Daily, Monthly & Yearly Contests at Digital Image Cafe

I've always felt that one of the best ways to improve your photography and to get more out of your picture taking is to join some type of photo community--whether it's a local camera club, taking an adult-ed class in your hometown or an by joining an online community. Online communities are especially appealing because you can participate when you have time and join only activities that are important to you. You can come home after a long day of working (or shooting!) and post your newest images for others to see and enjoy (and critique) and (what else?) talk with others about cameras.

One of the most interesting online communities I've come across is the Digital Image Cafe. One of the neat features of the Cafe is their online-gallery hosting service that comes with membership ($29/year); you can post up to 100 of your images in your own gallery. They also host a number of great contests, including Photo of the Day, Photo of the Month and Photo of the Year contests. And the prizes (that include some of my books) are great--in 2009 they gave away $69,000 in prizes! (In fact, Digital Image Cafe was one of the primary sources for photos for my book Winning Digital Photo Contests (Lark Photography Book -- so you never know where entering a contest can lead!) Plus, every month they give away Lark Photo books just for belonging to the community. There is a full list of member benefits on their site.