Ready for the WINNER in the Leica M9 Contest?

Are you guys ready to see who the winner is in the M9 contest? I know at least 15 of you are ready for the announcement! Ha ha…

ALL 15 of the top entrants are being looked over THIS week by Heidi Klum and Rankin. The winner could come at any time but no later than March 1st, so check back daily to see if I have posted it!

I also wanted to clear something up for those that thought this was a documentary or reportage contest. I though the rules were clear that it was about telling a story..a narrative. I’m still getting e-mails about how some of the finalists appear to be “set-up”. Of course some of them are! They are telling a story! There was no rule stating the story had to be real or any kind of HCB kind of story. I welcomed “set-up” shots and the 15 that you see on the top 15 page are the best of what was submitted. If there were any “real” stories that were submitted that were better than what you see posted they would have been in the top 15. Just wanted to make sure everyone realized that “set-up” photo narratives were allowed.

To see some of the other entries be sure and check out the official contest Flickr stream where those who entered can post their submissions for all to see. Many GREAT photos there so be sure to check it out or even post your entry!

To the top 15…I wish you ALL good luck. Sure, I have my faves but I am not judging this time!

Finally, let us thank Seal once again for donating his personal Leica M9 for this contest. Be sure to check out his official site HERE (tour starts soon!) and also see him on picortwo.com where you can follow his daily activities through his photos. Heidi and Rankin are also on picortwo so you can also follow them!

So…are you guys ready for another contest?

24 Comments

  1. This was an amazing contest, it may have made my brain hurt a little though, lol. It was a great opportunity and I had a lot of fun, good luck to all 15 finalists, hope we do have more contests coming, I wouldn’t mind paying a fee to enter like Bradley said. This site is great, I’m really liking the reviews and articles. I found out about the site because of the contest and I found out about the contest because I was looking for a new camera when I found Leica’s site, I had NO IDEA that Leicas where so expensive and the site doesn’t the price for the cameras. I fell in love with the m9 and thought “hmm maybe I can buy this camera instead of a canon dslr because it looks very good and its probably cheaper”.. right! what an ignorant! haha.. so I went to b&H read 7k and was so shocked that for some reason I went to google and typed the question “Who wants to give me a Leiva M9 as a gift?” and to my surprise, the contest was the first result:) Thanks again, hopefully I’ll do better next time.

  2. The real stars of this contest are the people who made it possible.
    My thanks to all of you listed there by Antonio- Steve, Seal, Heidi, and Rankin.
    Photography is such a great medium for expression and education. It needs people like you to create interest and yes, sometimes, incentive. For many that incentive might be a camera, but I think for others it is just the chance to show the world something they care about and believe matters. Living here in China makes it painfully obvious just how important that free flow (or lack) of information can be. Finding ways to get people out taking pictures, enjoying the art of photography and sharing it is a noble pursuit.

  3. Hi there.
    I just want to thank Steve, Seal, Heidi, and Rankin the opportunity you gave us all to show our creativity.
    Time is running up and two of the 15 finalists will take home a great camera.
    I wish good luck to Andy, Chalid, Bram, Ann-Marie, Brian, Daniele, Dan, Amy, Sasa, Megan, Dan Skj&%$:-), Helene, Jonathan and Jacques.

    • Thanks for the good luck Antonio! My fingers and toes are crossed! 🙂

      I’ll chime in again with a big THANK YOU to Steve, Seal, Heidi and Rankin also… this contest was amazing and Steve, you did an awesome job with it! I know for me it just fed my passion for photography all that much more and really challenged me to think outside the box.

      ~Amy

    • Thank you so much Antonio. The social aspect of the Internet can be such an odd thing. I love when it brings out the best in people. Your comment means a lot-thanks for your words!

      Ann-Marie Hensley

    • Good luck there as well Antonio!
      It would be cool if the winner could submit the first story they shoot with the M9 back to the site when its all done. Anybody like that idea? I’d be up for it. ^_^

  4. “So…are you guys ready for another contest?”

    Yes, Steve, let’s have another contest. I really NEED an M9 Titanium!

    • I don’t know about the titanium but I’d be down to pay $10 for entry into a contest like this each month! Total proceeds should cover an M9 and 50mm ‘cron (Steve’s favorite I think) or ‘lux easily (1300 entries x $10 is $1300) and the rest can go to him for the trouble of going through the entries, which would be well worth his time.

      Is that just completely foolish of me to suggest?

  5. Steve, I almost threw up when I saw the title of this post. In a good throw up kinda way. As if I wasn’t obsessed with following the contest threads already, I will now be glued to the edge of my seat until you post the winner. Refresh screen. Refresh screen. Pet Ruby. Refresh screen.

    Thanks for the excitement, the shaking, oh and the throw up feeling. I don’t know if I can take this… refresh screen…

  6. As far as another contest, to be honest I had a lot6 of fun doing the M9 contest, but after seeing the ungrateful behavior of FrillyPig over on the Flickr group I would think Steve you shouldn’t do another contest ever.

    • I wont let a troll who is obviously there to start trouble (HIGHLY doubt he is a finalist) deter me from another contest. Sounds like the ONE guy that was banned from here for his non stop assaults about photoshop being used. Photoshop WAS allowed. Period!

      • Thanks again Steve. It says a lot about your site and who follows it that you can refer to a commenter like that in the singular rather than the plural.

      • Well it wouldn’t hurt to investigate just in case. If Frillypig really is one of the final 15, and does win, I personally would consider it a travesty. Yeah I got a little hotheaded in there, but hey no reason to slag on you or all those who did their level best.

        Who knows, maybe yeah my image was “flat” and my narrative “piss poor” (I don’t think so), but still I had fun and am proud of what I produced. I would find it terrible if that ungrateful person won. While I am sure you are correct in your assessment Steve, a little poking around wouldn’t hurt.

  7. Well who ever Frillypig is on Flickr should be DQed for slagging Steve and being an elitist punk for putting down so many of the entrants. Just my opinion. Who ever they are seem a bit ungrateful for the opportunity to win an M9, perhaps that chance should be taken away from them as a lesson in humility.

  8. It is strange. I was more curious to see the finalists than to know who would actually win that contest. Maybe because I like to get inspired by the photos and the work that others did. All 15 deserve the price but in the end it doesn’t really matter to me who gets it. (Unless the winner has to do some assignment with that equipment 😉 ) Good luck everybody. Dirk

  9. Thanks for the opportunity. It really made me start to think more about the story behind a picture and how to make two photos tell a story. Definitely ready for the next contest!

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