The two main arenas of the Photography topic run contests scheduled at regular intervals. These are grouped according to their skill level and target participant skill levels:The Beginner Photography [fotob] arena "Beginner:" contests "Intermediate:" contestsThe Advanced Photography [foto] arena Advanced level contests "Bonus:" contests (considered to be equivalent in difficulty to the Advanced level contests)To keep competition in the easier contest types at the desired level, and to recognize the progress made by players as they mature, the Photography topic offers a system of "Graduation".Once a player graduates a contest level, they are no longer eligible to enter contests at that level of competition.
"Beginner:" and "Intermediate:" contests are graduated by earning "Graduation Points" that are awarded to medals and trophies won in the two main #Photography arenas.Points earned from trophies awarded in the [foto] arena are summed up in one total, and points earned from medals awarded in the [fotob] arena make up a second total. The trophy total includes Speedround trophies.
To graduate from the "Beginner:" contests you need toearn 10 points from winning trophies, or 27 points from winning medals (whichever comes first).To graduate from the "Intermediate:" contests you need toearn 27 points from winning trophies, or 40 points from winning medals (whichever comes first).As you advance through each level you will be entitled to claim graduation bling as evidence of your mastery of that level.So let's get started on adding up your Graduation Points![Edited by Moderator on 9/9/2010 10:35:51 AM]
First go to your Profile page by clicking your username up by the login bar.Make sure you have your right-hand menu filtered to show only information for the #Photography section.
Then find the breakdown of your awards by clicking "Trophies" and then "Breakdown" above the mantle:
Go to the last page of your awards that shows your earliest entries:
You should now be able to read from the bottom up, to count up all your graduation points earned from your first awards.
The arena in which you achieved your trophy or medal will be listed at the right, and the type of award you won will be at the left.Remember, count up points from trophies ([foto]) in one total, and points from medals ([fotob]) in a second total.As soon as you've added up 10 or more points from [foto] trophiesORAs soon as you've added up 27 or more points from [fotob] medals:STOP!You have graduated from the "Beginner:" contests, and can claim your first graduation bling!Woot! And Congratulations!!Read on to find out how to contact a moderator about it!
Contact a Moderator to Claim your Graduation award as follows:Click on the thumbnail of the entry that gained you the qualifying points and the system will take you to your award-winning and graduating entry. (You can also right click the thumbnail to find its URL if you want to show off your image in the forums!)Hover the cursor over the image in entry view to find the "report" button:
Leave us a note to let us know that you would like to claim your Beginner Graduation Bling!
Now continue to play at Worth in the Intermediate and Advanced contests, and have fun!Come back here when you win something else!If you already have more awards, read on - maybe you've earned the Intermediate Graduation bling too!
At this point we assume you are returning because you have won something else since graduating from the "Beginner:" contests of the [fotob] arena. Or maybe you had more awards to sum up.As above, and including ALL the points you calculated before you graduated from the Beginner level, add up all your points again and continue past your beginner graduation image to add up all points for subsequent awards too.As soon as you've added up 27 points or more from [foto] trophiesORAs soon as you've added up 40 points or more from [fotob] medals:STOP!You have graduated from the "Intermediate:" contests, and can claim your second graduation bling!You are now a fully-graduated Advanced Worth1000 Photographer!Use the image Report function again as before on the graduating entry to claim your Intermediate Graduation Bling!Congratulations, and we hope to see a lot more of you around here! You have become a mainstay of our community!Go forth and conquer the Advanced Arena contests!