Rodney K.

I love the site its a great opportunity to get my shots out for others to see, but... I am becoming a little discouraged about the competitions. It raises a red flag when the last 3 contest (perhaps more) were won by people who have joined JUST BEFORE a contest submission period ends... if you go back and review several recent contest, you will find this is becoming the norm and these "activities" seem quite questionable.
Case in point:
>> Winter Photo Contest - The latest winners' "portfolio" consist of 2 shots, which just happened to be the maximum # of shots for the contest; they won 1st place (a BX2 Backpack plus a BX2 Holster) (new member)
>> Thunder Photo Contest - 12 photos in winners portfolio (new member)
>> Natural World Photo Contest - - 15 photos in winners portfolio (new member)
>> Joy photo Contest - 2 photos in winners portfolio (new member)

Now don't get me wrong, the "winning" photos are great shots... and I've placed a few "Judges Favorite", "Featured Shots", and even a few "Featured Store". 8 "Awards" in all... just enough to keep me enticed...

As others have mentioned, the sight really lacks proper critiques from peers and seems to be post/point driven. It (the site) also lacks the meta data to "see" how the shot was taken and/or what software was used to edit the shot. There are also still "bugs" with the site that will place images in the wrong category. I don't know how when or why it happens but I've had on several occasions shots where I went in to edit the title or description and found B&W in color category. Landscapes (Nature) in animal category etc...

Bottom Line: I will continue to use the site perhaps past my subscription... but will continue to keep watch over the powers that be... the "contest" prizes are variable from inexpensive 120mm Holga cameras, gorrilla pod tripods. Or the likes to several $1000 prizes. You be the judge.