Cover photo by Aleksandar Gospic
Last month, 500px turned 5. To celebrate 5 fab years, we held an epic month-long contest on 500px ISO Group. We asked you to share all of the memories you’ve made on 500px over the years, as a photographer and member of our community.
As of November 22nd, the contest is closed. We have received and judged 2,621 contest entries. Thank you to everyone who entered the contest, and dedicated their time and effort in creating collections that moved and inspired us! It was honestly difficult and took us a while to go through and select our shortlist of winners. Win or not—you are all stars in our book.
Watch Our Thank You Video
First off, here’s a surprise gift from us to you to celebrate all the milestones which shaped 500px into the thriving, global photo community that it is today. And it’s all because of you. Thank you for five fantastic years of endless support and encouragement! We wouldn’t be here today without you, and we will continue to be appreciative of that.
Hit play to watch the video:
Huge Congrats to Our Contest Winners!
“I found hundreds of amazing stories and photos that made me melt inside. I had no idea how important 500px is to so many people around the world. It was great to discover and read those stories, and I’m so excited for the future of 500px and for the future of all the photographers who participated and put their heart and soul into these stories. Thank you!” – Evgeny Tchebotarev, 500px co-founder and CPO
Cue the drumroll…
GRAND PRIZE WINNER
“How I got published in a magazine because of 500px” by Pauly Pholwises
As seen in the video above, the 500px team is dedicated to giving your best work exposure to the world, whether it’s through our main platform, 500px Prime, our blog, or social media. Pauly Pholwises won us over with his heartfelt contest entry. In his submission, he shares how Digital SLR Photography, one of the top industry magazines discovered his photos on 500px. Judging by his outstanding portraiture technique, we couldn’t agree more with Digital SLR Photography‘s editors for publishing his images on the cover and spread.
Pauly Pholwises is the winner of a Sony Alpha a7 Mirrorless digital camera with full-frame lens, one-year free Awesome account, personalized 500px trophy, and will be Editors’ Choice curator for one week. Congrats and great job, Pauly! We’ll be contacting you via email shortly.
1ST RUNNER UP: “The past is always with us” by Philipp Balunovic
As 1st Runner Up, Philipp Balunovic wins a Lytro ILLUM camera (courtesy of Lytro), a one-year free Awesome account, and personalized 500px trophy. Congrats, Philipp, we’ll be contacting you shortly!
2ND RUNNER UP: “May the Bokeh be with you, 500px!” by Sham Jolimie
As 2nd Runner Up, Sham Jolimie wins a GoPro HERO4 SILVER camera, six-month free Awesome account, and personalized 500px trophy. Congrats, Sham, we’ll contact you shortly!
3RD RUNNER UP: “500px introduced me and my works to the world” by Ayie Permata Sari
As 3rd Runner Up, Ayie Permata Sari wins a $250 Adorama gift card (courtesy of Adorama), six-month free Awesome account, personalized 500px trophy, and have a new photo featured on 500px’s social media pages (Facebook, Twitter, Google+) every day for 2 weeks. Congrats, Ayie, we’ll contact you shortly!
And that rounds up our major winners, folks! Plus, you’ll all soon be seeing these names and their photos again when they get featured right here on 500px ISO and in our social media pages in the weeks to come. So keep your eyes peeled!
COMMUNITY PICK WINNER: “LLI using 500px” by Grace Su
Every prize in the contest has its winners, but our 500px audience has chosen its favorite as well. So let’s hear it for Grace Su, who had the most upvotes at the time of the contest deadline of Nov 22, 11:59 p.m. PT. She managed to get the most of your votes than anyone else with her story of living as a photographer with Low Latency Inhibition (LLI), “or the inability to ignore certain sensory stimuli.”
As Community Pick Winner, Grace Su wins 500px swag bag full of stickers, shirts, and other merch, and a free one-year Awesome account. Congrats, Grace, we’ll email you shortly!
NOTABLE MENTIONS
Here is a shortlist of outstanding contest entries that also caught our eye:
How 500px changed my life
My time with 500px
Most memorable times
Creative Outlet
500px encourages to take more and better photographs
a year with 500px… a year of good winds in my sails
London, UK, past bedtime
A Home for Photographers
500px – Amazing – Inspiring – Friends
I’m not the best at taking photos, but sometimes the journey is what matters most
My 5 most popular 500px photos
The Story of an engineer who is photographing the movie of his life
The little things in life
99.8
To the girl who turned me into a photographer, thank you. Or how I made 500px my journal
500px and me
500px is a creativity- and motivation-booster
The 500px adventure scared me a bit at the beginning
Streets of Athens
This past year and counting
Iceland, the USA, Portugal, France & the Netherlands: my 2014 in 500px photos
How I broke my photographer’s block with 500px
Nepal, Through My Vision & 500px’s Efforts
small world with 500px
500px = Inspiration + Motivation
One year experience with 500px
Unlimited Inspiration on 500px
I owe it to 500px!
Happy birthday, 500px!
Giving pulse to a dead trigger finger
My journey on 500px
A Little Over a Year and I’m Still Mesmerized
A journey towards infinity
From anonymous to Editors choice
Sharing My Vision of the World Through My Camera and 500px
How 500px changed my life
Hello Photography World
Helping me find my way
My brief history with 500px
Five unforgettable memories on 500px
You’re a photographer!
Unconventional Microcosms – how 500px allowed me to show my love for small things
Happy Birthday 500px!!!
It’s 500px’s Birthday
And with that, we end our annual 500px Birthday Contest. Thank you again for participating and sharing your photos and stories with us. There’s a good chance you’ll have another shot at winning some more epic prizes as we hold more contests in the months to come. After all, we’re approaching a brand new year: 2015, our sixth year.
Keep shooting and sharing your best work on 500px, and we’ll do our very best to make sure you get discovered by a wider audience!
THANK YOU TO OUR CONTEST SPONSORS:
Lytro is changing the way images are captured and stories are told. The company’s second-generation light field camera, LYTRO ILLUM, allows users to explore depth across a scene and create “Living Pictures” in which the point of perspective can be changed, 3D images can be captured, and animations can be created. Visit www.lytro.com
Adorama has everything you need to help you capture, enjoy, and share life’s moments. Cameras & gear, computers & phones, photo printing & rentals, and an exceptional learning center for amateurs and pros. Come see them in NY or online: Adorama.com
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