I went to one picture and clicked the amount of stars I wanted as my vote. Then do I click reply or what?

Good question, Gary. Plus the following - are we supposed to rate all photos, only ones we like, or pick our top 4 or 5 and rate just those? I get a partial answer in the article, but maybe more explicitly having a "How to vote" paragraph -

How To Vote

1. click on whatever to start rating the images you want to rate

2. rate as few or many as you wish

3. etc

.

.

.

finally, cast your vote, confirm your rating, whatever, by clicking on the "Final Submission" button

I just went through and starred the ones I liked... didn't experience any limits.

You don't need to click reply or anything else to save your rating. Just click on the stars to rate the photo and your rating will be saved automagically. You may rate as many photos as you like (or dislike), and you can come back and change your ratings later if you change your mind.

I was curious about what happens if somebody posts a comment after the contest starts. Does this move a picture to the top of the queue? I was wondering if that feature ought to be turned off in case it unfairly biases users.

On the other hand it would also allow some of the very first pictures posted, which might be near the bottom of the list, to move back up to the top.

New comments will bring a thread to the top of the list. Not ideal, especially for those using "previous" and "next" to scroll through the entries, but it seemed important to let people keep commenting and discussing the entries.

I only rated photos that I wanted to give a 3.5 or higher sort of "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything". I don't understand the judging algorithme.

Jim S

When's the next contest start?

Well, we haven't even finished this one, so we'll have to wait and see, Doc-Dean, but it's been great to have so much participation and interest. We'd like to do it more regularly (certainly more regularly than every 9 years!).

We're in the last three days of voting. So, if anyone still wants or needs to vote on images, get it done between now and the end of Wednesday. We'll start tallying on Thursday.

I have finished looking at all the photos, and voted.

There were some that just captured the essence of outdoor adventuring, or had a unique perspective and it wasn't always the flashy colorful ones, although those were impressive.

I like photos that convey the real trail experiences one has, or captures wildlife unaware.

I enjoyed all of the photos, and if we do this again I'll be prepared with a few photos of my own. This contest has inspired me to go out and learn how to be a better photographer. Up till now I've just been a P&S guy, but I've got my eye on a Nikon a buddy has who is fixing to trade up.

Thanks to everyone who participated in our first Trailspace member photo contest. The voting period has ended and we will be announcing the winners shortly. (While members can still rank photos on the site, only votes cast during the voting period will count in contest results.)