6th Annual Oscar Fashion Photo Contest- January 8-February 22nd- 28,500L in Prizes!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Around the Grid with Harper, the Second Life blog published by Harper Ganesvoort, announces its 6th Annual Oscar Fashion Photo Contest, running from now until February 22, 2015.  Residents of Second Life can once again compete for L$28,500 in prizes, with L$10,000 going to the 1st-place winner.

"I've opened up the competition early this year," Harper said, "since the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences chose to shorten the voting period for the Academy Awards this year.  The Contest normally closes at 12:01  am SLT following the broadcast of the Oscars.  That means that, this year, entrants would only have about 5 weeks to put together a look, photograph it, and do any post-processing work they desired before submissions closed.  So I've chosen to open the groups early to try and equalize out the entry period with previous contest editions.

"Last year's contest was the first in my blog's history with a guaranteed prize fund of nearly L$30,000," Harper continued.  "The actual amount paid out was about L$10,000 more than the guarantee, as there were several entries with two avatars in the shot.  I feel that everyone in the picture deserves to share in the prize fund.

"Last year also saw a huge upswing in the number of men involved in the shot, or as the primary submitter.  Eight men were entered, and five of them placed in the winners' list, including the first prize.  It's easy to forget, in the female-centric fashion world, that men can dress up as well.  Indeed, last year's winner, Jackson Redstar, covered both sides of the equation -- he shot his photo as both the man and the woman!  It was amusing as well as enjoyable to see his vintage-styled photo, and to award it the top honor.

"I hope to see a strong showing from the men again, but I of course wish all entrants the best of luck, and look forward to some great photos again this year."

As always, there will be three placing finishers, as well as four honorable mentions.  First prize is L$10,000; second, L$7,500; and third, L$5,000.  Each honorable mention will receive a prize of L$1,500.  Complete contest rules may be found at the contest announcement at http://harper-ganesvoort.com/2015/01/08/6th-annual-oscar-fashion-photo-contest-announcement/