February 2014 Picture of the Month - Submissions Due February 28

[Finnegan]

Yes, it's still winter, but break out some old shots, or, take a "Z in the Snow and Ice" shot! There's plenty on that in some parts of the US!

POTM submissions are due Friday February 28 at 9PM Pacific Time.

We're looking at possibly partnering with ZSCCA to include one of the winners in upcoming months in their quarterly edition of "CruiZin NewZ". This would include the winning photo, and a small piece with the winner and their car. (Participation increases once the weather thaws a bit and people really take to the roads again, so we're thinking March, April, or perhaps May for the POTM that would provide the winner with the ZSCCA spread.). What do folks think of this idea?

Reminder: It's the submitters' responsibility to ensure submissions are within the max dimensions and in the correct format, and follow submission guidelines below.

Photo Submission Requirements

• Send photos via email to zpostpotm at gmail dot com.
  
• Subject line must have "POTM plus user name". Please tell me who you are so I can credit the photo.
  
• Zpost User name, Year / Engine / and Color in email body
  
• Picture dimensions can be max of 1024x768 (filesize of up to 900kb using JPG). Pictures can use smaller edge sizes, this is simply the maximum size.
  
• JPG format only (not JPEG) only. The Forum software does not support large filesizes for JPEG, and compresses data, which reduces quality. This means that the file extension should show as .jpg.
  
• One picture only
  
• Max filesize of 900kb (JPG only)
  
• Only photos that have not been submitted before (no previously submitted photos).
  
• If you won last month you're not eligible to enter this month so others have a chance.

Picture Editing Resources (thanks to SgtGigglebox)

PicMonkey.com
- Free Web-Based Photo editor. Provides access to simple adjustments (crop, exposure, resizing, etc.) as well an array of filters. No accounts necessary, beginner friendly.

Gimp
- Free Program for Windows, Linux & OSX offering a wide variety of capabilities.

Windows Photo Gallery -
- Free photo editing application made by Microsoft, providing editing, organizing and social capabilities.

Picasa
- Free photo editing application made by Google, providing editing, organizing and social capabilities.

As always, follow good practices and make sure you know to confirm that the download is virus and spyware free (run a scan before installing and when downloading).

FAQ

1) Can we photoshop pictures?
Yes but anything so drastic where the photo just looks unrealistic isn't what this thing is about. Either way, the way I see it is that members will vote based on what they think really captures the essence of the car.

2) Can we submit multiple photos per entry?
No, only one picture per month, but you are allowed to participate in multiple months.

[Arsonism]

Hey POTM goers,

I was really excited to see that this competition already existed when I came stumbling onto ZPOST. I immediately looked through all of the old competitions and just was amazed by the shots that everybody had taken and how the contest had grown. I approached Finnegan here to see if this might kick the competition up a notch and provide another incentive to grow this competition yet again. This becomes beneficial as most of the members that write articles for us or those who submit articles often don't have good equipment to take photos and or aren't as well versed as others in the world of photography. This has never been a major concern for us at the Cruizin Newz, but we figure why not try to make the magazine that much bigger, that much better, and one of the components we looked at was having a better pool of images to choose from; ultimately an amazing photo for the front cover! We are glad to be considered by ZPOST and we hope that this is something that becomes a long lasting relationship.

So lets get to it and bring about the biggest contests that we can! Depending on the number of submissions and the interest taken in this, more space will be devoted to the winner and possibly it's placement/position within the magazine (hint hint).

Thanks and I look forward to the outcome,

Sincerely,

Shane W. (aka Skiddish)
ZSCCA Editor
newsguy@zscca.org

[Huz-Z]

Being a Canadian Z4 fanatic, i inquired about membership in ZSCCA some time ago and was very disappointed in the totally unenthusiastic response I received. In fact, i got no response. Are you open to US residents only?

[KevinC]

No Canucks allowed in ZSCCA?? Ricky, Bubbles & Julian DEMAND an explanation!

[Gladius]

What is ZSCCA?

[Vanne]

lol

[Gladius]

Nvm, found the website. Very few chapters in the western half of the US. Nothing in Colorado. Bummer!

[Arsonism]

There are lot of directions that the ZSCCA is moving in these days. We have a ton of members and not all of them have been organized in the past. Part of this outreach is to find new members and to get more members to join the ZSCCA and ultimately find new representatives for our organization to start new chapters. This has been something that we struggle with as a lot of times people don’t have the time to commit to the organization of any number of people. The reason that there may not have been an enthusiastic response in the past to foreigners could have been due to the fact that we had a paper/printed newsletter in the past. This created distribution issues and increased the cost for those who required special mailing and I believe was not well received before. However we have had some members all the over in Germany, Great Britain, and other far off places. We have since standardized our member fee along with many other things, but best of all we are completely digital removing any border or distance restrictions in the past.

The ZSCCA is a much different place than it used to be and it will continue to grow as more modern car club for Z enthusiasts. We are looking at relationships with major companies and working to make our events and chapters an even more exciting front. The newsletter has long been a selling point for our organization and I can assure you there are major plans for it as well.

I encourage you all to reach out to the ZSCCA again if you received a less than positive response to joining or participating within the organization as I believe it is a significantly different place. Growing pains aside, I would love to see it expand into Canada and other regions of the world. It would be amazing to have foreign chapters and to hear about the stories that they could bring in, and I’m sure other members would be interested in that sort of thing as well. I can't see any reason why we wouldn't support our northern neighbors! If there is an issue I'll become the liaison all the way from Texas to resolve whatever issues you have on your behalf.

[Psychodo]

Originally Posted by Gladius

Nvm, found the website. Very few chapters in the western half of the US. Nothing in Colorado. Bummer!

Ditto.

[Arsonism]

Originally Posted by Gladius

Nvm, found the website. Very few chapters in the western half of the US. Nothing in Colorado. Bummer!

They drive through that area all the time.

Originally Posted by Psychodo

Ditto.

Then lets start a chapter up out there! I'm sure there's other Z's in CO

Hell if you coerced the Dallas group (biggest congregation of Z's in Texas) I'm sure they would come up and meet y'all somewhere in Colorado!


Regardless though, I feel I'm derailing this thread and I'd like to keep it on track for some solid photo submissions and to also respect Finnegan and his consideration of allowing us to "cross streams" here. It's something I look forward to and if there are any questions or concerns about the ZSCCA feel free to email me or PM me. I check back here pretty regularly

[Aries326]

You can join ZSCCA on Facebook and look for members in your area. Over here in the Charlotte area, there's only a handful of members which surprises me. You'd think that being down South and close to the BMW plant, you'd have a lot more members. Maybe most Zs are sold to non-enthusiasts who really just want a cool looking car and the BMW badge.

[bucko521]

I am in Canada and just became a member. I had the same 'no show' the first few times I tried. Not sure of all email is actually getting through or if the website was working properly. However, I can say now it is.

Where in the Great North are you?

[Finnegan]

I don't mind the thread moving off in the ZSCCA direction.

But I will bump and say get those photos in!

[Arsonism]

Originally Posted by bucko521

I am in Canada and just became a member. I had the same 'no show' the first few times I tried. Not sure of all email is actually getting through or if the website was working properly. However, I can say now it is.

Where in the Great North are you?

A common issue that we have had is that a lot of our emails end up in the Junk folders of many mailbox providers. It's difficult to pinpoint just which services throw this messages into that category but it's always safe to check that folder.

I even get member submissions that go through to junk and I have everything opened up for my zscca forwarded email! Sometimes it just doesn't always make sense

[Huz-Z]

I'm on the east coast of Canada where we get these things to put in your rum and coke:






Hmmm. And to tie the two streams of comment, I should submit that first one for the February pic of the month! Finnegan - help LOL!! My car is in storage in the garage and we're getting more snow tomorow. I'm just staring at that picture right now. Will Spring and warm weather ever arrive?

[Huz-Z]

Originally Posted by KevinC

No Canucks allowed in ZSCCA?? Ricky, Bubbles & Julian DEMAND an explanation!

Its getting close to lunch time in Arizona I think. Check this out:

http://www.cbc.ca/newsblogs/yourcomm...s-rejoice.html

[Finnegan]

Originally Posted by Huz-Z

I'm on the east coast of Canada where we get these things to put in your rum and coke:






Hmmm. And to tie the two streams of comment, I should submit that first one for the February pic of the month! Finnegan - help LOL!! My car is in storage in the garage and we're getting more snow tomorow. I'm just staring at that picture right now. Will Spring and warm weather ever arrive?

We'll find a way to get this in.

[Huz-Z]

Thanks!!!

Its either that or the Trailer Park Boys!!

[jeebus87]

Originally Posted by Huz-Z

I'm on the east coast of Canada where we get these things to put in your rum and coke:

Snip

Montego Blue is such an awesome color. Nice ride! By the way, those ice cubes aren't big enough for the amount of rum I drink. Especially after this week