Shoot! The Day Community Winners: Best Avatar

In case you missed it, we set up a community site for Shoot! The Day and decided to have a little pre-shoot day contest. So we asked a few of our c...

In case you missed it, we set up a community site for Shoot! The Day and decided to have a little pre-shoot day contest. So we asked a few of our cool friends (Nikon, Lowepro and Apple) to pony up a few prizes, and just like that, we had ourselves a contest.

But why make it so competitive? Why not have a little fun and make it creative? Avatars have become iconic (literally) of the hours we spend online, so we figured that “best avatar” was as good a competition as any.

The fun thing about having a totally silly contest is that you don’t need strict rules and you don’t need Price Waterhouse audting your selection. Instead it’s just me with no pants on IMing a few other PhotoShelter peeps about what we like. But before we announce the winners, let’s talk about some trends that we saw.

You holding a camera
I don’t want to be a debbie downer, but in the annals of photography creativity, this particular trend ranks near the ground. And the ground is down low. Now, now. That doesn’t mean the photos are bad, I’m just saying…sometimes you have to step it up a creative notch. Here’s a little pupu platter.

Adam Scott

David Neely

Sabrina Weisz

Clowns scare me
I’m fairly certain that it was Poltergeist that made me this way.

Diane Davis

…And so do scary Medusa heads
I’m not sure why. It wasn’t a movie (although I do recall Clash of the Titans with a dapper Harry Hamlin)

Who let the dogs out?
Pets (and animals) were a common theme. I guess it means you love your pet. Arf.

Mark Gilliland

Carole Lloyd

L. Inli

Baby say what?
If you love your pet, you’ll love your kid even more! Plus, kids are funny.

Nathan Barrett

Pam

Don Cudney (I’m assuming this is Don. Smart choice, always makes the girls go “AWWW”)

I might have a dirty mind, but….
I’m sure there was no inuendo intended.

Paula Roberts

Christey

The ole’ Photoshop Filter trick

Brad Campbell

Nando

My hair is crazy!
Gravity-defying hair was a common theme. It’s like Patti Labelle in the 80s.

Cheryl Lemanski

Christian Harberts

I wish I were a pinata

Ana

Most disturbing use of the “mirror” function in Apple’s Photobooth

Laura

THE WINNERS
Ultimately, we picked the avatars that we thought played well at avatars. There were a lot of photos that probably look great a little larger, but it was hard to discern detail in a small thumbnail, so here are the winners….

Joe

They say the 80s are back, and Joe proved it with his ZZ-top inspired portrait. Good contrast, good separation of foreground and background, and by golly, he just looks like a happy dude.
PRIZE: Apple Aperture 2.1