DPChallenge

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DPChallenge is a website featuring themed photography competitions between users. It was created in January, 2002 by two friends, Andrew Ungvarsky and Langdon Oliver. The original idea behind the site was to be a place where the creators and a few friends could learn to be better photographers by giving each other a photography "challenge" each week. The idea quickly took off and became much more in the months that followed.

Several challenges are running at any one time, with hundreds of submissions for each topic. Most challenges run for one week, though they can run anywhere from one day to one month. Once each challenge is complete, the public (members and non-members) vote on the submissions. Most new challenges are posted each Sunday and Tuesday night at midnight (Eastern US time). As of January, 2006, DPChallenge had over 50,000 registered users.

[edit] History

DPChallenge went live with its first biweekly challenge (Road Signs) on January 14, 2002. Shortly thereafter, the challenges were adjusted to a weekly cycle. In past years, the site has honored the anniversary of its founding with variations of the Road Signs challenge.

By April of that year, it became apparent to the site founders that they would need additional help in managing the growing website. They appointed a group of users, chosen based on site participation, to serve as moderators. These moderators eventually came to be known as the Site Council.

In December, a new version of the site was released, and paid membership was introduced for the first time. While all features that were previously available remain free, members who choose to pay have access to additional challenges, portfolio space, a print sales storefront, and other premium features.