October Photo Challenge

Every October, we vote for the year’s best photo from photos that won our monthly challenges from last November till today.
The winner takes home $2,000, just in time for holiday shopping season.
Scroll down for details on how to vote and see the collection of winners from this past year’s challenges.  We’re launching a new photo challenge website next month, too.  So you’ll find details about that below, as well.
VOTE FOR THE 2011 PHOTO CHALLENGE WINNER!
It’s always fun this time of year to look back through all of the monthly winners in the Photo Challenge. The tough part is deciding which shot wins the Grand Prize.
The theme of the month was critically important when these images were chosen — but now that they are all together without a main theme, it’s more difficult to narrow the field. Some images certainly stand out more than others, but it still isn’t an easy choice.
That’s why, when looking through the 2011 Hall of Fame, you should be sure to watch for strong technical elements like…
— Composition
— Nice lighting
— Sharp focus
And most importantly, watch for the image that speaks to you above all the rest. A shot that has story.
VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE SHOT ON OUR NEW SITE!
To vote for this month’s challenge, or to participate in any future photo challenge with us, everyone will have to create a new username and password. Here’s how you do that:

1. Please go to this website.
2. Select “I Agree” to the terms and conditions.
3. On the page that asks you to “Input registration information,” please create a username, password, and enter your e-mail address. The other information is optional.
4. Select “Submit registration”
5. An activation e-mail will be sent to the e-mail address you entered. Please open this e-mail and click on the link it contains. This will activate the account.
6. Your browser will take you to a screen that says “Your account is now active and you can login with your username and password”

Once you have created a new username and password, this is how you can vote for the Grand Prize Winner:

1. Go to the homepage of the photo challenge: and log in using your new username and password.
2. Click on “October Challenge – 2011 Grand Prize”
3. Click one of the photos that appear on the October Challenge page. Once the photo is enlarged, if you scroll to the bottom of the page you will see five small, empty stars. Please select the number of stars you wish to give the photo. 1 being the lowest rating, 5 being the highest.
4. The site will not allow you to vote for your own photograph, and you may only vote for each photograph once.

That’s it!
At the end of this month, we’ll tally up the results and announce the Grand Prize-winning photo. The photographer will take home $2,000 cash, so cast your vote with care.
Voting begins today and ends on Monday, Oct. 31 at 8:00 am.
[Editor’s Note: Learn more about how you can turn your pictures into cash in our free online newsletter The Right Way to Travel.  Sign up here today and we’ll send you a new report, Selling Photos for Cash: A Quick-Start Guide, completely FREE.]