I SHOT IT Blog

Sports Photo Competition Results

July 24th, 2013

We are pleased to announce the winners of the first sports photo competition. Our new competition judge Gary Tyson has picked some cracking shots. They can all be viewed here:

Sports Photo Competition 2013 No 1

There were 216 entries. Congratulation to Matt Aden from San Diego CA who won $432 plus a Leica V-LUX 40. We would like to thank everyone who entered their sports photos. There were so many brilliant shots. A new sports photo competition has started here : Sports Photo Competition 2013 No 2

I SHOT IT in Black and White!

July 13th, 2013

Here at I SHOT IT HQ we are often taken by surprise by the phenomenon we have created. Never more so than by our Black and White Competition. What started as a one-off to celebrate the Leica M Monochrom has become our most prestigious Competition attracting an enormous world-wide entry.

With such a large entry and huge prize, the results always create discussion - photography is an art form and aside from the technical aspects; subject matter, treatment and post-processing are always going to be a subjective matter. This is why our judging panel take their time to agree a final list of winners of the First Prize and the Marks of Excellence and why we know that not everyone in the world will always agree with them! Which brings us to the mechanics of the competition.

The very clever software behind the I SHOT IT website means that when a photo is entered, all of the information about the photo is hidden - EXIF data about exposure, equipment etc. cannot be viewed. What's more, whilst the admin department can see the photographer's account to sort payment details and emails etc. the judging panel sees nothing but the image. Photos are judged purely as they appear in the website view to the world.

Why do we do this? Our judges must be free from bias. They cannot be influenced by us in any way. Period. We are are a US company, that's the law in the US. We have taken this several steps further by ensuring there is no bias towards a manufacturer, photographer, medium (scanned film images are acceptable entries, just as those from mobile phone cameras too) - if it's a photo, if it's yours and if it can be uploaded then it can be judged on a completely level playing field with all of the others.

Which means that if there is a truly great image in the competition, it will stand out on its own merits alone. Our winners in all of the competitions we have held to date have been amateurs, semi-professionals and professionals - their photos have been taken with the latest equipment or with whatever inexpensive camera they had to hand.

We are very proud therefore to have created an environment where a truly great image like our latest Black and White Competition winner could rise to the surface entirely on its own merits, where the photographer, despite being an award-winner already, enjoyed competing in the anonymity of an I SHOT IT contest.

Black-And-White Photo Competition Results

July 12th, 2013

We are pleased to announce the winners of the second black and white photo competition this year. Our judges have picked out 26 of the best photos. The results can be viewed here:

Black-And-White Photo Competition 2 2013

The winner, Damon Winter has won $20,090.00 plus a Leica M MONOCHROM body worth $8000.00. Damon is a 38-year-old New York Times photographer. The photo shows a group of US soldiers in Kunduz, Afghanistan, in September 2010, huddled around in full kit, shielding a badly injured soldier with their bodies from the dust storm caused by the rotor wash of a nearby landing helicopter. Damon Winter, is also the winner of a Pulitzer Prize in 2009.

There were 2009 entries in the competition. That was a large number for our judges Birgit Krippner and Thorsten Overgaard to look through and study. We would like to thank everyone who entered a photo or photos. A new black and white competition has started here : B&W Competition 3

Cat Photo Competition Results

July 11th, 2013

We are pleased to announce the winners of the third cat photo competition this year. The results of this cat photo competition can be viewed here:

Cat Photo Competition 3 2013

There were 547 entries. Congratulation to Rui Caria. Rui has also won runner-up prizes is other competitions showing that he is a very talented photographer. Rui has won $656.40 plus a Leica V-LUX 40. Thank you to all who took part. Once again, this competition would have been nothing without all of your wonderful entries that we have enjoyed looking at.

Landscape Photo Competition Results

July 4th, 2013

We are pleased to announce the results of the second 2013 landscape photo contest. The results can be viewed here:

Landscape Photo Competition 2013 No 2

There are some excellent comments from our landscape judge, Duncan MacArthur, and from the winning photographers. Congratulation to the winner Raynor Czerwinski with his Eigg-celent photo of the scottish island of Eigg. Raynor won $832.80 plus a Leica V-LUX 40 worth $800. In our next landscape photo competition we will be giving away a pair of Leica Trinovid 8 x 20 BCA Binoculars. We cannot thank all the particpants enough for entering so many wonderful photos.

Premium Competition Results

July 1st, 2013

Have you ever wondered if a pair of leopard stripped swimming thongs would make you more photogenic. The answer could be in the winning photo of the latest Premium Competition. All of the superb winning shots can be seen here:

Premium Photo Competition 2013 Q2

The winner, Younes Kabbaj from Hong Kong has won $2,205.00 plus a Leica X2 Camera worth $2000. Thank you to everyone who entered their photos into this competition, making the standard so high.

Child Photo Competition Results

June 26th, 2013

We are pleased to announce the winners of the seconds child photo contest. Our judge, Lisa Alessandra Kutzelnig has picked one winner and nineteen Marks of Excellence. The results can be viewed here:

Child Photo Competition 2013 No 2

The winner has won $1,712.00 plus a Leica V-LUX 40 worth $800. There were 856 entries. Thank you so much to everyone who entered a photo. Congratulation to the winners who have made the standard of photography so high.

Macro Photo Competition Results

June 18th, 2013

We are please to announce the results of the third macro photo competition. The winning photos can be seen here:

Macro Photo Competition 2013 No 2

Congratulation to Janne, a 22 year old student from Helsinki. Janne won $523.20 plus a Leica V-LUX 40 worth approximately $800. There were 436 wonderful entries for our judge David Chambon to choose from. Thank you to everyone who entered.

The Free I SHOT IT 200K Celebration Competition

June 14th, 2013

Checking the I SHOT IT Facebook page at I SHOT IT HQ this morning, we all got really excited when we saw that we were nearly at 200,000 likes.
'Let's say thank you and prove how much we like them all, too', we said, 'but how ...'

And so the Free I SHOT IT 200K Celebration Competition came into being. And have we gone to town on the 200K theme!

We have a First Prize of a Leica X2 Camera worth $2000.
We have 20 Marks of Excellence with prizes of $20 I SHOT IT credits each.

We have a '200' theme (maybe 200 apples, 200 sheep in a field, a 200 kph speedometer, a 200ft tall tree, a 200m race, a 200g can of baked beans ... be as creative as you can!)

... and the I SHOT IT Team will have some fun judging it ourselves - it's free for you to enter. So what are you waiting for, let's see your 200s!

San Francisco Photo Competition Results

June 4th, 2013

We are pleased to announce the results of the first San Francisco city competition. This was the first San Francisco photo competition, and there were 306 entries. Our new judges from the Harvey Milk Photo Center have chosen 10 of the best photos. The results can be viewed here:

City Competition 1 - San Francisco

The winner has won $612 plus a Leica V-LUX 40 worth $800.

For those who missed their chance to enter their San Francisco photos, we have started a new San Francisco photo competition here:

City Competition 2 - San Francisco