Interview with Pedro Patrício of Photoburst.net
I had the opportunity this week to interview Pedro Patrício one of the founders and developers of Photoburst.net, a travel photography daily contest. Pedro was kind enough to answer all of my questions, revealing a little more behind this new and creative contest he has helped start. Photoburst.net is a fairly new website that publishes a daily winning photo from their contributors. Then the best photo of the month is awarded a $100 B&H gift card! This is one of the bigger award winnings I have come across for a daily photography contest. If you take a look at Photoburst.net you will see they have a very professional looking website with a fancy world map and other unique features.
I have submitted some entries to Photoburst.net and today my second one got published (shown below). I have yet to win the monthly award, but maybe that will come in time. I think contests like this are a great resource for photographers, not only to see what others think of your work, but also to get a feel of what others in the field are doing.
See this photo on Photoburst.net
Q: Where did the three of you Pedro, Pedro, and Gastao meet and come up with the idea of starting photoburst.net?
A: We met each other in Covilhã, a small city in Portugal’s highest mountain – Serra da Estrela – foothills (we all work in the same place). We decided to start Photoburst after emailing each other thousands of links to inspiring (mainly travel) photos. At that time, we almost reached a saturation point, our bookmarks were getting intractable! And, so, we thought it would be cool to have a website gathering so many talented and/or almost anonymous photographers whose work is spread around the Internet.
Q: Do you have a background in photography?
A: We don’t. Two of us, Gastao and Pedro Patricio, have a background in Mathematics and Pedro de Sousa’s is in Computer Science. We all have been photography enthusiasts for over 12 years and, between us, have had a dozen or so published photos in a couple of magazines and also some local and national contest awards… and that’s about it.
Q: What types of photos are you interested in receiving on photoburst.net?
A: Well, it’s a travel photography contest… we’d say that an everyday scene, a landscape, a portrait, etc, are all valid entries provided they are compelling images. Basically, we are looking for photos that either make you feel like you’re traveling or make you pack instantly.
Q: Can amateurs and professional alike submit photos?
A: Yes, Photoburst is an open contest.
Q: How is your website different from other travel photography related daily contests or sites like earthshots.org?
A: Some daily contest or similar websites end up publishing anything, making it difficult for you to sense, say, what Tanzania’s like without having to go through a lot of images. Earthshots is a more nature photography oriented website, although they publish travel related photos regularly. Overall, we highly respect and admire many similar websites and we try to learn from them while making some improvements. By the way, we’d like to take this opportunity to thank John Emmerson for his fantastic work with the world map and, also, Jay Soto for his great work with the simplicious template we have adapted.
Q: What is the current prize for each months winning entry?
A: The current prize is a B&H $100 gift card. B&H has been our choice from the very beginning for their great worldwide service and prices.
Q: I’ve seen some wonderful photos posted on photoburst.net, are images submitted from people all over the world?
A: Yes, fortunately, although there are more photographers from western countries submitting their work.
Q: Should photographers have to worry about copyright issues when submitting images on photoburst.net? Will the images be used for other purposes or print in the future?
A: Absolutely not, photographers retain their copyright on every photo they submit, either it is published or not. For the time being, we don’t plan on using Photoburst’s published photos for any other purposes or print. If we come up with some idea, we will obviously contact photographers for their consent.
Q: How do photographers submit an image for your daily contest?
A: Just click “submit” on photoburst.net or follow the direct link: http://www.photoburst.net/photo_section/submit/submit.php Photographers have just to fill the photo’s details and choose the file they want to upload. Alternatively, they may also submit their photos by e-mail to: submissions@photoburst.net
Q: What are your long term goals for photoburst.net?
A: First and foremost, we’d like Photoburst to be highly regarded by photographers and the general public alike. We also plan to significantly increase the monthly prize value by obtaining some sponsors. And, lastly, we hope Photoburst may soon feature a photo taken by you, dear reader.