yes except santa is blantently made of easter bunny is he.. oh wait thats right he moonlights at easter because he cant afford all those presents on his current funding...

Ya know, it's strange. Since they changed advantage to 30 days instead of 7 days, it seems that the chop quality has dropped. Why is that? It just shows me that it's not about the time it takes to finish an image, it's about the creativity of the image.

Advantage does give an (well..) advantage, but even having a month to work on an image isn't going to give you a win without having creativity behind it. Hey, I'm still learning this myself and I've had advantage for over a year now. I'm getting better, but still not as creative as alot of folks here!

Meeshoo Klan is one of the best that I can think of that didn't have advantage. Anything in his portfolio will show you that you don't have to have 30 days to work on an image. All you need is creativity (and a ton of practice)!

If you don't win, then it's practice. Just keep that in mind and you'll be just fine!

STFUAC!!!!!
SO INSTEAD OF CHALLENGING YOUSELF CREATIVELY, YOU CHOOSE TO SIT AT HOME BORED AND STEWING IN YOUR OWN SELF PITTY???? Souds like a ....fun? idea. No, honestly, don't give up. Marx-Man is still here. After all the abuse he took he is still here. Just keep on choppin'!!! Fuck the votes!

I got my first win on my 100th entry...so don't get discouraged.
And...you DON'T have to be Advantage to win...ya don't.

YEAH

pharoh makes a fair point. i Got hammered when i came. i am still here...

makeing my my way the only way i know how but thats just a lil bit more than the law will allow.. hey thats catchy i should write a song...

(hello is that my agent.... whaddaya mean done before grumble grumble)

After a year and a half i got two wins.
And that was with no PS experience at all.
I guess i'm saying It takes a long time to get good enough to win, so keep on chopping.
AND if a fourteen year old with no Photoshop experience aside from this site can win, surely you can.

I won two times w/o having advantage. I actually work better when under pressure. Now with advantage, sure I've won more times, but it is possible to win w/o advantage. Besides my best chops are the ones I do rather quickly.

It takes a good Idea and attention to details to win. Not advantage.
If you come in with the attitude "I'll never win" then you never will.

First and foremost... Love what you make, and others will love it too.

Ditto (except that midget thing, small hands like carnies ). I just haven't had the creative drive to enter a contest (and a tad too swamped for chat).

But I love this community and my e-friends (even Showcase on occasion ) and that's why I spend some of my birthday money here every year. Not to stay an Advantage member but to do my part to ensure this place stays around.

Vokaris purposely went without advantage to see how the chop does and he did well during that period (at least one win that I remember and I think a top three finish).

I'm longing a bit for the old Advantage though. Seven days should be plenty of time. I think seeing 30 days has given me sensory overload and that's why I've got chopper's block. I'm just not disciplined enough to stop looking at the sources.

Finest you've got to stop taking things so serious. STFUAC

Oh, and I've been here 3 YEARS with no wins. The problem isn't the site or voters. The problem is I haven't worked on getting better in quite a while.

i assure you finestcall that winning all the time is great fun

I appreciate that jmh has generously worked hard to provide this site for us and to work on improvements for us - but I miss the features the way they used to be:one week of images.
I agree with Tofu on this completely. I think I have just the same problem with sensory overload and discipline. choppers block has been with me for a long time.

I also miss the "all contests are equal" days before there were prizes -I miss being able to read all the vote comment and the regular comments during the contest on ALL the contests. I think people comment differently when their comments are hidden from immediate view, and there is no possible "back and forth" exchange. I think a lot of the education here has gone on in the comments section, and if that is hidden from the public until after a contest is over there is a serious limitation to the interchange of ideas

The odds are if you dont give up eventually you will win" keep chopping, keep learning, take some classes, ask questions,
get tough, get ruthless, get mean! get CS2 Premium"

Have a look through some portfolios. Sort them by recent, and see how long it took some people to get their first win. I reckon I must have had 100+ entries up before I got my first.

I double quote supak... it is indeed great fun.

Getting discouraged is easy, facing and defeating the challenge is hard, but it pays off eventually. Do it because you want to and because you love it, don't do it just to get a win.