Before and After

Perfecting the power of a picture is no easy task. Today, we can enhance ordinary images into complete works of art – whether your camera is in your back pocket or you're a professional.

To demonstrate photo editing dynamism, we're calling on all photographers, cinematographers, and shutterbugs who have a unique ability to present beauty through their photographs in distinctive and creative ways.

Let's have a behind-the-scenes look at your digital darkroom and walk us through one of the most critical stages: photo editing. Guide us through your process of editing your original photos, and explain your method from beginning to end. Whether you use a high-end photo editing program or use other mediums, all tips, tricks, and guides are welcomed. Why do you use certain techniques or programs? What editing software do you prefer and why? Please include before and after shots of your photos so we can admire the dramatic transformations. For this Challenge, we ask that you submit original images only, please!

For your story to be eligible, it must be between 600 and 5,000 words and adhere to our Community Guidelines. Stories published on Vocal and entered into the contest up until March 9, 2021, at 11:59 PM EST will be entered for consideration. Official Rules for the Challenge can be found here.

The Before and After Challenge is exclusive to Vocal+ members. To learn more and upgrade to Vocal+ visit https://vocal.media/vocal-plus.

To be eligible to win the grand prize, second place, or third place prizes, you must be over the age of 13 and residing in a country where Stripe is available at the time of entry. A complete list of countries where Stripe is available can be found here—winners will need to have a Stripe account created and connected in order to receive the prizes. For this reason, entrants located outside of any of these 39 countries will not be eligible to win.