PhotoshopContest

For some years now, "photoshopping" has been the term used to describe photo-manipulation for both fun and commercial purposes. Adobe Photoshop is the premier professional application, and fashion and industrial images are routinely "photoshopped" to remove blemishes and enhance the more glamorous aspects of the final product. photoshopcontest.com, in a much lighter vein, has members constantly competing to win $50 in a variety of themed competitions, which at the time of writing include such varied topics as "squirrels and lemons", "arm disappearance", and "hikers are dangerous". Members vote on aspects of the images including execution, authenticity and humor. The current version of the site bears a remarkable and no doubt intentional resemblance to Flickr, which in this case is not a bad thing. If you're a Flickr user, you'll have no trouble navigating around here. And as with Flickr, there are two levels of membership, free, and "Advantage", which costs around $30. A nice touch is that even non-members may view the competitions, and there are many tutorials which are also freely available to all. If you're already improving your own images but haven't ever thought of entering a competition, this is well worth a visit. The community looks friendly and there's always some sort of challenge going on.