SPECIAL UPDATE: See the Previous Entry to See Why This is X-TRA Sweet

Wow. Just ... wow. Seriously, I'm gunna' pass out here. I'm all a Twitter inside. See what I did there? How I worked that little bit of self-promotion in on ya like that, thinly disguised as basic commentary? I'm clever that way. Believe it!

Okay, okay ... without further ado, here is why I'm all a-quiver:



Swoon ........

PS: Does this segment make me sound fat?

Photography on the DOT Net - Published Shots for Book III

For all of you who do not know, and trust me, there are LOT of you out there who don't, I am a member over at Photography on the.Net - a great forum for Canon camera users.

Each year, they hold a contest for their members, where they compete against each other for entry in to that years book. Needless to say, when you are up against 100's if not 1000's of pro and semi-pro photographers, the competition can be very tough. With that in mind, I was so honored to receive an email from the moderators about my entries. Here is part of the release post:

"The Book Committee and the Book Team would like to thank everyone who submitted an image this year, over 1100 images in all. We wished it was feasible to publish all 1100. Final tally shows that there are 308 photos to be published in Volume 3."

- Permagrin

The images are chosen by the members of Photography on the Net; whom the vast majority are photographers themselves. No one knows who entered what image as they are 'unsigned'. So you can not vote for a person, only for the image based on it's own merits - not on the merit of the photographer or their reputation.

For my entries , I submitted to 13 of the 16 categories and had 7 of them chosen for positions in the book!

In each section there are two major positions. That of the Signature Shot (the shot that best represents the category and had the most votes) and the Max Shot. This is the second largest shot in a section and goes to the shot that had the second highest number of votes. I was lucky to have two of my shots as Max Shots and one as a Signature Shot.

Here are the images of mine to be contained in Book III and the categories they are to be in.

Weddings & Other Family Events

People | Signature Shot

Nature & Landscapes

Astronomy & Celestial | Max Shot

Wildlife

Urban Life & Travel

Still Life, B/W & Experimental | Max Shot

All in all, I'm pretty excited that a half-ass photographer, such as my self, was able to garner so many positions across such a wide spectrum of categories. Most of the time, my diversity (I am Mr. Joatmon, after all) is a hindrance to my professional endeavors (i.e: getting a real job) but in this case, it seemed to turn out 'Okay'.

So, which of these images do you like the best and why? Please by as through as possible in your comments. Around a 200-15,000 word explanation should be enough to placate me.

My Very 1st Poll! Weeeee

Hello! How are all you wonderful, fantastic, sexy, good looking, inspirational, intelligent, enlightened, funny, devoted, energetic, smart, laid back, sophisticated, city dwelling, country folks doing today?

Insert your answer here: _________________

Well, that is just awesome/terrible. I'm so happy/saddened to hear that and I hope everything stays great/gets better soon.

OK, now that I have gotten myself into everyone's good Graces by my obviously sincere yet completely contrived attempt to include everyone, in every type of situation, with the previous sentence, I want to ask you all a favor.

Since I am new to this whole blogging thing, I desire your opinions on whether or not I should a)continue trying to keep you entertained, informed and contemplative or should I b)let this thing to die off before it becomes gangrenous and beyond the healing capabilities of God and man?

In order to get this information, I need you to do two things. Firstly: you need to read my Blogg - all of it! Seriously, no cheating. Secondly: a need to to click HERE and answer the brief poll. That's it! It's really that easy!

Just think about it this way: this is your opportunity two either bolster my spirits and let me know that this is all worthwhile or crush them like so many dead leaves under your feet.

If you decide to do the latter, please leave me a comment as to why you think that: as a Blogger, Mr. Joatmon = epic fail. I will then do my best not to purchase a voodoo doll in your likeness, cram it full of poisoned needles, douse it with kerosene, set it ablaze, wait till it is a charred crisp, extinguish it with a rusty ax and bury it in the backyard under a steaming pile of dog poo.

I patiently await your responses.

PS: I don't really have a rusty ax.