Greetings Photogs!

How was everyone's week?

Here we are once again for the Steemit Photo Challenge, I hope you aren't getting sick of these!

I got some feedback that there is such a short time between the announcement and the deadline that some people were unable to go out and take their photos. So I’m going to experiment by posting it Thursday instead of Friday morning. It is currently just after 2PM here, and I'm clicking 'post' right now.

There are a lot of entries that come in, and I look at every single one, so having more time for you means more time for me going through more entries, which I’m fine with! But if I take an extra day or so to choose the winners, please don’t be mad!

If you have any other comments or feedback, let me know in the comments.

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Maybe it's the music I'm listening to while choosing the theme, but...

The theme for this week's Steemit Photo Challenge is:

DESOLATION

noun: desolation
a state of complete emptiness or destruction.
"the stony desolation of the desert"
synonyms: bleakness, starkness, barrenness, sterility

anguished misery or loneliness.
"in choked desolation, she watched him leave"
synonyms: misery, sadness, unhappiness, despondency, sorrow, depression, grief, woe;

They can be colour or black and white, whatever you think fits the imagery. I'm looking for abandoned spaces, urban decay, broken old things, and general decrepitude. Extra points for eeriness.

It doesn't have to be buildings. You can conceptualise the theme however you wish.

Write a brief statement explaining the photo, where / what it is and what makes it represent 'desolation'.

Some examples of desolation can be found here:
http://photography.tutsplus.com/articles/80-impressive-examples-of-urban-decay-photography--photo-5562
(I repeat, it does not have to be abandoned buildings)

Desolate Landscape

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Prizes

These are made possible by the support of the community, the majority of the post rewards go towards the winners, plus donations by @berniesanders the official sponsor of the Steemit Photo Challenge. I've been thinking about what other prizes we can start to include as this thing grows. Adorama credit? Free prints?? New lenses?!? We can do whatever we want. Give your suggestions in the comments.

First Place — 150 Steem

Second Place — 100 Steem

Third Place — 50 Steem

Honourable Mentions — 10 Steem Each

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Rules And Conditions

Please read these carefully and adhere to them

• No more than 3 entries will be considered, if you post more than 3 then only the first 3 will be considered.

• Deadline for entry is midnight my time (GMT -4) on Sunday

• All entries must be a post tagged both #photography and #steemitphotochallenge

• The Title should contain "SteemitPhotoChallenge Entry" along with the title of your work.

• Let us know the medium used to produce the photograph, it may be more impressive based on what it is.

• Basic processing is allowed.

• Any medium or format is allowed — iphone, ipad, film, digital, point and shoot, drone, whatever. Once it takes a picture. Note that image quality will be considered.

• Multiple Entries can all go in one post, just put the details under the image.

• I strongly encourage you to post work that is original to this challenge, in other words — take a new photograph instead of using an old one.

• If you would like, use the #SteemitPhotoChallenge tag across social media like Twitter, FB and Instagram. It may drive more users to the platform.

• Any attempt to steal others' work is considered a serious infraction by the community, so don't do it. Please don't waste your and our time by posting some image from the net.

• Every effort will be made to ensure that we do not reward theft. All images will be reverse checked, if the image has been found on more than 2 “major” websites, it will be disqualified unless reasonable proof can be shown to prove ownership of the original. If there is any doubt whatsoever about the ownership of the photograph, I reserve the right to disqualify the image. It is in your interest to provide any proof necessary. I would appreciate any help from the community in finding plagiarism where I might have missed it.

• The photographs will be judged on how well they met the challenge, the quality of the image, the composition, lighting, exposure, creativity and the general aesthetics which means that yes, it is subjective.

The winners will be announced in a new post after a few days, the rewards of that post will help fund the next round of winners for Steemit Photo Challenge #4.

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Go out and explore, but be safe and smart please!

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You can see the previous winners here

If you like the Steemit Photo Challenge, you might also like the new Steemit Talent Competition put on by @rhi-marie and @madillorama, check it out here