Got a Moment?

Those of you who follow me on FaceBook and Twitter already know I am an amateur photographer and especially love taking sunset photos.

I entered a local photography contest for an area I take 90% of my photos. If you want to check them out and maybe vote for one of mine if you think they are better than others, I would be most thankful!

You can view them at the forest preserve website here. To access scroll down a bit until you see a search feature and enter "anasprague" without the quotes and then select the magnifying glass to the right. That will bring up my ten entries.

You can vote once a day for the next 35 days. They need your email address only for confirmation you do not need to subscribe to anything. It's just our local forest preserve and not a spam website. FYI, voting for the same photo increases the chances of it winning. There are many there with significant votes already.

I appreciate your time and hope you enjoy my photos.

Ana

Going there now.

Vote for Ana!


Voted!

I voted, Ana. I think you are a very talented photographer indeed.

I voted too I think Ana is a great photographer!!!!

Ana,

PK I voted too.

Is there just one photo winner? Should we just vote for your picture with the most votes?

I'm just trying to understand what helps you the most. I've got votes coming for the next 35 days.

I saw your doggie posing by the lake.

Voted!...but then forgot to post

So beautiful! You are so talented!

did it ! and you know i love your work !

THanks all! I really really appreciate it!

SpaceQ, yes, in truth, the only chance I really have to win is if everyone votes for the same one. There is one person that entered this morning and had 174 votes instantly! yesterday the most anyone had was 44. I maybe should have gained the confidence to enter when I first heard of it.

Ana

How in the world did you guys CHOOSE one! I had the hardest time!

Drac! You are too sweet.

I agree with Drac, they are awesome! I voted for the one with the most votes figuring it would tip the odds in your favor. Hope you don't mind, but I copied the one with the Coyote for my desktop. That's my Spirit Guide and I love the look it has, so serene.

I voted but am waiting for the confirmation email for it to count. I did not vote for the one with the most votes (at this time) though. Nice work!

Trail, I appreciate that and you are more than welcome to use a photo for personal use. I am honored! I love the coyotes too. I see and hear them frequently. I PM'd you three other looks of the same one if you like one better.

oldbroad, thank you so much!

I voted Ana. They are all so beautiful.
Midgie

I voted too, Ana.

Me too Ana. Fantastic photos!

Voted

Wonderful photos, BrownEyedTigre, and I've voted

I was thinking what pic to choose and then I saw "it". So wonderful, just my taste. Maybe not the best tactic move to go for a pic with only one vote, but I liked it too much not to. Great!

Loved your photos, Ana. You got my vote.

Just voted again today! Interesting that the one I finally picked after much consternation about which one I liked best seems to be getting the most votes!

Thank you so much Midgie, Sharon, Gerry, Connie, Mad, RebKean, michele rose and Drac!
Every vote counts and is much appreciated!

Drac, I have that photo on a canvas in my home. One of my favorites!

Ana

I voted, Ana. I have always enjoyed your photography.
Best of luck to you!!!!

I just checked and Ana is in 14th place. Ana is here everyday working on this site for all of our enjoyment and I am loving finally having a chance to do something to help her.

Your pictures are awesome Ana. I don't know what is up with the photo that is leading but it makes me think we might need some voting monitors.

SpaceQ! I keep waiting for hers to double again. She had a huge amount in a very short time, I keep expecting it to double any moment. I really do appreciate all of you that are voting.

Smitty, thank you my friend!

I might be slightly prejudice, but I think Ana's pictures are far superior to those leading.... just saying!!!

Ana, your pics are beautiful. I voted.

Voted. Great photo's.

AWww, Winfrey, you always have been a great support. Thanks for the encouragement!

Gail and Jarkeld, thank you so much for the vote and kind words.

Ana

I am prejudice but this is still the truth Winfrey.

Thank you SpaceQ.

I'm in 8th place but still very far behind. This is the photo of mine that has the best chance.

I thank each and every one of you who voted and continue to vote daily for me. I couldn't do it without you all.

I'm voting every day, Ana.

Me too and Ana has moved into the top ten. Hopefully she can keep moving up.

I just put another vote in for you. This time for this picture with the highest votes. The one I like best is the one with 11 votes.

Don't forget to vote every day!

Thank you so much oldbroad and Drac!

Wow...wonderful pictures...so many wonderful pictures
I've voted

Still voting. Good luck.

Yes. Voting for the one which has the most votes, ( tactical !! ) now, but still like my first choice best !!

Which is your favorite Mad? And I appreciate any vote or even just the time to look. If I win I'd like to know I won because it was a good photo and not just because I asked. Thank you for your vote!

Thank you soot and Connie!

I like them all Ana...

But I must admit dogs have a special place in my heart

Thanks soot! The dog one was actually voted Top Photo by USA Today and published.

The Coyote is my favourite, BrownEyedTigre

[ But I did wonder what your dog was doing when you took that photo ]

You didn't ask me, but this one is my favourite. Love it! http://wshe.es/QjifBgUj Will vote until I forget it, which can mean any day really lol, but hopefully it will be longer.

Mad, that is my favorite too. He's just sitting there saying "Aren't I adorable?"

I love the close up on the flower too...

Moving on up to 6th place.

I can vote again in 9 minutes!

REbKean, my inner detective knew which one you chose, because you said it had one vote already and that was the only one with 2 when I looked immediately following. I appreciate you choosing one, no matter which.

Mad, the coyote was watching Merlin, Shadow and I on our walk in the woods. He wasn't going to budge, so we did. Shadow was having a fit because it was late and I said no swimming.

L4L, thanks, I caught the morning dew on the dandelion and it made a cool effect!

SpaceQ, I'm number 5 now!

Winfrey, I appreciate you!

Thanks all, your responses have been awesome! You warm my heart.

Hehe, I thought you might figure it out. But I wanted to make sure.

It isn't the smartest choice if we want to get you to win, but I had to choose that since it really touched my heart.

I honestly do believe people should vote for what they want, even if it isn't mine RebKean and if you stuck with the same one you liked best, I am still very appreciative.

I'm glad you feel that way. And you may call me Kim.
I wish no one else in the world had that name, so I could use it in forums and other places, haha.

Just shared at Mystery Manor too... forgot to do it yesterday!

So you used a Prisoner name instead of Kim. I love that!

Drac, you are awesome! Thank you so much. I'm still way behind first place. Every vote counts!

Ana

Haha, so you know where the name's from, cool! It's a favourite show of mine.
But the reason I didn't choose my own namne is that it's never free. Or sometimes it's to short even. Never mind, now we had something to talk about so it's all good.

I can vote again in 3 minutes.

Yes Kim, I've always known. I always find peoples choice of name an interesting thing. It's like vanity plates on a car. You try and figure out what it means or why they chose it.

Thanks Connie! Every vote counts, still 60 behind the first one.

Ana

"Mad, the coyote was watching Merlin, Shadow and I on our walk in the woods. He wasn't going to budge, so we did. laugh Shadow was having a fit because it was late and I said no swimming. lol"

Awwwww .... A coyote AND no swimming ?? That was tough

Haha, I like that.
And yes, namnes do say something. I think about that sometimes when I play poker online. And not just namnes, often you choose an avatar as well, and since you're playing for money, it's quite interesting to analyze these things. Do they try to seem big and scary? Are they small and scared? Are they using humor, and so on. So especially in poker I choose my avatar carefully so that it says what I want it to say. This usernamne I like cause it tells other fans that we are on the same page, haha, but also I liked the character. Not the nicest person ever, but smart, beautiful and a good actor. So, just like me!

(If you don't believe me, just play the next Carol Reed and be amazed. Well, that's enough commercial break for now )

Now I'm intrigued.

Ana,

I just checked and you are only 46 votes behind. Please keep voting Boomers.

Moahahaa, mission complete.
No, but seriously, I think it's so much fun being a part of it. As you know I'm working on my own but I enjoy being in Carol's world as well. This time not only with voice but also in full view!
Normally, I don't like watching myself in pictures an stuff, but being inside an adventure game is so cool that I don't really care about looks that much.

I'm 59 behind now SpaceQ. The one leading had a lot of votes today.

RebKean, that is so cool! Can't wait to see you!

Will vote again in 5 minutes.

Thanks, Connie. 60 behind this morning for my most voted on photo. Not looking so great.

Keep your hopes up Ana. You have climbed to fourth place and we are all going to support you until the end.

I found her on FaceBook SpaceQ, she's got a photography page and asked for help there. It'll be close that's for sure! I appreciate your support and everyone else's. It feels great to have you all behind me.

Ana

I've been thinking that I've made my point now with what pic was my favourite, and now I will help you with the most voted on instead.

Ana would only be 4 points behind the leader if she had only one picture... I know Ana you want people to have options... I want you to win...lol....

The power of Boomers in action. Ana is now tied for third place and is only 36 votes behind.

4 more votes and she will be in second... she has passed the tie!!!!!
Ana's in 2nd place now!

Thank you RebKean, Winfrey, SpaceQ and all those voting! I'm only 26 out of first place but I know it can go either way. Even if I get in first place, I will need a steady flow just in case.

I can't do it without you all so I am very grateful you are behind me!

Very positive progress. Way to go Boomers.

Don't forget to vote again today!

I am continuing to vote every day.

Couldn't vote yesterday, sorry, but just voted again today

I vote every day.

I still have three hours to go until I can vote again.

We are making progress. Ana is only 18 votes behind right now.

Cmon' Gameboomers..... Let's rock the vote for Ana!

Me too, Connie

I just voted and Ana is now only nine votes out of the lead.

I vote in 45 minutes!

I have not had much internet today where I was and it's the first I get to see my standings! Holy Cow you all are amazing! I'm only two away from 1 st! You all are the best ever! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I can vote again in 18 minutes.

Let's not slow down!! Ana is in 1 Place now!!!! Keep voting!!!! yahooooooooooo!

Cool! I have to wait until midnight but will do it then!

I have to wait an hour, but then I can vote again. First place this morning!!

Bravo Boomers. I can vote at 5. Let's extend this lead.

Another vote added!

26 votes ahead!

I can't vote again until 26 more minutes have passed. So am twiddling my thumbs .... waiting

EDIT :

They passed and I've voted

Mad

I've still got an hour and a half before I can vote.

Apparently I never submitted my post yesterday.

Connie, Winfrey, RebKean, Drac, SpaceQ, Mad, michele rose and all that voted but didn't post. I really appreciate you all! You got me in First Place!!! Can't believe it!

You all rock!

Still voting every day, Ana.

Voting every day, will vote in 33 minutes... gotta try and keep you in first....

How funny as I clicked the vote button we went from 328 to 330..... I was not the only one voting...love it!!

35 ahead.

Lets all keep this train rolling.

Woot!

I can vote again shortly.

Looking good Ana. we're working on it.

Yep !! More thumb twiddlin' for me at the moment but not TOO long to go

I'm just waiting to vote too Mad.

Voted

Thumb twiddling again - for 45 minutes

I have an hour to go before I can vote.

You all never cease to amaze me! I have 416 votes already, I'm shocked!

Thanks to SpaceQ, Mad, Connie, L4L, Gail, Drac, Kim, Joe and Winfrey (for sharing on FaceBook too) and many others not posting on this thread but still voting. You all rock!

Ana

i do believe it is 417 now. you rock ana

422, I just voted :-)

I just made it 423.

429! Oh. My. Goodness! I am dumbfounded!

Still voting every day!

435

Can vote again in an hour.

450 votes!

Count on my vote in 2 hrs.

Marian, Mary, Connie, Kim, Michele and all, thanks so much! 450 is amazing!!

Came later to the party tonight so there's only 13 minutes of thumb twiddlin' this time

I just voted too.

455 and counting

I'm exactly 100 points in the lead! Oh my! Thank you, thank you!

I just voted again. Good luck!

Everybody is doing great but please don't give up. I remember that one picture posted with like 170 votes at once so we still need every vote. Please keep voting and take nothing for granted. Boomers rock!

THanks, Sorta!

SpaceQ, I keep thinking the same thing. All I need is one person with a lot of friends to put a photo up and I could be bypassed in a day or two! I appreciate the daily votes!

Well all I can say is that you have a lot of friends here Ana.

just made it 462 :-)

I do SpaceQ!

Thanks, Winfrey! At this rate I'll hit 500 tomorrow!

I can vote again in an hour and twenty minutes.

This is really getting exciting. I think you've got it, Ana.

Don't forget there are 23.5 days to go so we can't let up.

I have a not so great memory. However, there are a few sites that I almost always visit daily, and this is one of them. I don't always stay for long, it all depends on mood and stuff, but my point is that when I get here, I remember to vote. So I should be a ble to vote for the remainder of the contest. I really hope so, this was fun!

Someone added a photo yesterday and got 49 votes already. Even though I'm ahead now someone can still beat me. I really appreciate everyone sticking with me! I know it's a pain.

It's not a pain, it's a fun thing to do! Helping out is always fun, especially when we actually like the thing we're voting for.

I think it's safe to say we will all hang in there. Personally I enjoy going there every day to see what's new and how many votes you have!

Oh wow, 494!

497 after I just voted !!

499

Just voted again.

Will vote in 2 hours.

Just voted - count is now 530 !

531

I just wanted to bump this up in case someone has missed the post.

You are too kind, SpaceQ! I appreciate everyone sticking with me! The vote count is still going up! Wouldn't it be cool to hit 1000?

Ana

Yes that would be cool. Let's make it happen Boomers.

Voted

600 !!!!!!

Woohoo!

You all are amazing!

Lots of thumb twiddling required but voting every day

Mad

Voted 628

696 votes! Woohoo! Thanks all!

I see someone just went from zero to 270 votes in a day.

I appreciate you all!

Voted 700

Woohoo Connie! Thank you!

The one that was 270 when I went to bed is now 463. I feel doomed.

I voted I voted. It's amazing that the rules limit you to one vote in 24 hours, but someone manages to get 270 votes in ONE day? Something isn't right here. I'm suspicious that someone created tons of 'fake' email addresses and is using them to stuff the ballot box.

That picture wasn't even on the leaderboard yesterday and today it has 463 votes???? That sounds shaky to me.

Well, they seem to be staying steady at 463, knock-on-wood *knocks on head* while Ana's is still increasing; 717 at last view.

We just need to keep banging away at it.

Vote early and vote often!

I can't vote again for 9 1/2 hours.

That photo snuck up on me too! I always look through the ones that have votes and it suddenly appeared and shot up. He's a photographer and posted on Twitter but only has 24 followers. He is also on FaceBook with 38 followers. I have over a 1000 followers on Twitter and 300 friends on FaceBook and a bunch of people sharing it. I'm scratching my head. The math isn't working for me but I guess it is what it is.

I appreciate you all for still sticking with it!

Chalk up another vote - now at 733.

We're stickin', we're stickin' ....

Mad

Totally stuck!

Yikes! That other one is really catching up fast. When I went to vote I still had an hour to wait and then I got involved in a game so I lost some hours now and threw my voting time way off schedule.

Going to vote again now.

Does anyone else think the hundreds of votes a day the second place picture is getting seems a little fishy? When I checked this morning he had an extra 200 votes from when I went to bed. Who is voting in the middle of the night?

I asked my computer guru programmer friend and he says it might be a 'bot' program that just keeps voting on all of his email addresses, which he probably created. If he owns a business, he probably can create as many as he wants. Maybe the 'sponsors' of the contest might wanna check up on some of the 'addresses' that are being used to vote. I'll bet they are numbered 1-1000 or alphabetic a-z...A-Z...aa-zz etc. So easy. I have a business account and can probably make up fake addresses (would NEVER do that) but some people are just not playing fair. Either that, or he has millions of friends and you did check his Facebook, etc. and that's not the case. Not fair, just not fair. Waiting to cast MY vote.

AHA...just read the TOTAL RULES for this contest. There are lots of prizes. Some are judged by the organizers and have nothing to do with the number of votes. Some are random drawings and one is the total votes thingy. I still think you have a good shot at it Ana, even if that other guy goes beyond the total you have.

Well I hope the organizers notice the voting flux too. That is great that there is more than one prize.

I was told by developer friends who also did the math and said it looks like a bot. If it's fsair and square bless his heart, but if not, karma has a way of taking care of that.

Ana

Well I just voted and it is 784 for you to 658 for him so let's see what it is in the morning. I feel like someone should email the site and ask them to look at the voting.

Like you said if it is legit God bless him but it just doesn't seem like an exceptional photo in my opinion. I may be biased.

I did, don't know if it will get to the right people or if they will do any thing But there is a message tab on the page at the top and I clicked on it and posted this... perhaps I should not be the only one:


Chat Conversation Start
7:43PM
I am concerned with the picture of the bird that is in 2nd place right now, It went from 0 to 400 in the first day and now is over 632.. I would hate to think someone has hacked the system and is using bots to post emails... is there a way this could be looked into?




******************** RESPONSE FROM THEM *******************


Yes, we'll look into it. Thanks for letting us know!

Well Done Winfrey !!

I just did my vote for the day - which took the total to 791

You are awesome, Winfrey! Thank you so much!

Thank you SpaceQ,

Mad, thanks for voting! 795 as I go to bed.

Yep, it was bothering me as well, especially when they hit the 700 vote mark. That was the last straw for me so, did the same thing through their "contact us" link. Hopefully they really will look into it.

You guys all rock! That picture received 111 votes over night. I'm glad they will look into it.

I'm losing my faith that he has that many friends. Something smells fishy to me.

Thank you Trail for contacting them as well! I really appreciate it!

Just voted again.

Yeah, this morning was the last straw. I contacted them also from the viewpoint of a retired Wildlife Biologist loving learning about their wildlife area through such wonderful photos and someone who builds and repairs computers being suspicious that the individual might be using a bot network. I said I was contacting them on behalf of ALL the people who had submitted entries and were playing by the rules and who may be the victim of a scam artist.

Hooray for everyone who is standing up for truth and justice. Hopefully the sponsors will find out how this guy gets so many votes in such a short time. Gotta be fishy. Maybe he runs a computer class and has all his students vote once a day? I could have done that and gotten 480 votes each day with my kiddies I taught all day long in our computer lab. Just sit them down, sign them in, vote to get 'extra credit' and voila.

Sure hope OUR choice wins. I'm off to vote!

And most suspicious leaning towards a bot network is that all the votes show up overnight in the wee hours.

If they can clone/hack phone numbers which appear on caller ID as real people we know on our calling list, then surely they can easily hack the contest. If this guy is legit, more power to him, but if he's scamming, then shame shame shame.

All detective work points to a scam.

FaceBook - 38 likes for his page - no likes except an occasional 1 (literally) on his posts https://www.facebook.com/DanielKGroenhofPhotography/

Twitter - 38 followers - no likes on his tweets https://twitter.com/DanGroenhof

Instagram - 25 followers https://www.instagram.com/groenhofphotography/

I have 1031 followers on Twitter, 303 FB friends and all of you. And I interact with tons of folks of twitter and my FB page daily as well as you all and I still can't average even close to his votes.

Oh well, I really do appreciate you all. I guess I'll have to wait for the universe to snack him upside the side if he's cheating.

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who contacted the site about the voting. The fact that he went from hundreds of votes down to 36 back in a few days doesn't pass the smell test.

SpaceQ.

Well, it isn't just about Ana and her submissions; it's about all the beautiful photographs that were submitted by people playing by the rules. Fair is fair. I wonder if their system sent out about 400 email confirmations one night... might raise a red flag.

That's very true Drac. And truth is, there are quite a few lovely submissions. I would think they had to have sent out a bunch at one time.

Ana

Wow... got a response to my email message of concern. I was told my concerns had been forwarded to the "contest software’s technical support team and will do our best to determine whether this individual has simply promoted his entry heavily to his social media followers or has used a bot network to unfairly inflate his votes."

Oh good news Draclvr! Techs will know what is going on from the IP addresses used. If it's the SAME IP then they will know it's totally fishy. My computer guru told me that last night about IP addresses. Same IP, same computer. Hope this all gets worked out. I'm sure as Ana found, his 'social media' friends are few and far between.

Thank you so much, Drac! It was easy enough to find his tracks and if anyone is social networking savvy they can see that his following and lack of hashtags also on Twitter put his reach at a nearly non existent level. You all are truly wonderful!

Ana

Indeed, the IP address is one of the things we use over at Mystery Manor to weed out spammers. Now and then we'll get several requests to join and they are all from the same IP address. While it's not impossible that two people from the same house would try to join, as soon as we question them, they hightail it out of there and we never hear from them again!

And, yes, I did mention the dearth of social media contacts for the individual!

Drac, If they use a bot will it show same address or can it generate individual ones?

I see online there a gazillion different email generators. A whole world I never knew existed. I didn't click past the google search page results though because I have a fear of viruses.

Confirmed, got the same response that Drac did.

It is fairly easy to hide or change up your IP address. If he's using a bot, he might be savvy enough to work through a proxy service, but that in itself should be a give-away to a decent technical support group.

It's funny how he got it near me and now is behaving normally. I'm waiting for him to trail behind and then before the contest closes, pass me up. Another clear sign to me that I think he cheated to get caught up. Fingers crossed he gets called out, not because I don't want him to win, but because cheaters don't deserve to win.

Yup, what Trail said. However, the 400+ votes overnight the first night? Big red flag.

I was thinking the same exact thing - now just a few normal votes after the 800+ votes in what... 3 days? Yeah, something smells really bad here. Hopefully they have a good enough software person on this contest because it wouldn't take much to sniff this out. While his picture is fine, it just doesn't have the composition and quality of Ana's pictures or many, many of the other submissions. The dragonfly one is a great picture... the Heron? Not so much.

Well, we'll see what happens. So glad we contacted them though... fair is fair.

Bravo Drac & Trail.

I agree, I keep looking expecting him to pass her up... other than the first response from them stating that they will look into this I have not heard anything else from them. The fact there were more than one reporting this I hope they really take a good look at the first 600 votes! Like you said Drac... his picture just doesn't have the quality nor composition.... we shall see.... I get to vote in 45 minutes :-)

I love going to the site and seeing Ana in the lead.


I can't vote until almost 9:00 PM.

I can't vote until later tonight either! I would even feel bad if this was cheating that the other photos would be pushed out of 2nd or 3rd places. The dragonfly one is so nice too.

Drac, There is no second or third prize for fan votes, only first place. There is a jury that votes for the best 3 photos based on composition and skill. On that one, there is no cheating, hopefully. The voting is just for fan favorite.

I still say now his voting is normal and he will maintain that until the end and he will spam it to pass me up. I can just feel it...

Ah, I didn't look that closely on the contest itself. I can feel the same thing in my bones too - well, maybe if they have been alerted, they are watching too.

I am disappointed that there has been no response to those that poised questions... is it that hard to tell if he messed with the system?

Wouldn't they disqualify him if they could prove he spammed the system? They have been two or three people who added hundreds of votes in a day. I just don't see any way that can be legit.

Ana if you get cheated on the last day we are all going to complain. They should look at the time of the votes too.

912 votes! I can vote again in 24 hours. Sigh wish it was sooner.

914

Winfrey, I don't know how quickly wishpond can figure it out or if they even will. They may not want to admit they let it slip through since they are hosting it. This is all very new to me. Maybe, wishful thinking here, is that the complaints is the reason it slowed down and they blocked bot votes? Did you ever hear back like Trail and Drac did?

SpaceQ, I appreciate you!

Sorta, there is.....BOTS!

We are all glad to support you Ana.

Yes Ana when I first contacted them..


.******************** RESPONSE FROM THEM *******************


Yes, we'll look into it. Thanks for letting us know!

Ana? Moi? Use a Bot? Never...bahahahahahaha! Although the idea sure sounds tempting. My computer guru friend says if they are investigating and their 'techs' have any smarts, they will know if a bot was used by the sheer number of votes from one site in a short time. Let's hope for the best.

Sorta! No temptations please! I would hate to think any of my votes would be made by artificial means. And how embarrassing it would be to get caught!

Ana

920

Hmmmmm wouldn't let me vote. Wonder if the site is having issues?

Voted 924

Beautiful Photos Ana! I used to take lots of photos myself. Even tried Taking pictures for hire. Required too much time away from family and my real job. It is much more fun as a hobby. Good Luck in the contest. I voted.

Cheers,

Bill

939. Go!

I'm really hoping that the great state of Ohio can cast the 1,000 vote for Ana.

looney,

Sometimes I have to put my email address in to vote.

Yea, I did, but the site said to come back later. Will go try again now and see if it likes me yet.

edit: yep, likes me today

looney,

I'm glad you tried again.

We need every vote we can get because this is going be a close race.

L4L, it only allows you to vote every 24 hours. On the second, not just the hour. I have literally had it tell me I need to try again in 2 seconds. There will be a time next to you to let you know when you can.

Thanks so much for your kind words MrBill. I take photos daily, it's like meditation to me. I like just doing it as a hobby though and taking photos that interest me. Other than my grandson, people are not my favorite subject!

Winfrey, Connie, Sorta, SpaceQ, Kim, and all thank you so much for sticking with me!

948 ! woot!

951.

Yes, I have to wait a whole 15 seconds today to vote again in 24 hours!

i just watched the second place picture add 30 votes in a couple of minutes. It was 80 votes behind.

Where is the link to contact the site located?

SpaceQ, Yes, he sure did just go way up! We'll have to wait for someone to say how they contacted them. I assumed through FaceBook messaging but I could be wrong.

Drac.

Thanks, niteowl!

Here ya' go District Contact Us Page

Just use the email address under the District Headquarters heading.

Thank you Trail!

The Contact Us is in tiny print at the bottom of the page.

Nearly at the 1000 mark now

I do so hope that if any cheating IS going on it's handled swiftly and appropriately at the site

It would be a truly sad state of affairs if not

Thanks Tail & Drac.

So yesterday morning when I logged on Ana had a 67 vote lead. Last night Ana had an 80 vote lead at around 9:30 PM eastern time. As I watched his picture went up by 30 votes in just minutes. This morning when I logged on just after 6 AM the lead was 35 votes. I really can't imagine that many people are casting votes in the wee hours of the morning.

I used the info Trail left and sent an email that was not answered as of yet. Here is what I sent.

"I have been following this contest since the beginning and I have some questions about the photo by dangroenhof that is currently in second place in the voting. I noticed that when it first appeared on the leader board that it had some days where it was getting hundreds of votes in a day and sometimes it seems like overnight it would garner massive vote counts. Last night I was checking the leader board and I saw in rack up 30 votes in minutes.

Do you guys have any one checking for bots that might be padding the ballot box? The surge just seemed a little shady to me.

Thanks for your time."

I hope they respond.

TEAM ANA

THanks Drac!

Mad,

SpaceQ, thank you so much! For me and others. Are you standing by to be the 1000th vote?

Winfrey

Ana I can't vote for a couple of more hours but to tell you the truth I'm hoping you already have 1,000 votes by the time I get to vote.

You are far more optimistic than I!

Ana

Some how my time is 9:45pm..lol I would be happy to be 2001..just saying

Winfrey

992 !

I voted...995!

I still have an hour and 40 minutes to wait. I don't know if I can stay up that long.

Winfrey,

Ok space, it's 999!

THanks, Sorta, oldbroad and niteowl! WooHoo!

1000

Go Winfrey!! WooHoo!

Yay, Winfrey! You got the TEAM ANA 1000th vote!

I just voted 1005. Only up by 4 votes, need lots of votes for Ana.

Thanks, Connie! It's like the Olympics but I think the other team is using steroids!

I am not happy.. he is at 1000 and still no response from them as to this issue!

1012. He's on 1000. As you all say, it doesn't feel good.

Just so no one posts to them the same wording... here is my latest post to them:




Has anyone looked into this. I continue to see large numbers of votes at a time. 400 over night... 30 in a matter of a few minutes and last night 20 in a second!! If he had a large following in media I could understand it but he doesn't sure looks like something is going on. If he is using Bots it is so unfair to the rest of the photo's.
All detective work points to a scam.

FaceBook - 38 likes for his page - no likes except an occasional 1 (literally) on his posts https://www.facebook.com/DanielKGroenhofPhotography/

Twitter - 53 followers - no likes on his tweets https://twitter.com/DanGroenhof

Instagram - 25 followers https://www.instagram.com/groenhofphotography/

Oh, good for you Winfrey. Very well worded. This guy is just getting stinkier and stinkier. What time did you see those 30 votes in just a second?

Thank you Winfrey! Much appreciated!

The heron guy is not on the list of "most votes" right now.

Well, well, well! Just voted and lo and behold, MaG is right - the heron guy is no longer listed with "most votes!" It appears maybe he got busted... it's pretty reprehensible when the only way you can get recognition is by cheating. Good for them for following up. I think Winfrey's contact was the final straw!

And I hope it stays that way!

Oh my goodness!!!! I can't believe it!!! You guys are unbelievable! It really does take a village and you all rallied for me. I won't forget it! Love you all! 💗💗💗

Ohhhh! Could it be true that they busted this guy?? Would be a wonderful day if they did. Sometimes 'truth' does win. Gotta wait for tonight to vote again.

WooHooo, good news!

As Ana state here before... Karma, baby.

Well I didn't post this answer to my email from yesterday because I didn't want to jinx anything but here is the answer they gave me:

Hello Tom,
We’re thrilled that you’re enjoying the “Take 5 Photo Contest,” and we sincerely appreciate you bringing your concern to our attention.
We’re in the process of investigating this entry and whether this individual has simply promoted his photograph heavily on his social media accounts or has used a bot network to unfairly inflate his votes.
Thanks again for your interest and for contacting us. We really do appreciate that people like you are enjoying this contest and doing your part to ensure it’s fair for all participants.
Sincerely,
Beth


Cheaters never prosper.

TEAM ANA

Wonderful news.

Here is what his mother just put on FaceBook: Because the old lady Ana Sprague can only win by votes from her old bats friend her picture is subpar. This contest is rigged not surprise her old bat friend told the them he was cheating. She is cheating she just a shot and point picture taker..well I feel sorry for her she needs to win a popularity contest which is what she said about Dan..lol.

Nice.

FYI - I changed my FB settings for the posts to Friends of Friends so she can't see them.

Hmmm... with an attitude like that, perhaps that could explain why her son was caught cheating? I can guarantee they didn't throw him out just based on a few complaints from some "old bats." And what is the first clue to scams? Why that would be horrible grammar!!

Who is old bat #1 and who's #2? Line up.

I'm already in line!

*runs to the front* Since I'm an old lady, I sure hope I live until the contest is over!

Yeah, but I'm older than ALL of you!!! So, me first!

I don'r know... i'm pretty old and batty!!!!

Yep, she explains him.

Should someone tell Mom that her sons picture would still be posted if he didn't cheat? The criminal is blaming the victim.

You're right looney. After reading her post it all makes sense.

I would hope, and can't imagine otherwise, that if they didn't prove he cheated, he'd still be up. I'm sure anything said would fall of deaf ears. I am waiting for him to spam another photo to pass mine up or even spam mine so I get deleted. If I jump up dramatically, I will report myself so they know what's going on!

Good thinking Ana.

You are right Ana ...I didn't think of that but he could bot your picture and then turn you in.... we will have to keep an eye out. I just went there
1029 vote count and it is 4:48 Central Time

You do that too? LOL! I have a little notepad here where I've been writing down votes and times! That's why I was asking when it was you saw the 20 or 30 votes come in within just a second or two!

He is now saying on Twitter he was winning the contest to give the prize to a kid in ICU and sore losers turned him in saying he was cheating. It just gets better! Like, in all the posts he made to vote for him, or his dad post, did anyone mention they were donating. Wouldn't you use that as a pitch to vote if you were?

You can't turn in someone who isn't cheating and he was NEVER winning.

Sounds like the contest runners did indeed contact him to let him know he's being investigated. Otherwise how would he know? Hope he's out of it for good and his 'followers' don't believe him.

1029 @ 4:48 Central time
1037 @ 6:39 Ct

What he could also do is start a bot program for the second place photo just out of spite.

Current vote total:

Ana 1040

2nd 571

Glad this guy was found out Ana! Not nice!

1041 for ANA!

1042

nice to see you , mary

Well, maybe all this commotion will give him the ambition to move out of his mom's basement.

Good one, Trail. I am also one who definitely had this vision of this guy living is his mom's basement!

This is so funny to me. It reminds me of this one time (no, not on bandcamp, hihi. <- did you get it, did you get it? ) when I was playing poker online, and this guy chatted to me after he lost to me and was out of the tournament. He said something like, "well, you only play with the BEST cards". Haha, it's so stupid that it get's funny. He thought I would be a better player if I chose bad cards to play with and then lose to someone else? I don't know, I just can't seem to forget his comment.

Anyway, let's hope he accepts this (as long as it's true), and that he doesn't try and stir things up.

Well, this Old and feeble Bat just managed to hobble to the site and UP the vote to 1055

[The absolute cheek of those comments is simply breathtaking ]

1056 at 7:16 Eastern time.

Mad

OMG! Did you guys see the second place one? It went up over 200 last night! He's boosting theirs!

Now they are saying it's fixed and I'm cheating. I'm pretty sure I can cover all my votes with real people!

So glad you old bats are sticking with me!

WOW!!! Whaat do we do now??? contact them and let them know what is happening to the innocent number 2??

Is he really that stupid that he thinks the software folks that are running this contest can't see his stupid little bot network? Yeah, sorry. Cheaters are usually really that stupid. So he's using his little bot network to "fix" the contest again... as I said on Ana's FB page, what a tool. I'm going to watch and observe a bit before I contact them. What a shame that something so positive for this wildlife and nature preserve has to be hijacked by this lowlife.

I was worried about this and that was why I posted the vote totals. Overnight the second place photo that Ana has been trouncing all contest long beat Ana 52 votes to 22 votes.

We all need to keep voting.

Well, hopefully this doesn't ruin things for future contests, that they won't decide it's too much trouble.

I voted...1066. Wasn't that the 'Norman Conquest' date? Maybe our army will defeat the bad guys.

Team Ana has a lot of soldiers Sorta.

up to 1067 now :O)

So, I'm wondering if he realizes that by artificially inflating the 2nd place photo using a bot he's straddling the line of a cyber-crime, which could be pursued legally by the owners of the website should they choose to do so. It's especially damning for him because since the site is run by a county administered designated preserve and no doubt has some Federal oversight, it's a government site. Someone might want to drop him a clue about real life consequences before he ends up like the Afflunza kid.

Wouldn't that be nice if they actually took him to court? Folks like this so seldom have any consequences.

Since the guy is a photographer I wonder how his customers would feel if they knew he had to cheat to try and win a photo contest. Some professional.

VERY good point, Trail. I was already thinking along those lines myself. What the little whipper-snapper might need is a little cease and desist letter from the Preserve legal department.

1074 votes for the "Old Bat Club".

I might be a geezer but it does seem funny that the second place picture gets 52 votes overnight but just 6 votes all day today.

Just wait for tonight, SpaceQ!

I agree Draclvr but as long as we keep voting it makes it harder for somebody to get away with their clandestine behaviour.


Basically all of todays votes for Ana have got her lead exactly back to where it was before lasts nights ballot stuffing.

If the second place one zooms up by a few hundred votes tonight, THEN we will see who is cheating!!

And if it's legit, I personally LOVE that dragonfly picture - I have always had a soft spot for them ever since I studied them in college. But only if it's not cheating!!

I agree Drac, the dragonfly picture is good I like it ... but it is strange that it was just slowly climbing until "the Boy" got knocked off!!

I like the dragonfly picture too. All any of us really want is a fair contest.

The dragonfly was at 417 yesterday and is at 733 now. It has been up longer than mine. He's bumping it up in leaps and bounds!

10:05 PM Eastern Time

Ana 1086

Dragonfly 733


Ana that means the Dragonfly went up 75% in one day if it had 417 yesterday. That should be obvious that something is wrong.

This is really sad ...So hard to believe some people can be that bad!

Hopefully the people at the contest are paying attention.

Well, if it jumps up again tonight, I don't think it would be a bad thing if we told them about it. I hate to be a nag, but this is so ridiculous and so sad.

I agree!
Shouldn't they be able to tell which are the bot votes!

I'm sure that's how they knew he was cheating in the first place. Depending on how his bot network is set up, all these votes could be coming from the same IP address or as Sorta said, the emails are all numbered one right after the other. He doesn't appear to be too clever, so is probably not even bothering to try to fool the experts.

Well the contest has been going for a long time and the fact that all of a sudden one picture ups its total by 75% in a day should be a no brainer. I'm betting it is the guy who was disqualified trying to keep Ana from winning.

I may go drive to the headquarters tomorrow. It's only a few miles from my house. If this is whats going to happen the whole thing is compromised. It's meaningless. What a sad individual.

I hope you do Ana. This guys needs to be stopped and this way he can't sabotage your votes. I hope their IT people can ban his IP address.

You know, that's probably the best thing to do. I agree... how sad that the whole thing is compromised. And all they were trying to do was to involve people in their Refuge.. Pathetic. It's to the point that the whole contest is meaningless because of one individual. Let us know what happens.

you 1089 @ 10:03

Ana 1094
dragonfly 734 time 11:05pm Central time

His dad just entered the contest. Here is his entry. One to watch!

Ana

I just got my "vote for the day" accepted

Got mine in today Ana

Dragonfly just jumped up from 734 to 830. This is just so sad...

I got my vote in this morning.

Drac

Thank you Mad, soot, connie and all!

Has anyone emailed the contest since the second place photo votes have been manipulated?

Ana, I do think you should go down and talk to them tomorrow this is ridicules!!!!!!

9:00 Eastern Time

Ana 1128

2nd 832


Let's see what happems overnight,

Ana said the Dragonfly picture was at 417 votes on Friday so I hope someone at the contest board notices that the totals doubled this weekend. I would guess the same guy whose picture was pulled is trying to spite Ana. Hopefully this doesn't work.

1148 now that I voted.

Interesting that the dragonfly has been getting nice normal one or two votes at a time rather than 200 overnight. Makes me wonder if the tech group running this contest isn't also paying more attention. Perhaps they told the cheater they were watching him.

Or he's waiting for a final blow at the end.....I hope Ana goes and talks to them just to see if they are aware...

Me too...

I voted again this morning.

I can't vote until tonight.

I noticed that it doesn't show how many days left in the contest now. I wonder what is up with that?

Well this has turned into a nightmare. I can't say anything here publicly except you don't have to worry about anyone winning by cheating or by being used as a cheat pawn in a twisted persons mind. Thanks to all of you for rallying behind me.

Ana, so sorry something fun has been twisted by an idiot.....

sorry here too . something fun has to be ruined.

I had a feeling this was going to be the case... But like you said, what a nightmare and how sad to turn something so positive into something else.

In the meantime, I appreciate all your votes and still need them since the contest is still going. I'm just learning new things about human nature daily.

Whatever happens I am touched by how much all of the people on this site love and support you.

Ana rocks!

The dragonfly just jumped 134 votes. No worries, they know.

I am very touched SpaceQ. I appreciate it all very much.

I hope they publicly call out the offender so that even his family knows the truth.

Nice to hear the news Ana that they know what's going on and want to keep it above board. Whatever accomplished that, good for everyone! Hate dishonesty in all forms. I'm still voting as much as allowed.

Just put in my daily vote.

No, SpaceQ, as much as I'd love to have them out him, it serves no purpose. I'd be afraid of the repercussions. I was there today and it's being taken care of. Since I live here, I'd rather be safe than vindictive.

THanks, Marian and Sorta! This contest can't end soon enough!

Now I feel sorry for the dragonfly photographer... I'd sure hate being used like that. I hope they can build a case against him for some kind of action. Some of what Trail mentioned might come to pass yet. As long as they are working behind the scenes, that's all that matters.

The dragonfly just went up another 100! It's now 1035.

The dragonfly votes are going up at the same speed of the dragonfly wings.

Is he really this stupid? This is starting to get comical!

SpaceQ! So true!

Drac, yes, he really is that stupid. And they know. I just was hoping they could stop him before he struck again. I'm not concerned since they know about it. I just feel bad for the girl with the dragonfly, not sure how they will handle her getting above mine. He will get his due.

It really is too bad because the dragonfly is a beautiful picture and that guy is harming her too.

Yes indeed! Who knew this would turn into all this!

Just voted

Ana 1180
Dragon 1035

Hugs Ana, I will be able to vote shortly.

I just voted for today

Interesting, they took the totals off the page.....

They were still all there about 45 minutes ago. Can't say I'm surprised.

That is great news. This means they will make sure the person who deserves to win will.

You have to confirm you aren't a robot now when you enter your vote as well. They are on top of it!

The bottom line is that we all need to keep voting.

YES!!

AWESOME! Sometimes the honest guys win, or at least get some recognition. Nice. I've got 18 hours to go for another vote. Darn.

ah ha ... they've got bot checkers up and running now

voted

I've got about 20 minutes left.

I never noticed the 9th place one before. I thought I remembered all of them. Thank you all for sticking it out! Can't wait for it to end!

My vote is in.

Well at least it might be ending the way it should have started - with fraudsters being properly handled ??

Off to see if I can vote yet .... I've lost all track of time

EDIT :

Wasn't allowed to vote !!
I put my email address in the box and clicked on "vote" - whereupon the whole set of photos became greyed out and the message "authentification failed" appeared
[An "I am not a robot" test didn't appear at all.]

Mad.. can you scroll up the page just a litte. I was confused at first too.. when I scrolled up I saw... the robot message

This thread was long, so I started a new one. You can access it here.

I will lock this one. Thank you to all who voted and continue to vote daily! It's been quite a ride so far!