SHOOT THIS BLOG AND WIN! A CONTEST WITH SOME RULES

This is a LIMITED OFFER, one time, probably THIS WEEK ONLY chance to WIN any photo in Mike's Ryukyu Gallery absolutely FREE. To win you have to SHOOT MY BLOG !

Shoot it just like I did in the photo above of my October 19, 2010 blog post. Only, there's a catch!
My Legal Advisor says we gotta have RULES. Don't ask who the legal advisor is. It's somebody who's always screaming  important stuff like, "Don't forget to take out the TRASH".

RULES:
1. Look at the view counter in the upper right hand corner of my blog.
2. Snap a screenshot of it when it hits 99,999. It's going to happen this week, I think.
3. Snap a shot of it when it hits 100,000. That could happen real soon after it hits 99,999.
4. Snap a shot of it at 100,001. That'd be when the contest is over, probably sometime this week.

LEGAL STUFF:
1. Only one screenshot of either 99999, 100000, or 100001 per individual may be entered.
2. Entries accepted via email, only.
3. There will be three prizes awarded. One for the first email containing the 99999 shot, one for the first email recieved with the 100000 and one for the first with the 100001 shot attached.
4. Offer is void in New Jersey and some other places where people talk funny. Just don't tell me where you live and you can participate if your email address is someplace where they have stupid laws and people call birds, boids. Do they still whack people there?

HOW TO ENTER:
1. If you don't know how to do a screenshot, don't worry. Prop your elbows on the table and shoot the winning numbers with your cell-phone camera or any other camera and email that shot to me.
2. To email me, if you're not already in my address book, simply go to MY HOMEPAGE and hit the thing centered on the top of the page that says "CONTACT ME". Then we can swap email addresses as long as you promise not to send any naked lady photos to me or naked anybodies, for that matter.
3. I will email the winners a humongous 300dpi JPEG file, suitable for printing, of any single photo they choose from any category in my photo gallery. If a winner prefers to have me print an 8x10 photo in either High Gloss or Matte, I will do that and cover the postage anywhere on Planet Earth providing it's not New Jersey or anywhere else where contests are prohibited by law. However, that means I'll need your personal mailing address. Have no fear; I don't do Xmas cards. I just want to give everybody (even people with boids) a chance to win.
4. Any disputes, gripes, or problems can be handled by the COMPLAINT DEPARTMENT. You can reach them by going to CONTACT ME and in your subject line type these words,
"COMPLAINT DEPARTMENT: C/O MRS RYUKYU MIKE" and see what happens !

All joking aside, this is a big event for me and there are way too many people for me to thank individually for the phenominal numbers of views my blog has been getting. I want to thank you all. If you're so inclined, make sure you follow the rules and SHOOT THIS BLOG !

Butterfly ID: I FEEL SO DUMB !

The Critter was Identified a long, long time ago; I just forgot !

Well, so much for my idiotic idea to have a Contest: Name This Butterfly.

A whole flock of people, over 300 took a look but, probably really didn't have any more time than I do to research it. Or, they all lived in New Jersey, had Butterfly Phds or something like that and were disqualified. Could be they just didn't want the photo of butterflies reproducing hanging on their wall. Who knows? Anyway, I got the contest thing outa my system, for awhile, until I come up with another brillaint idea.

There really is a winner, sorta. A guy I haven't seen in years posted something about it on my Facebook account. I'll buy him a beer and give him a photo but, won't post his name without his consent. At least the contest got me back in touch with someone I haven't seen for awhile.

Last night I went through all the trouble of resizing, retrieving lost passwords, even making a donation to one of the best sites, I've ever come across for identifying critters.

This one is worth bookmarking. Don't laugh, it's called the BIRD FORUM.

The site, I think may be in the UK, or somewhere like that. They use different English than I do and when you donate money to help them run the place they charge you in pounds, I think.

Whatever it is, they must not be worth as much as the last time I donated because it took less dollars to pay this year than last time I sent them some.

Really, you don't have to pay a dime to use the site; IT'S FREE !

There's probably several million members, from all around the world and real serious bird lovers. They call themselves Birders. Well, I irritate some of them when I tell them I'm not really a Birder. I'm a Wildlife Dude. I like all critters, not just birds. They are a great bunch of people; they tolerate me, humor me and sometimes, tell me what a crackin good shot I made when I post a picture in the gallery.

Some of these folks are probably scientists. A bird, bug or a furry critter, if you want to know what it is, just submit a photo to their ID Forum and you'll get a reply. It won't be some bogus answer like you'd find on the Wiki-peoples sites, either. It'll be TRUE and you'll even get the correct scientific name, everytime.

So, why do I feel so dumb? I'll tell you why:

I POSTED THE RED HELEN (Papilio helenus) ON THE BIRD FORUM OVER A YEAR AGO !

SOMETHING NEW: If you want to learn more about photography, LOOK HERE:

Contest: Name This Butterfly

NAME THIS BUTTERFLY, OR BUTTERFLIES WHICHEVER YOU PREFER

Usually I have to go climbing trees, mountains or cliffs to get a good wildlife shot.  The day I shot these characters was different.

I was sitting at my kitchen table, just looking out the sliding kitchen door, when I noticed them. They couldn't have been more than 15 feet away, doing whatever butterflies have to do to make caterpillars. They were hanging on to Passionfruit leaves and I figured if I went to get a camera to snap a picture, they'd be gone before I had a chance to set up.

So, I sat and waited five, ten, even fifteen minutes. They were taking forever. I went and grabbed a camera, tip-toed out the front door and sneaked up on them. Using a zoom lens from a distance, I started shooting at 250mm, moving around and taking shots from different angles.

They didn't seem to mind so, I decided to try and get closer. There was no way to use a tripod. They were about 10 feet above the ground. So, I grabbed one of my favorite substitutes, an empty plastic beer case. Stood up on it and turned on my camera flash. I even set it in Red Eye Reduction Mode so they wouldn't look like some kind of monsters when I developed the shots.

Normally, I won't post a wildlife photo online until it's been thoroughly researched. Common name, scientific name, all that jazz has to be found and posted in the caption. It takes alot of time for me because I like to verify through more than one source. I know from experience, if you make a mistake identifying a critter, there will be plenty of experts jumping all over you within a matter of minutes. Instead of me having somebody with a college degree in butterflies hollering at me, I decided to hold a contest. I did a bit of research already, squinting at a few hundred thumbnails of butterflies and had enough for the day. There's a place I can send this photo to, after I shrink it and within three days I'll have an answer but, I'm just too busy at the moment.

SO HERE ARE THE DETAILS:

Photo taken in Okinawa, Japan on May 11, 2010 at 3:15PM 300ft above sealevel.

RULES:

People  with Butterfly Degrees are ineligible, especially if they live in New Jersey, or anyplace else where contests are prohibited.

The Common English Name and Scientific Name must be provided.

Entries must be typed in the Comments Section of this Blog post.

Deadline: Midnight EST Friday August 20, 2010 (That's NJ, USA Time, I think)

WINNER: Will be the first one to come up with the correct information. The 1st place winner will recieve a printed copy of this photo any size from 4x6 up to A4 mailed to their address anywhere on this planet. Optional: A file suitable for printing may be emailed, if desired.

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