Sorry for all the photo contests today, but it seems that contests run in waves. A month or two ago it seemed that the only thing that arrived in my email box was information about film contests. So it goes…

If you want to hunt down a place to take some great photos, you might try one of the Top 20 (Inexpensive) Nerd Getaways at Free Geekery. I don’t know about you, but I’m about ready for a soak at the hot springs in Ouray, or possibly a trek with Earthwatch.

Have a great weekend. I’m going to play “Can you see me now?” with Pinky until he passes out.

The VH1 Save The Music Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to restoring instrumental music education in America?s public schools, and raising awareness about the importance of music as a part of each child?s complete education.

Since 1997, the VH1 Save The Music Foundation has provided more than $34 million worth of new musical instruments to over 1,400 schools in 80 communities, affecting the lives of move than 800,000 public children.

The VH1 Save The Music Design Contest is open to designers of all ages from the US. Deadline: Midnight CST 20 June. Visit site for details.

The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators offer ongoing contests at their site. The most recent contest is the “Wacky Wedding” where illustrators need to send in thier version of an unconventional wedding.

The prizes are small but important to children’s books illustrators. The artwork must be original artwork created for this contest (i.e., it must be from an unpublished, non-contracted children’s book, or a freelance illustration that fits in with the contest theme). Any media can be used for the image — digital, paint, pencil, cross-stitch, paper, pastels, and so on. But it must be submitted electronically. Deadline: 1 June. Visit the site for details, and note that I’ve added the homepage for this site below right under “nonstop design competition” links.

The Hollywood Film Festival® and the Hollywood Film Awards® were created to discover emerging independent filmmakers. To be eligible for the Hollywood Film Awards® competition, submit a completed FEATURE, DOCUMENTARY, SHORT SUBJECT or MUSIC VIDEO. Submissions are accepted monthly. Submissions to the Hollywood Film Awards® competition are accepted monthly; the submission deadline is 30 April 2007 (postmarked).

The Hollywood Film Festival® prefers paperless entries submitted via The International Film Festival Submission System (BrigitFest) – on the Web at Withoutabox.com. Visit the contest site first to read about all the details on categories, etc.

Honest Technology Co., Ltd., a leading developer and marketer of digital video software technology for multimedia contents on PCs, recently introduced the newest version of its Honestech Fireman CD/DVD Burner 3.0. Burning at surprisingly fast speed, Fireman 3.0 enables PC users to easily create multi-session data CD/DVDs, audio CDs, MP3 CDs, video discs and ISO images.
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Marie Claire and Glam.com are looking for the next great handbag designer. Here’s your chance to be discovered! To enter, simply submit your handbag design. From there, Marie Claire and Glam.com readers will vote online for their favorite handbags each week, and the top eight finalists will have the opportunity to create the handbag they’ve sketched. Their panel of judges will then pick the top handbag, and the winner will be flown to New York to be a guest accessories editor at Marie Claire for the day. After the competition, the final eight bags will be auctioned for charity on eBay.

Open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia and Canada who have reached the age of majority in their state or province of residence at time of entry. Deadline 7 June. Visit the site for details.

At left: David Burdeny, Shear, Japan 2005 Director’s Award – 2006 International.

The Center for Fine Art Photography invites photographers working in all mediums, styles and schools of thought to participate in its exhibitions and activities. Traditional, contemporary, avant-garde, creative and experimental works that include new processes, mixed techniques, and challenging personal, emotional or political statements are welcome.

The exhibition is open to all professional and amateur, domestic and international photographers working with digital or traditional photography or combinations of both. Entries due 10 July. Visit the site for details.

At right: 1st Place - Outstanding Achievement, PHILIP LEE HARVEY - UK.

International Color Awards is a global online awards show recognizing excellence in color photography. This celebrated event shines a spotlight on the finest professional and amateur photographers in the world’s premier photographic showcase of color photography. The awards international Jury represents the most influential art directors, agencies, editors, galleries, and publishers from the world of photography, advertising and entertainment. Images are nominated and selected by Jury members who honor the finest images with the highest achievements in color photography.

International Color Awards is open to professional and amateur photographers worldwide shooting in all forms of color photography using traditional or digital methods. Final Deadline 31 May 2007. Visit site for details.

PSFK is looking for a few sponsors to sit beside the likes of Imagination and Anomaly. Sponsors are essential partners for making their events work. Sponsors get high profile visibility before an influential audience of creative thinkers in the advertising, design and media sectors.

Email Celestine Arnold at celestine |AT| psfk.com for a sponsorship pack. Event details: http://psfklondon.eventbrite.com/.

The Webby Awards and Adobe are proud to announce the Webby In-Motion Contest, an amazing opportunity for you to use unlimited creative license with Adobe software and wow the Webby community with your motion graphics talent.

Contestants can produce one or more 20-second video category IDs that will be shown at the 11th Annual Webby Awards Gala in NYC. Entrants will animate, illustrate and bring to life their vision of 10 Webby category clusters including Entertainment, Society, Advertising and Mobile.

There is no entry fee and winning work from the Grand Prize Winner and Finalists will be presented during the show to over 800 of the top creative minds in the world! Groovy prizes. Deadline: 11 May 2007. Visit the site for details.