, head of the welcoming committee and leader of the DPC Glee Club. :P
Well, it's been that kind of year.
But seriously, if you put a lot of effort into the place - lots of comments, plenty of participation in challenges and side challenges, etc, you should do just fine! Perhaps that's where I've gone wrong...
