Week 3 deadline has arrived and the competition is over and oh boy was this week tough to judge, there were LOTS of amazing entries. I'm a big animal lover, i like all creatures great and small and that's why looking at some of the entries I wanted to reward them all! We had quite a few returning members and thank you for the continued support you keep this competition running.

This week we had dogs wearing underwear, cats angry because someone woke them up, lizards chilling on the driveway, aligators, wolves, african lions and elephants in the wild, even goats! (I like goats 😁) and as much as I had to sit and deliberate over which was the best I found myself coming back to the same picture over and over.....

The winner is....... @inkatieskitchen

Her winning photograph was of Queen, the name due to her throne aka the back of the couch she used to sit on, Queen was a beloved terrier who was an agility superstar placing in the top 3 in the nation for her breed. Queen is no longer with us and missed dearly.

https://steemit.com/rickysphotochallenge/@inkatieskitchen/rickey-s-photo-challenge-week-3-darby

I chose this photo because it was well shot, framing queen perfectly, focus is perfect and Queen is just such a nice looking dog and the way she posed so perfectly it was the photo I kept returning to.

I'd like to give a special mention to @canditits95 for having such an amazing story with her picture of an african lion in the wild.

https://steemit.com/rickysphotochallenge/@canditits95/ricky-s-photo-challenge-week-3-kalahari-lion

A mention to @travelnurse for her cheeky little...chihuahua? Correct me if im wrong, hiding in her unmentionables!

https://steemit.com/rickysphotochallenge/@travelnurse/b-and-w-pet-photo-challenge

Last weeks returning photochallenge winner @andr1an0 submitted this beautiful photo of a monkey, reminds me of that face you make when someone says Steemit is a scam.

https://steemit.com/rickysphotochallenge/@andr1an0/rickys-photo-challenge-week-3-monkey

And a final mention to @immarojas because I realy like goats and this is an amazing photo!.

https://steemit.com/photography/@immarojas/ricky-s-photo-challenge-week-animals-dubious-or-just-expectant

There were lots more entries that I would love to reward but unfortunately there can be only one winner.......this week.

Rewards just got bigger!

Moving on from a very successful competition this week lets look ahead to next weeks challenge which will be posted tomorrow, if you read my earlier post you will have seen the news, if not next weeks prize has changed, thanks to donations from @alexrickard86 and @eroche we have a much bigger prize and more chances to win next week please do give their blogs a quick check they both produce some great content.

If you wish to donate to the prize pool send the donation to @rickyjrx stating it's a donation in the memo and the funds go straight back into the prize pool for the following weeks challenge. Donators can still enter the challenge but donators that judge cannot.

1st place - $10 sbd
2nd place - $3 sbd
3rd place - $2 sbd

From now on I'm keeping $15 sbd reserve from my own pocket for every weeks competition so that the prize never drops below the current amount and will increase the prize based on donations and upvotes every week.

Upvoting and resteeming is not a rule anymore

I no longer require as a rule to upvote and resteem anymore, it's not a liquid steem reward anymore and I'm funding the giveaway from now on out of my own pocket and donations so if you like my challenges and you feel like rewarding my posts please do and resteem to spread the word if not it's cool it's not a rule anymore.

Week 4 guest judge

Week 4 entries are going to be judged by @eroche one of our generous reward donators please do check out his blog he produces some realy great content!. He will be picking the winners at the end of the week 4 competition.

Looking forward to you all returning for the next challenge and if you didn't win this week you have a better chance next week. There were many great entries I wanted to reward but couldn't this week.

Congratulations once again to @inkatieskitchen your reward will be transferred to you as soon as payout is complete.

See you tomorrow evening for the week 4 challenge and thanks for the support!.