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I have been working for iStock since 2006 and have loved every minute of it. Being involved with so many talented people, especially photographers, I am inspired on a daily basis by the work I see.

On April 7th, 2010, iStockphoto will be ten years old. To celebrate, they’ve started iStock10 (www.istock10.com) and are holding multiple contests where they will be giving away a lot of prizes and money. $21,000 USD worth. They are also having a 24-hour Twitter contest with $10,000 worth of prizes (if you aren’t following iStock on Twitter, you had better start).

From the iStockphoto forum announcement by Kelly Thompson:
“Get a self-portrait: either shoot a brand new one, or dig out an old favorite. Then head to iStock10.com and upload it. You’ll be asked for your member name and optionally a little text (140 characters) on why you love iStock, so use a photo with a little copy space (and yes, we’ll give everything a look-over before posting them so don’t send us a picture of your ass.) On April 7 we’ll unveil the complete iStock portrait, and we’ll also give out $1,000 USD to a random portrait-uploader. So not only will your picture be part of the site’s history, it will give you a chance to win cash.”

Since everyone was asked to upload a self portrait to iStock10.com, my friends and I at iStock headquarters wanted to create some really cool images of ourselves. Don’t worry, iStock staff are not eligible for the prizes, so your chances of winning are not being compromised. Some of my friends have been setting the bar pretty high (links to be posted after April 7th), so I currently have two options and am not sure which one I should upload.

Option #1: “Back to my roots.”
I live in a city. I listen to house, rock, and the occasional hip-hop track. I live in an 18-story condo building. However, I have been and always will be a country boy at heart. I love my truck and I love country music. I took this photo in the mountains the other day in an attempt to capture my roots.

Option #2: “I can haz ice cream?”
Working with “iStockers”, there is never a party where a camera or ten are not present. There is no better opportunity to get together, have some food and drinks, set up some lights, and make idiots of ourselves in front of a camera. We all did some pretty cooky things last night. Here is me with some mini ice cream bars.

So, now I need to decide which to use for iStock10. Should I use option #1 or option #2? Help me decide and I will post my iStock10 link on April 7th to show you which I chose.

—– UPDATE —–

Happy 10th Birthday iStockphoto!

First, the iStock10.com website is now alive with portraits from thousands of iStockphoto members around the world. If you uploaded a portrait, you should have received an email with a link directly to your individual page. To see which of my two portraits I chose to upload, check out my portrait page.

Second, if you’re not on Twitter, then you don’t know that iStock was #4 on the trending world topics for Twitter recently. The Twitter contest is well underway now and people everywhere are tweeting the hashtag #iStock10. If you are on twitter, you had better get over there and start following @iStock right away.

Click here to see the details and available remaining prizes for the iStockphoto Twitter contest.

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