Americasfavoritephoto Avis 10

I'm just going to say it's not how good of a photographer you are it's all about how much your willing to pay to buy votes for a non talent photo to win!

I entered the America’s Favorite Photo Contest as a high school senior with a purpose that meant everything to me.

My photo, where the light meets the water, wasn’t just something I submitted for fun. It was my attempt to make a real difference. I planned to donate every charitable dollar I could win to my high school’s STEM program, which has lost funding again and again. I never wanted another student to have to fight just to access basic opportunities the way I have.

I am so, so, so deeply involved in STEM that I am currently the most highly ranked high school engineering student in the state of Alabama, despite the fact that I have gone through high school without having an engineering teacher at all. I've been in 22 STEM clubs in my high school career, holding leadership in 10 of them.

One, ONE was offered at my school.

I founded it myself.

What makes it harder is that nearly 89% of my graduating class wants to go into engineering, and we’ve had virtually no access to real experience.

Everything I’ve learned, every opportunity I’ve had, I had to work for relentlessly and to the bone, just to get my foot in the door. I did that not just for myself, but because I want the next generation to have it better.

So when I entered this contest, I gave it everything.

I rallied my entire (very large) family. I had friends voting every single day. I campaigned constantly, reaching out to my community and building support organically. I was gaining hundreds of votes a day without ever asking anyone for money. Not once!!

And it worked… until it didn’t.

I placed first in every round leading up to the finals. Then, suddenly, it stopped being about photography or effort or community support.

It became an all out bidding war.

Now, even as a finalist, I’m sitting in 18th place.

It’s heartbreaking. Not just because I lost, but because of how I lost. Watching photos with noticeably less effort and quality jump ahead simply because of money is incredibly discouraging. I poured everything I had into this, time, energy, and even what little money I could afford as a broke high school student trying to help my community and do the right thing.

Even after donating everything I reasonably could, which was NO SMALL AMOUNT, I moved up one spot.

ONE.

After everything.

This contest isn’t about the “favorite photo.” It’s about who can afford to pay the most at the very end. And for students or people trying to make a difference, not just win for themselves, that’s beyond devastating.

I worked so hard for something that I truly believed could help others, only to be outpaced by those with thousands of dollars to spend.

If you’re considering entering because you want to make a difference or support a meaningful cause, please understand what you’re walking into.

This isn’t it.

America's Favorite Photos, you may not be a scam, but you are not a reputable organization with good morals or honest intentions of improving the world of photography.

You are a poorly run, manipulative business meant to intentionally tempt and trick the everyday person into bidding on a chance they may not even have.

Pathetic and despicable.

I think it is all about the money. If you don’t get people to donate cash you will not win. I do not recommend anyone participating in this contest!

Rip off site and company. They lure people in with the hope of winning a huge prize for themselves and ALSO for a charity of their choice. They are so clever at this bait and switch that after you have uploaded your treasured photo, a description of the photo, and a short bio of yourself, and begged your friends and family to vote for your photo EVERY DAY you realize that the only people who occasionally win are people who have BOUGHT votes themselves, for their own photo, and who had friends and others also PAY along with their votes, to "get more votes!!!" How is this legit?

I have contacted them to request an immediate withdrawal of my photo, and I can only hope I won't get a months-long runaround from them. I don't want these FRAUDSTERS having my lovely photo. I despise liars and frauds.

You ask whats wrong and how can the company improve? You want 'honesty and constructive' comments. For starters, you should change the name from "Americas Favorite Photo" to "Amateurs Photo Contest". How is a dog sitting in someones dirty car, or a child running through water with a blurry background considered a favorite? 98% of the photos I saw that went to number one looked like they were taken by a 5 year old with a dirty lens. You say your mission is to encourage photography but lets be honest, since people have to buy votes isnt it more about how much money this company can get? I doubt you actually give $10K for a photo of someone's rotten fence. This is closer to Ebay or the Deal Dash bidding sites. How much do you want to spend to win the prize. In the end this does not encourage the art of photography. Its saying those with the most money, win.
And the charities you listed to pick from are among the top 10 worst for how much of your dollar actually goes to the cause. This is borderline scam using money to bring false hope to someone. You need to be more up front and honest.

Call it what you will, They are NOT telling you what you are getting into. Your photo will be in a group with 20 other photos. The top four photos moves up to the next level. When the four or five days passes for voting, people start buying more votes to make sure they are in the top four. It becomes a bidding war, and for what? The top four move up to the next level and the same happens again. I have no idea how many groups there are or how long this lasts, but pretty soon you MUST keep buying votes in order to not loose all the money you already spend on votes to get to this level. I am very surprised we don't hear about people killing people over this sort of thing. They have these "contests" several times a year. I think it is six times a year, but it might even be twelve.

I was #1 in my first group round, then #2, and this last round to the Finals, I'm #8. I live in The Villages and have a couple hundred people in my circle. I put out emails, texts, and FB. Friend told me she didn't want to fill out the lengthy form and get lots of emails. I realized to win, you must have some huge donations. Does the company get a cut??? I'm DISCOURAGED !

I think this "contest" is a scam. Everyone I know who entered has been told they are 1st in their group. There are an endless number of groups. Also, making voters fill out a lengthy form, and asking for donations for more votes is wrong. It'll be interesting to see if anyone and their chosen charity wins.

The buying of votes is wrong ! Totally goes against what you are saying about people voting for a photo!! Not everyone can do that so it’s unfair to say the least!!

Dear organizers,

As a participant, I want to express my deep disappointment with the format of this contest.

The possibility of buying votes completely undermines the goal of valuing photography as art. Allowing someone to acquire thousands of votes by paying money turns this competition into a budget issue, not a merit issue.

Furthermore, the fact that voting requires users to fill out a lengthy form is unfriendly, invasive, and clearly discourages genuine voting.

This model not only discourages serious photographers, but also undermines the contest's credibility.

I hope that in future editions you reconsider this approach and prioritize transparency, fairness, and respect for the artists.