Hot Pic of the Week

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: "Monarch on Thistle," by Richard L. Miller, Brunswick, Ohio

Richard says that he took this photo not in the middle of a forest, but right from a sidewalk in front of an apartment complex. He used a Minolta Maxxum 7D. To stop the action, he shot it at ISO 800, which allowed for a fast shutter speed of 1/800 second.