Well, to be fair, we can’t really promise you any minions. Minions are hard to come by these days.

But still, fame and glory! And in some cases, cash money!

Contests build character. They make you take a long hard look at your photos and admit that some of them are really, really good.

What have you got to lose?

12 Photography Contests to Enter Right Now

p.s. Turkey Day Special — 1^st time ever sale on Eye-Fi (gives any camera Wi-Fi).
Normally: $99 One week only: $78.88 [Buy Now]

(We’re young and foolish and this price is crazy. Take advantage.)

p.p.s. Our super-popular new Super-secret Spy Lens is finally back in stock! Get it while it lasts. [Buy Now]

Thursday is Thanksgiving here in the US of A.

It’s our favorite holiday because it involves:

1. Hanging out with people you like,
2. eating yourself stupid, and
3. falling asleep on the couch in the middle of the afternoon.

Some friends of ours host Thanksgiving for all their pals who aren’t going home for the holiday. When they sit down to eat, instead of saying grace, everyone at the table says one thing they’re thankful for.

Now that’s a tradition we can get behind. We don’t usually think about the things we’re grateful for, but today’s a good day to start.

This week, take some pictures of the things that make you thankful, whether it’s the big stuff:

• your friends
• your spark of creativity
• being able to see well enough take photos

or the little stuff:

• warm socks on a cold night
• the first cup of coffee in the morning
• that album that always makes you feel better when you’re in a bad mood

The next time somebody tells you to count your blessings, just whip out your photos and say, “I’m way ahead of you, buddy.”

What Are You Grateful For?
Post your photos of the things that make you glad.

The 52 Blessings Project
Take a photo each week of something you’re grateful for.

Photo credit: Angela Martini

We all remember our first camera, whether it was digital, 35mm or Polaroid. But we might not remember taking our first picture.

And why not? Because most of us started taking photographs when we were little.

There’s something about cameras that draws kids like a magnet. Teaching a child how to take pictures could be the spark that starts a life-long interest.

Grab your kid, or a friend’s kid (or that strange toddler that followed you home from the convenience store after you bought two cases of Tastykakes) and open their eyes to the world of photography!

Turn Your Kid Into a Photographer

Photo credit: Thomas Hawk

You already know what motion blur is: the subject’s in focus, but it’s moving so fast that the background streaks into a mere blur.

And you already know what kind of photos look great with motion blur:

• High-speed sports
• Busy streets
• Small children wrestling an alligator atop a speeding train

But we’ll bet you hadn’t thought of using it for slow-moving subjects. Wind, water and clouds look surreal and dream-like when photographed slowly enough to capture their movement.

The next time you wake up to a dark and windy day, don’t snuggle back under the covers with a cup of hot cocoa. Those are the best days to catch clouds and wind on the move.

So bundle up, grab the tripod and stop down to your tiniest aperture: it’s time to go out and explore the other side of motion photography.

(Then you can go back to bed.)

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Capturing Motion Blur

45 Brilliant Motion-Blur Photos

p.s. Thanks to everybody who came out for our recent Photo Safaris in New York City and San Francisco! We totally have the best fans anywhere. If you haven’t already, sign up for updates. We’ve one in SF this weekend.

Photo credits: T.MoE, Extra Medium and Mace2000

Listen up, young whippersnappers: when we were your age, we had to trudge fifteen miles to work every day. Barefoot. With wild raccoons biting our ankles the whole time.

And if we wanted to have photos on our fabric, we had two options: glue and thumbtacks.

But all you young punks have to do is choose a photo and have Spoonflower print it on cloth for you. Your very own photo-print fabric: yards and yards of it.

And we suppose you rapscallions will make clever things with your fancy photo fabric:

• Wrap skirts with photos of grass on ‘em (Get it? Grass skirt?)
• Custom-made camera cases.
• Camera straps that actually look good around your neck.
• Aprons with photos of food all over them.
• Or even a whole quilt!

Young people these days with their shoes and photo cloth and raccoon-free commutes.

What’s the world coming to, dagnabit?

Spoonflower Custom-Printed Fabric

Extra photos for bloggers

There’s something about pointing a professional-looking SLR camera at people that makes them pay attention.

And when you’re aiming for candid, unposed shots, attention’s a bad thing.

Enter our Super Secret Spy-Lens.

Shooting street photography, photo-reportage wedding photography, or just the kids in their natural habitat? The Spy Lens and its precision-made 90 degree mirror assembly let you go undetected.

How? The Spy Lens attaches to the end of any zoom lens and has a cut-out on the side. Point off into the distance and your subject thinks you’re shooting straight ahead, but you’re really shooting to the side. (Choose which direction by rotating the Spy Lens.)

We hear it’s 007’s lens of choice.

The Super-Secret Spy Lens
Available now at the Photojojo Store

We’re gonna call it now — the flatbed scanner’s headed the way of the landline, the fax machine, and (dare we say it) the polaroid.

Sure, it’s probably got a few more years in it, but if you’re like us, you’re already using your scanner about as often as your thermal-paper fax.

Why fight it?

With a bit of foamcore and bit of Sunday afternoon, you’ll turn your flatbed into a frankenstein camera, ready to take ghostly images anywhere. Learn how in this video tutorial from our pals at Make.

Make your own Scanner Camera
See also: Stephen Miller’s Scanner Camera gallery

Extra photos for bloggers: 1, 2

In honor of the Dia de los Muertos (November 2nd), we’re digging up a lesser-known piece of photographic history.

Memorial photography was the common practice of taking a person’s portrait after they passed away.

Since our culture now fears death more than we mourn it, these photos are seen today as macabre. But it was actually a beautiful tradition that helped families keep a small memento of the loved ones they had lost.

Though it’s a bit of a departure from our usual fare, we wanted to share some history that’s gone but not forgotten.

Memorial Photography
Thanks to reader Blake Nolan for the idea!

p.s. This article does show photos of dead people, so don’t click through if that kind of thing freaks you out.