Photo Scavenger Hunt International--EDITED

I am signed up. Thanks so much for doing again.

This is BRILLIANT! I'm watching for now and keeping my fingers crossed that I will have enough time available.....

WONDERFUL swap idea! Have already started organising my photos! Can we include more than 15? Also, can they be different sizes? (Say, some half a 3.5x2.5", some 4x6", some 4x4"...) or do they all have to be the one size?

I was just wondering....although i enjoy taking photo's i'm not exactly a great photographer. While there is nothing actually wrong with my photo's they won't be artistic or masterpieces or anything....is it still ok if i participate? Or is this swap more for artists? :-D

I am far from a photo shop person. LOL Is it ok if we just print them and send them?? I will be printing from Walmart 4x6 photo centers. My mom was in your swap last year and I just knew I had to join when I saw it this time!!

I have got an instant camera that I would like to use but the photos are smaller, 2x3 inches about. Is this okay?

If you are my partner please contact me upon assignment.

this sounds fun! It will be hard to pick only 15. :)

Shoot, I am doing them all:)

I wonder why the coordinator isn't responding to our questions?

Sorry for not being here! I've been crazy at work, but I have answered a few questions by PM--so: The pics can be any sizes as long as they are well printed on photo paper, or at least heavy cardstock--satin or glossy finishes look best, and if you print them from an inkjet printer on cardstock, please spray them with something like Krylon's Preserv-it to protect from light and moisture. You can find this at most Michael's and AC Moore's, as well as online at jerrysartarama.com and porobably Blick Art and other art sites--google Krylon Preserve-it to find some and see what it is.

You can do more than 15-of course! 15 is the minimum for the hunt.

If you are sending small size pics, it would be nice to mount them on a slightly larger size piece of black cardstock, just to make them look "important" .

The point of this swap is the hunt, and finding pics that clearly represent the items on the list that you choose. It's not a photo contest as such, so people who aren't experienced with photo manipulating software and experts all stand on the same level--it's at least nice to get pictures that aren't blurry or badly composed, but if it's got the list item on it, then it's sufficient for the requirements.

Do your best with what you have and try to please your partner. That's all we can ask for!

I thought much later afteer writing this swap up that I shoul dhave made it a photo album swap--and have everyone make or use a small booklet to mount the pics and write a little something about the photographic experience of finding the items, etc--but then I decided not to make it a requirement because of the International postage aspect. Sending 15 pics would be enough, so you can all do as your heart desires in sending something to your partner. All you are required to do it take pics of 15 of the 30 items on the list and send them to your partner. Anything else is gravy!

So Fuji Instax photos are welcome? They are the size of a business card. (Though an expensive print option I thought they would be a fun format for this type of scavenger swap!)

can i request my partner to send them via email instead? (less impact on the earth) thanks, em

thanks for answering the questions :)

twobluecrows I have tried to message you about joining this swap, but for some reason I can't. i would really love to be a part of this swap as i love to take photos and have just got a new camera. Please allow me to say involved with this swap.

I'd like to know about the e-mail alternative, too.

I'm thinking of joining (need to get afew things signed off first) but I would be unhappy with an email swap. I would like real photos to put in my swap-bot album. I am starting an album especially for the art things I receive from swap-bot 'cos if I don't I will run out og walls in my dining room, the place where I like to keep arty things.

Oh and forgot to add I can't print them out for myself because my computer doesn't seem to be sending the messages to my printer. I'm onto my third printer with no success so now I know it's not the actual printer, seems like the computer. I will get it looked at soon as I can afford to.

US version of the swap has been created with permission from @twobluecrows

@Gofeen , what I meant (and I think memtree, too) was that would it be OK if I asked my partner to send to me by e-mail? But maybe it would be important that at least one photo would be sent by mail, or it wouldn't be Type 2 swap for that person - this is what I'd like to know. I don't have a swap-bot album, so snail-mail photos just.. lay somewhere... hopefully... so I'm not interested in having more of them doing that. :)

If you have no way to print out photos, I don't think you should sign up for this swap, though, as it requires you to send 15 printed-out photos. And if you have a way, it shouldn't make much difference whether you print out photos you send or the ones you receive, only in the second case you can skip the photos you don't like, so you don't need to exclude photo e-mail swaps from your list just because! ;)

yes @pahasiga that's exactly what i meant :) that my partner emails me their photo but I will print out the photos for the partner that i'm sending to...if they'd like a hard copy. hope that clears things up @Gofeen :)

maybe there could be another Photo Scavenger Hunt International swap created for email?

I've had several requests for e-mailing the pics, and if your partner agrees to it, then it's between you. The only real requirement is that you send pictures of 15 of the 30 things on the list

--they don't even have to be individual pictures, if you can take a picture of two or three of the items in one image, that works--as long as they are clearly separate items--like a picture of a loved one standing in front of some old ruins at sunrise would satisfy three items.

You are encouraged to be creative in this swap! I suggest posting here if you are ok with receiving your pictures by e-mail, or if you prefer snail mail--whatever your partner prefers is what you should do.

No fancy albums or anything else is required, just perhaps fun to do. Communicate with your partner and come to some agreement. If in doubt, send pictures by snail mail.

I prefer mine by e-mail, too!

I would prefer real photos via snail mail.

I would also prefer realy photos for this swap.

I'd prefer real ones also

Just so everyone understands:

By default the pictures should be mailed via the post office.

E-mailing is only an optional method of sending the pictures--if specifically requested.

The sizes are sender's choice, but no smaller than a business card (2" x 3"), unless you arrange it with your receiving partner.

Color, B&W, any artistic aspects--sender's choice

e-mail is great for me too.:)

I defientely prefer hard copies of photos via snail mail :)

I love this...and I "see" a scrapbook mini-book!

To my future partner, you will get real photos:)

I would rather send and receive actual photographs but if my partner prefers I send her my photos through e-mail, I can do that as well.

I'd prefer to receive real photo's please.

WOW! This is my first Top Ten swap! Thanks!!

Please be extra considerate and don't flake!! Large number swaps can be tricky--so I hope everyone here will do the right thing.

Cyn

I'm up for doing it by email as well!

Don't bother asking to email me the photos!!! That defeats the purpose of this whole site, to get stuff in the mail.

hi i am a newbie and would love to take part in this swap, i would rather recevie photographs by snail mail.

I would recommend to all senders, in the future if you have special requests just coordinate with your partner.

The purpose of this site is not "getting stuff in mail" (there are plenty of places for that), but making the swap hosting easier by automated partner assignment and feedback (hence the name, swap-bot). I have hosted swaps on another site where I have had to assign partner and keep track of sending by myself - with 50-100 people I wouldn't even want to imagine it.

Coordinating directly with partner is just not interesting. :) I do prefer to get photos by e-mail, but that doesn't mean my partner may not send by snail-mail, so in my case it is more a preference than request.

kingsalami, I'm sorry you feel some hostility towards the e-mail idea, but the point of this swap technically, is to send pictures of the items on the list, not specifically to get stuff in the mail.

It's unfortunate that there is no e-mail/snail mail swap type, but if your partner really would like to have the pictures sent digitally, and you have digital pics, then how hard would it be? You can request yours to be sent by mail, after all.

On the other hand, if you have pictures from a film camera, and it would be a hardship for you to get them onto a computer, I'm sure your partner will understand--AND the default method of sending pics here in this swap is my snail mail, so the requests for e-mail are just requests, and preferences, not requirements, so please chill out a bit.

We're here to have fun!

I love to take photos since I make projects for magazines and my blog, I use my camera every day to send preliminary pictures. Live In Hawaii and this swap sounds perfect. It is my first time doing a swap like this. thanks aloha Lilla

real pics please. i promise they wont just be led around. I would also like to snail mail the ones i take so hopefully the co-ordinator wont pair me with one you that wants be sent email.

NO EMAILS FOR ME!! I am going to put a lot of work into this, and would like the same in return. thanks.

I am excited to do this one as well! I would like to receive printed photos though. it is so fun to get fun stuff in the mail instead of junk and bills!

Jacquisking--the way Swap-bot works, the co-ordinator (me) has no part in how the partners are paired up--it's done randomly by the Swap-bot. However, if you really prefer to mail your pics to your partner, you can, it's the default method to get them out there. However, you might consider e-mailing them too, if your partner expresses a desire to receive them that way--not a requirement!

Note to everyone!

If you receive 15 pictures that are of items on the list, (or fewer if your partner manages to take three items in one pic, for instance) then they deserve a 5, whether you receive them in your e-mail inbox (if you ask for that) or in your mailbox. Please don't make a fuss if you don't get pics by e-mail.

I will be happy to get pictures in any way (though I'd love them by e-mail) because I got flaked on the last time I did this swap. :(

thanks @twobluecrows for being flexible and replying to our comments.

to my future photo partner, i would prefer that you email me your photos. thank you kindly :)

btw, an idea to make emailing photos extra special, you can do an online album and make it all nice and 'scrapbook' like :)

I would like to get my photos by snail mail. I love getting stuff in my mailbox. :D

I just joined this swap...I've been very busy but could not pass this up :) Excited. Things in the mail are great but if I can print them then I don't care how I receive them as long as they are sent. * I do have a request to the person who gets me as their sender. I will be returning from a Honduras backpacking trip on the 29th of July. I would LOVE to include this swap in my photographing on foreign soil. If I could send just a few days late I promise the photos will make up for it** Please let me know via message :) Thanks

As much as I wish I could send pictures via email, my site only allows about 2 pictures worth at a time so I'd end up having to do numerous emails to get to the 15 count. As for @Gofeen not being able to print from her computer and therefore shouldn't join this swap, her comment doesn't mean she can't provide printed out photos ~ you get them done at Walmart!

Newbies! Please remember:

"Newbies are welcome if they write me and show that they understand the importance of fulfilling their swap. Everyone deserves a first chance but no one is happy when they get burned!"

I've been getting a few PMs, but not from all of you! If you don't contact me, you run a risk of being banned, especially if you don't have a well-filled out profile.

This sounded like a fun swap but think it's getting too confusing. I think it started out as an actual snail-mail swap and now it's evolved/devolved into a hybrid mail/email swap. I hate to pass, I love taking pics and finding at least 15 items on the list would have been really, REALLY fun, but I'll stick with clear-cut snail mail swaps for now. Sigh.

I signed up for this swap ages ago. I love the idea & the themes to search/photograph. I would prefer & really enjoy receiving photos from my swap partner via snail mail not email. I am a tactile & visual person. I will most likely take the photos to my day job. I work in a beige cubicle all day. Boring! So the photos will really brighten my cubicle. Twobluecrows thank you for thinking of this idea & hosting this swap.

Charlottenc, the default method of sending for this swap is still old fashioned snail mail. If your partner would like e-mail, you may choose to do that for him/her, but it's not a requirement, just another way to make a partner happy.

I realize that it can be a hardship for some film photographers to get the pictures developed and then get them into a computer, so that's why it's not a requirement, just a possible alternative.

twobluecrows, thanks for the response. I'm on board!

Yay! Glad to have you!

Artfulfig, you're welcome, I was in the need of some interesting photography and pictures!!

I'm having a little trouble with my printer right now though--out of ink and so I may be scrambling around for a place to print them out--though WalMart is reasonable for 4x6 prints--but my online photo storage place does prints, too for only 9cents each--I may try them!

WATCHERS!!!

If you are signing up, please hurry and don't wait till the last minute.

If you are a watching Newbie, write me before you sign up so you don't get banned at the last minute.

Other watchers--you also risk being banned if you wait till the last few minutes on the 30th--I'd appreciate sooner rather than later so I can vet everyone to reduce the flaker risk that always seems to exist in large number swaps.

I've been watching and was hoping to sign up, but have been totally put off by all the discussion about emailing the photos. Surely the whole point is to have photos - you know, oblong pictures that you can hold in your hand, stick on a wall, put in an album, use in an art journal, whatever? Perhaps I just don't get it, but I'm going to wait for a swap where photos are printed and mailed, pure and simple! Good luck to all the participants.

Photo book please, I like getting things in the mail.

Number 1 on the list! How cool is that?! :D

I would love to have prints/snail mail. I will be happy to swap with anyone who would prefer to have photos emailed. I LOVE taking photos, so I'm happy either way. Just pm me if you are my partner, with your preferenc =D (I have a digital camera but can just as easily print them....I'm flexible!!)

anyone with a walgreens nearby...they are very reasonable in printing. You can upload them online and pick them up when it's convenient for you :)

NO EMAILS FOR ME!! I love getting things in the mail. please!

I'm a newby. I do photography for my fathers alpaca farm and website! I would love for this to be my first "swap" already planning some shots!

I'm a newby too. I joined and I hope you'll allow me to participate. If there's anything I need to do further, let me know. I love photos!!

I'm a newby as well! I'm very excited~ I love photography!!!

Filpot and others just not sure--this swap is primarily, and by default to be snail-mailed. If your partner prefers e-mail and you can accommodate them, that's great, but don't fee you have to e-mail the pictures.

To the last three newbies in the comments, I'm letting you stay, because you wrote in here, but please make sure you have all the rules and plan to really be committed to fulfilling your swap.

Anyone else wanting to join now must write me by PM to get in, as I'm assigning partners as soon as I finish going over this list of 106 participants, and it looks like a really good group!
It's June 30 and I will assign partners as soon as I can make it through the list.

Oooh I am excited! I have some of the photos done! I love the photo ideas for this scavenger hunt!

Will you be hosting another swap such as this in the future?

I would love to send/receive my photos by snail mail. My photo program wants me to resize them down to 1x2 or 2x3 in order to send them via email,otherwise I get told my photo memory size is too large. If that small of size is all right with my partner, I'd be willing to email them. I just don't know what they'd enlarge like. (Old computer crashed and HAD to get new computer, and am having slight compatability issue with my old photo program - I'll get figured out yet!!!)

I've been asked about doing this swap again, and I'm not sure I[ll have time, at least until the fall, but there is another version of this one, it's just USA though, http://www.swap-bot.com/swap/show/64951

and if anyone else wants to run one later this month or next, feel free to copy down the details or whatever of this one you can use.

mnsqb, what is your photo program? What resolution are the pictures you are sending? Can you send them as .bmp format images? or .gifs?

I would love to receive my photos by snail mail pretty please! I'm planning on posting them on the wall next to my desk, imagine it as a kind of photo escape when I'm supposed to be working :)

Just one more little note from me--if anyone would like to e-mail me their set of pics, I'll e-mail mine back! Just an aside sort of thing, not part of a real swap. Just for fun!you can send to artmail at twobluecrows dot com

If you want them posted online, send them to me and I'll upload them to my photo storage place, fotki.com/twobluecrows it's like Flickr, just different. I don't have a paid Flickr account, so there's not enough room--it someone wants to set up an Flickr Group to share all the pics, please do!

I'll have a fotki album up for any pics I get and anyone can come see them.

Hi. I am super new and still trying to find my feet about this incredibly exciting site.

I am signed up for this swap and have a partner apparently but have no idea how to see who it is. How do I see who my assigned partner is? Thanks.

now when you click on the swap, on the right of the screen there will be a little yellow box with different links in it nder 'Swap member options'-click on "see the partners you send to' and this will open up a new window with your partners name and address. :)

Silly me. Thanks so much.

I have sent my swap but cannot find where to check box that I have done so. Lilla

Lilla--The "I Sent my stuff" button is in the yellow box in the upper right of this oage of the swap--same place where you find who to send to. Make sure you are logged in so you can see that part.

I GOT PICTURES! YAY!!!

My partner is from nearby Amherst, MA, only a quick drive away, but she sent fabulous pics full of oohs and ahs and chuckles! and some pamphlets about local sights as a bonus--encouraging me to take a little day trip! I'm so happy to have gotten pictures this time!

Hey, congratulations! Here is a link to my photos on flickr: Photo Scavenger Hunt International

Well, that didn't work, here is the actual link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/phoebe_photo/sets/72157624472694127/

Ok, one more time :o) Phoebe's Photo Set

Great pics, Phoebe! Thanks for sharing!

Ok, I just sent an e-mail to the 24 people who have not yet clicked "Sent". Some have not logged in to SB in a while, so I hope the e-mail will remind them.

If one of those people is your partner, please contact me if you don't receive in a reasonable time, or if your partner seems to have vanished off the face of the earth.

If they communicate with you and have a good reason for being late, please don't go too harsh on hem and give a bad rating, unless you really, really feel the need. However, if your partner never communicates, and never sends, don't hesitate to rate appropriately. If your sending partner is out of the country, and has clicked sent, but you are waiting for snail mail--give it some time, sometimes mailed items can take as long as a month!

Communicate with them to find out when they mailed, and have a little patience.