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FeedA snap-happy contest focuses on National Register sites—and we have an advantage
Get out your cameras—this is your last chance to flood the interwebs with Buffalove. Wikipedia is running a contest for the best images of National Register sites throughout the U.S. Someone will win, but the real purpose is to add to the number and quality of the images of these sites available via Wikipedia. To enter, all you have to do is start a Wikimedia Commons account, pick your National Register sites and start snapping. All the info is here.
According to Wikipedia’s count, the states and territories of the US have 87,012 buildings, sites, structures, districts, and objects on the National Register of Historic Places. New York State has the most of any state with 5,447. It should then come as no surprise that Western New York—depending on how you define it—is among the top regions of NYS for National Register sites, with over 400 (way over 400 if you include Rochester). Consider, too, that historic districts are included (they count as one site), so that means you have all the structures within Allentown, for example, to choose from, as well as individual historic sites such as Corpus Christi, Trico #1, and Buffalo State Hospital.
Please note the wiki entry’s caveat: There are frequent additions to the listings and occasional delistings and the counts here are approximate and not official. That’s for sure. I already found omissions and I don’t think the recent redrawing of the Allentown district’s boundaries is accounted for. You might want to use the directory here instead, at least for Buffalo.
Does this mean your photos will be freely available for others to use? Yes it does. Which is a good thing, in my opinion, because more people will have access to great images of Buffalo and Western New York. Unlike many bloggers I know, I have never junked up my photos with visible signature watermarks, and it hasn’t bothered me when they’ve been reused (those few times I have noticed it). However, I can understand why some photographers, especially the professionals, wouldn’t want to give their images away.
Oh yeah, almost forgot—there are prizes, including cash, cash vouchers, and a grand prize trip to Hong Kong for Wikimania (what must THAT be like?), but the prizes aren’t the point. This is really about creating an international image bank of the beauties of our region.
The contest ends September 30.
