Porter's/Tamron 2013 Calendar Photo Contest

15 chances to win!

Enter your best shots and maybe you'll win the monthly Porter's/Tamron Calendar Photo Contests and be a finalist in the Best of the Year Contest. Each month, all entries will be posted on our web site. Then we'll judge the contest, announce the winner in our e-mail newsletter. Monthly contest winning photos will become a 2013 monthly calendar page, ready for downloading. At the end of the year, a gorgeous complete 2013 photo calendar can be printed. (click for last years calendar)

After the December contest has been judged, there will be another round of judging for the Best of the Year award of a Tamron 18-270 PZD lens

Enter Contest

2012 Porter's/Tamron Calendar Themes

• January - Frozen

  Entries for the January 2013 Calendar Winner Bert Corliss

• February - Chocolate

  Entries for the February 2013 Calendar Winner Dave Maley

• March - Motion Blur

  Entries for the March 2013 Calendar Winner Roy Okano

• April - Urban Scene

  Entries for the April 2013Calendar Winner Paul Grillo

• May - Black & White Portrait

  Entries for the May 2013 Calendar Winner Sissy Morris

• June - Good Eats!

  Entries for the June 2013 Calendar Winner Patty Skiles

• July - Summer Kids

  Entries for the July 2013 Calendar Winner Tom Vogt

• August - Traffic

  Entries for the August 2013 Calendar Winner Andrea Thomson Viner

• September - Vintage

  Entries for the September 2013 Calendar Winner Allison Hill

• October - Looking Up

  Entries for the October 2013 Calendar Winner Bill Boswell

• November - Night Scene

  Entries for the November 2013 Calendar Winner Ronald Biggs

• December - Holiday Card

  Entries for the December 2013 Calendar - Taking Entries Now!

2013 Contest Themes

• January

  - Winter landscapes

• February

  - Love- Valentine's Day

• March

  - Moon and Stars, the Heavens

• April

  - Rain Showers (during and after)

• May

  - Reflections

• June

  - Wedding Views (Scenes from a wedding)

• July

  - Life's a Beach (Photos of Sand and Surf)

• August

  - Pet Portrait

• September

  - Insects

• October

  - Wildlife

• November

  - Frost

• December

  - Glamour (no boudoir photos please)

Tips on how to win a photo contest

One of the best ways to improve your photo skills is to enter contests. Fortunately there are a lot of contests around! While contests will vary in the skills range of the photographers that they attract, there are certain tips to winning that apply to anyone who wants to participate. Below are eight basic bases to have covered before submitting an image.

• Only submit images that are relevant to the contest theme or category.
• In the same contest, don’t submit the same image under multiple categories. For example don’t submit the same image of kids looking around a tree under both “Child Portraits” and “State Parks”.
• Focus! Well focused pictures will always be given preference by any judge while poorly focused images are almost immediately passed by.
• Exposure! Properly exposed images are always in the hunt for ribbons.
• Creativity! Show the world a new viewpoint. Picture the subject in a new and pleasing way. Stay on topic with the theme but consider pushing the envelope.
• Image titles don’t count in the first selection rounds. If your image relies on its title to help it fit the contest theme or category it will likely not make it beyond the first round of judging.
• Read, understand and follow all of the rules. If the contest asks for images as 11X14 prints or as 3 megabyte files make sure that your submission complies.
• Pay particular attention to the legalese on the image submission form where the reproduction rights are spelled out.

With many contests your image will not be returned win, lose or draw. In most cases, any image submitted has limited reproduction rights released to the contest organizers for other purposes such as promotion and advertising.