Hot Pics

Get published, get famous! Each week, we select our favorite reader-submitted photo based on creativity, originality, and technique. Every month, the best of the weekly winners gets a prize valued at between $15 and $50.

Here's how to enter: Send us your photograph in JPEG format, at a resolution no higher than 640 by 480 pixels. Entries at higher resolutions will be immediately disqualified. If necessary, use an image editing program to reduce the file size of your image before e-mailing it to us. Include the title of your photo along with a short description and how you photographed it. Don't forget to send your name, e-mail address, and postal address. Before entering, please read the full description of the contest rules and regulations.

This Week's Hot Pic: "Backyard Fuchsia," by Carl Richmond, Lake Forest, California

About this week's photo, Carl writes:

I shot this picture one morning with while sitting on my backyard patio shortly after the sprinklers had turned off. I used my Kodak DX6490 on a tripod. I zoomed in to frame a few of the flowers, and then did some minor cropping and backlight adjustment using Paint Shop Pro.

The sprinklers left drops of water on the plant. I found that the cloud cover of the overcast morning naturally softened the light. I like the waxiness of the flowers: they look almost fake, but trust me when I say that they are very real.

Hot Pic of the Month: Each month we choose one of our weekly winners to be the Hot Pic of the Month. For February, we chose "Pelican Sunset," by Howard Schiff from Roslyn, New York.

Congratulations to Howard and to everyone else who won a Hot Pic of the Week last month. Keep those entries coming!

I want your feedback! Send your comments, questions, and suggestions about Digital Focus to comments@bydavejohnson.com. And be sure to sign up to have the Digital Focus Newsletter e-mailed to you each week.