Well, many of you know that Seer is no longer able to do the POTM contest, and that BushMaid (Bush Hasah Mimetes) kindly offered to run it. Here is a post to explain the contest, what the rules are, and introducing the judges.
The contest is for photographers and photomanipulators alike: the Holy Worlds Photo-of-the-Month Contest.
Each month a panel of judges will select a photo from those uploaded to the Art Gallery the prior month as the Photo-of-the-Month. Photomanipulators will then have the rest of the month to create a graphic in which that photo or the main subject of that photo is featured as a prominent element. The winning Photo and Photomanip will be featured and shown off in the HW Art Gallery and a special post on the HW Blog.
The Photo-of-the-Month will be announced on the first of each month. All photomanipulators interested in submitting a graphic must do so by the twenty-first of that month. Submissions will work by posting the work in a Photo-of-the-Month thread in the Arts Guild. You can either upload the pic to a site of your own and post the link in the thread or upload to the Art Gallery and then embed it in the thread. Whichever works for you. The winning pic and photomanip will then be featured the following month on the blog and Art Gallery.
Rules for photographers:- Your pictures must be submitted to the Art Gallery. Then you just need to embed the photo into the POTM thread. (If you want to know how to embed, please feel free to ask)
- Photos must adhere to the Art Gallery Rules.
Rules for photomanipulators- Your work must adhere to the same standards used in the Arts Guild and Art Gallery.
- The Photo-of-the-Month must be noticeably featured in your work. You can implement other stock images and effects, but the judges and viewers should be able to look at the photo and then see where it is used in your graphic without playing the hidden-pictures game.
- You must use either the whole photo or the main subject of the photo in your work. This goes back to the first rule about being able to identify how you used the photo.
- Simply retouching the Photo-of-the-Month is not allowed. While we're not going to go too hardline on the number, your work should probably contain elements from at least three images (including the Photo-of-the-Month).
- If you use stock images from sites other than The HW Art Gallery be sure that you follow the original artist's wishes (credit them, give them a link, etc.).
We have been blessed to have five wonderful people agree to help judge this competition. The photographer whose photo is picked as the Photo-of-the-Month will get to help judge the photomanipulations, giving us a total of six judges. And they are:
Photo-of-the-Month Judges:
Jonathan Garner
Azlyn Rose
Elly
Photomanipulator Judges:
BushMaid
TheRatchetOrange
(The photographer of the Photo-of-the-Month).
The contest will be a monthly event. We are excited to be able to host this, and we are looking forward to seeing the different artwork that you guys will submit. We do want to you understand that photomanipulators and photographers of all skills are welcome. If you’re a beginner or you've wanted to try your hand at photomanipulating or photography for a while but just haven't yet, this monthly contest would be a great way for you to begin.

Blessings in Christ,
The POTM Team.