Congratulations goes to Lauren Hunt for shooting this year’s winning image. The voting was close but, as you can see, it is well worth the win. Nice job Lauren! Check out the updated 2009 Contestant Gallery to see the revealed names and check out the rest of her shots. I’ll be posting the official vote tally later this evening or tomorrow morning. Check back as you’ll want to see how people voted for your shots.

Until then, leave some comments and congratulate our new winner. If she’s up for it, I can send her a questionnaire to post here so we can learn more about the shot that won.

Ah, that’s better. A couple of hours sleep and I’m good to go. Looks like everyone can view the gallery and it’s working well. We’re now at the last and final step of Urban Photo Safari 2009. A run down of what the contestants have to do next:

1. Take a look at the images in the ‘09 gallery (http://urbanphotosafari.com/2009/). Make sure to click the “next” button at the bottom to access all of the galleries. There are a total of 43 contestants this year. Each contestant has their own unique album of images to view.
2. You have 10 total votes to use. One vote per photo and you can’t vote on your own. Write them down and send them to me in an email (email link to the right). Email should look something like:
   Contestant 01 - photo 02
   Contestant 12 - photo 04
   etc.
   Make sure to include your full name in the body of the email.
3. Hand in all votes to me by midnight Friday (6/19).
4. I will tally all of the votes and announce the winner sometime Saturday afternoon.

Should be one of the quicker turn-arounds we’ve had. One week from participation to the announcement of the winner. If you were a participant, please make sure to take the time to get your votes in. It will be hard with so many images but, the other participants (and me) will greatly appreciate your efforts. If you don’t have your votes in to me by midnight Friday and you do end up getting the most votes, you will be disqualified and I’ll hand the win to the next in line.

Have any questions? Shoot me an email or, post a comment and I’ll do my best to get it answered a.s.a.p. Also, let me know how the gallery is working this year. Is it slow? fast? Just right? I experiment with building different galleries each year so, be good to hear some community feedback on how it’s working.

Thanks! Enjoy the images and make sure to pass the link around for others to view your hard work.

http://urbanphotosafari.com/2009/

I’ll have more detail on voting and some background on the gallery around noon on Thursday. Until then, visit the gallery and take a look at your efforts. As I mentioned before, some pretty amazing shots. To get started on voting, grab a pen and some paper and write down what images you like. Once your are done, you’ll be sending me another email (email link on the right) with your 10 votes. It should look something like this:

Contestant 01 - photo 02
Contestant 32 - photo 08
etc.

Enjoy! I’m goin’ to bed. I’ll be back in a bit.

Looks like I’m going to be burning the midnight oil putting the final touches on the gallery. It’s all coming together nicely though. So, go to bed and get a good night’s rest. I’m on my second Red Bull so, if you don’t see the gallery posted here in the morning, send the paramedics.

Dang, you folks shot some amazing stuff. Gonna be hard to drop just 10 votes this year. All the picks are in. Now it’s up to me to put them together and get them out there for you to view. Hang tight, I should have it ready for viewing by late Wednesday night, early Thursday. I’ll post here with the link when it’s ready to go.

That was a lot of fun. Enjoyed the event and all but, I’m a little confused as to what’s next. Sound like you? The friend you brought to the event? Not to worry, here’s what’s up next and what to expect during the week following Urban Photo Safari. Some are old veterans but, some are brand new. Regardless, we could all use a little clarification on what to do and when. In the hopes of answering most questions, here’s the most exhaustive list I can come up with.

1. What’s the deal with picking the top ten?
   I won’t be putting up contestant images on the site until I have your top ten picks from your shoot. You have until Monday night (let’s say 11:00 p.m. Monday night 6/15) to email me (see “Email” link in the side bar on the right) with the file names of your images. Make sure you have your full name and/or all the names of your team in the email. Some of the email addresses are hard to decipher. This is the main reason we download your images the day of the contest. You don’t have to send them to me, just take a look at what you shot and send me those file names in the email. Make sure to send the file name for your “self portrait” in addition to the top ten. If there is any confusion to the file names (in rare cases, computers will change file names and I’ll end up picking the wrong ones) I can make changes to what is eventually posted to the site. Again, this has happened in rare cases. I’ll do my best to post what you want up there for the top ten. If I don’t get your top ten by Monday night, I’ll assume you don’t want to participate for whatever reason and I won’t publish your images.
2. Self portrait? What self portrait!
   It’s all over the site and on the “About Urban” page but, inevitably, someone forgets about this part. Not to worry. It’s not a self portrait in the truest sense of the word. Can be but, doesn’t have to be. If you didn’t shoot one, just pick an image from your shoot that best represents you and have that be your self portrait. Take a look at past years and you’ll see people picking some rather weird images. Bowl of petunias, lamp post, whatever. Just pick one along with your top ten.
3. So, I sent you my top ten picks. What now. Why is is taking so long to get them up there?
   I gather and sort all of the ten picks from each contestant and put them together in a gallery online. Takes me a while to put together so, be patient. I’ll announce on the site when it’s up and also email everyone who sent in their votes. I’m thinking I should have it together by Wednesday, Thursday at the latest.
4. My mom loves my pictures, so does my cousin in Idaho. Can they vote?
   Nope. Have to be a contestant to vote. You really want to vote? Come out next year and hang out with us. But, do encourage them to visit the gallery once it’s live to view your images No reason they can’t get a little inspired as well.
5. So, you put up my pics along with everyone elses. What’s next?
   You have two days (from the time I make them live on the site) to vote on the top ten pics of everyone else. You have only 10 votes, and you can’t vote on your own. Only one vote per photo. The names will be hidden during voting and revealed once it’s over. Send your votes to the same email address (see “Email” link in the side bar on the right). The email should look something like this:
   Contestant 01 - photo 02
   Contestant 16 - photo 07
   etc.
6. What do you win?
   As mentioned in a post earlier, this is the “recession version” of Urban Photo Safari. No t-shirts, no badges, no posters or banners. And, no prize other than the satisfaction of winning the coolest photo contest in the Kansas City metro area. If it’s any consolation, past prizes have been gift certificates to Amazon.com so, don’t think your missing out on a new iPhone.

Hopefully that should cover the bulk of your questions. If it doesn’t, hit the link on the right side of the sidebar titled “Email” and send me an email or, hit me up on twitter. I’d be happy to answer any questions you have. To go over it again, here’s a shortened version:

1. Email your top ten image (+1 self portrait) names by Monday 6/15 11 p.m.
2. Site ready for voting by Wednesday 6/17 (or, Thursday 6/18 at the latest)
3. You have two days to email your votes (specific deadline will be announced here depending on when the gallery is live)
4. Winner is announced and contestant names are revealed

What a blast. It was great seeing the turnout this year. A lot of people and it sounds like everyone enjoyed themselves. I’ll have more tomorrow but, wanted to write a quick note to the contestants on next steps.

Look through your images and pick your 10 best (+1 self portrait). You have until Monday night to send me an email to deanolufson [at] yahoo [dot] com with the names of those images. Please include your name in the email along with the filenames of the images you would like me to include (i.e. DSC00675, DSC00687 etc.). More tomorrow and again, thanks for coming out. It was great seeing old friends and meeting a bunch of new ones.

And all through the house… anyone have a good rhyme here? Without further ado, here’s the official Urban checklist. Check it twice and make sure you have everything ready to go. We’ll meetup at 9:00 a.m. sharp (I should be there a little early). If you haven’t met me yet and are a little intimidated to go, no worries. I’m the dude with long-ish hair and I’ll have some camera gear sitting on the table. I’ll also be wearing last year’s Urban t-shirt to make it all official like. Just need to sign in, go out and shoot and make sure you show-up back at Homer’s at 1:00 p.m. to get your images downloaded. Hope to see you there!

Wallet. Check. Keys. Check. Batteries. Batteries. Dang! Forgot to charge the batteries! Believe it or not, I’ve done that one in the past. To make sure you don’t forget anything, here’s a list that may help.

1. Batteries.
   Seems obvious but, make sure you have fully charged batteries. Might even help to bring one or two extra.
2. Camera.
   Okay, way too obvious but, it’s a checklist.
3. Good walking shoes.
4. Sunscreen.
5. Cell Phone.
   I could date myself and say bring a dime for the pay phone but, I digress.
6. Extra memory cards.
   Pretty cheap these days. Head over to Target or Wal-mart and get an extra one if you can.
7. Gas up the car.
8. USB cable or card reader.
   As mentioned elsewhere on this blog, we will have alot of different card readers to download images. There has however been a few cases where we didn’t have the latest. If your camera came with a USB cable or you have a specific card reader, bring it with you just in case.
9. Water & something to munch on.
   Please patronize our meet-up spot, Homer’s. This isn’t an official Homer’s event so, we’ll be using the tables and hanging out in their building. Be great if we could all throw some business their way and buy a few drinks. The Latte’s are pretty dang good. Heck, there are also lot’s of great restaurants in town. Take a break and have some lunch. Don’t forget about the Overland Park farmer’s market as well.
10. Your friends, family etc.
    Don’t leave them at home, bring them along! In fact, if you didn’t “sign up” using the evite, don’t worry about it. Just show up. The more the merrier.

Have anything to add to the list? Let us know in the comments.

On another note, one thing I’ve been missing over the past couple of years are event photos. Photos of people signing in, taking photos while on the safari, goofing around while on the safari etc. Be cool if you could fit some of those in while you are taking the other images as well. Be great to have more images to show people what the event is like for next year.

See you tomorrow!

As well as being long time Urban enthusiasts Kyle & Lisa have both been known to pitch in and help us out with the event itself (thanks guys!). Kyle also has the dubious distinction of working with me everyday. Why he’d want to spend a Saturday hangin’ out shootin’ photos with us has to say something about how much fun this whole thing is. Kyle took the time out to write a few responses to our questions for Team Johnston. We’ve included a gallery of their efforts going back to Urban 2003.

Urban: How long have you been participating in Urban?
Kyle: Lisa and I Urban’d in ‘03, ‘04, ‘06 and ‘07 — so since 6 years ago. Now I feel old.

Urban: In past Photo Safaris, how have you spent your time? (were do you go, what do you look for, do you have pre-plans etc.)
Kyle: We always try to think about where we’re going to go the night before (Lisa’s skillset), but I know that we’ll find little unexpected surprises, so I try to keep my eyes open for those opportunities during the Safari (being easily distracted = my skillset).

Urban: What do you do for inspiration?
Kyle: I like to look for interesting angles and compositions. I also like to try use some of the camera settings I’m not super-familiar with — it’s a nice way to learn what my little point & shoot is capable of producing.

Urban: What’s your favorite part of Urban?
Kyle: Taking a few hours out of my day to exercise a different part of my creative skillset and take pictures in places I’m not familiar with.

Urban: Any tips or tricks for first time Urban participants?
Kyle: Take lots and lots of pictures and have fun doing it..