Wiki Loves Monuments in 3, 2, 1...

We are just one day away from the start of what will be the biggest photo competition ever: Wiki Loves Monuments will open on September 1st and will stay open until September 30, during this whole month you are invited to take photos of historical monuments from your country and upload them to Wikimedia Commons (technically, the upload has to happen this month, the photos can be taken before). And it is no joke, while the 2011 edition is a steps away from being declared the largest competition ever (stay tuned) with about 168,000 pictures from 18 countries, now 36 countries announced participation, most likely we will beat our own record.

There are also good incentives to participate beyond the greater good of enriching Wikipedia with data about your country's culture and history, there are prizes: first on the national level, where they vary from country to country, and then international prizes which have at the top a photo trip (and Wikimania 2013 attendance) to Hong Kong.

From my part, I am again a member of the organizing team in Romania. I have no specific goals in this endeavour, I want it just to be fun and fair and also get some quality pictures in Wikipedia, the jury focus will be more on usefulness of the images, more than the art side. As numbers, the only one I have in mind is my personal contribution: I want to upload myself at least 200 pictures to the campaign (being an organizer and jury member, they won't run for any prize). I would also be thrilled to see some of my photographer friends from the community getting involved in this contest yes, it will happen also in India, in North America, in South America... almost everywhere).

Let the fun begin!