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: "Flowers in the Sun," by Ashlyn Smith, Redford, Michigan

Ashlyn is 10 years old, and her dad submitted this photo. And we're happy that he did--this scene looks like it could have been captured by an old hand at impressionist photography. She took this shot at the Detroit Zoo with her Canon PowerShot SD200. That's her mom in the background.

Hot Pic of the Month: Each month we choose one of our weekly winners to be the Hot Pic of the Month. For August, we chose "Window Kids," by Alex Boyd, from Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Congratulations to Alex 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.