Hey everyone I really need your help with something that is extremely important to me, but I can't do this alone. I need some community support. As much as I feel guilty in asking, I have never wanted something so badly.

Last month I entered my "Chandelier" photograph into Ninemsn's Nikon 'Make a Scene' competition. I didn't think I'd have a chance, so I never checked it. Today, I looked through my emails and found out that it had made it into Week 1's Top 20. I was absolutely SHOCKED! I didn't realise, however, that you needed to rate/vote the photo.

I would be in your forever debt if you could PLEASE rate it out of 5 stars. I would love you forever. I would win a few things, but the most important one is the Nikon camera. It's not about materialistic items. It's not about having something expensive. It means that I can continue my dream and passion. I love photography so much, I cannot even describe it. Unfortunately, becoming a teacher means I have to concentrate on studying, even though I'd rather be outside taking photographs of what I love. If you voted for me, you would be helping me to continue to pursue my dream.

[link] It is number 10 on Week 1, "Chandelier". Thank you all SO much from the depth of my heart!



On other important notes:
I want everybody to be very aware of art theft that is getting even worse right now. I have recently read some journals which detail a site called Polyvore.com. I have found two of my photos on this website. These people are SELLING my work- making profit out of the work I have put my heart and soul into. I barely sell any of my own work and they're selling mine?!

I am quoting this from `LuneBleu's journal:
"First of all, I advice you to search on polyvore with your nickname or the nickname of other deviant Artists. You'll be amazed with the amount of stolen images. Search also with the word "deviantart" and everything will show up. To individually remove the stolen images, follow the simple procedure I explain next.

The good news are that there's already an ONLINE PETITION to deactivate the entire Polyvore website... why?... Because they profit with our art.

Follow this link to read the very informative News Article *sagittariusgallery wrote about this situation [link] and, follow this link to sign the Online Petition so Polyvore gets deactivated once and for all [link].

Meanwhile, lets keep on reporting the images we recognize and lets keep on spreading the word about this... after finding out that they, in fact profit with our stolen art, made me feel even more angry and disgusted.


HOW DO I GET MY WORK REMOVED FROM POLYVORE?

It's actually quite simple. I've reported my images there and they are already being removed so, they are fast and efficient!!!
1 - Create an account on Polyvore; it's a very fast procedure
2 - Go to your stolen image and then click on "Copyrights"; go down a little bit and, when you see the title "How can I get my images removed from Polyvore?", click on the blue link saying ONLINE FORM
3 - Fill ALL the necessary information, including the mark on the 2 little boxes in the bottom and send the form. They will remove your image in 3 or 4 hours (estimated time)"


Good luck to everyone and thank you so much for your ongoing support. Bless you all!
Love Sarah