During college I had a brief love affair with a manual Nikon and a hopeful image of myself as the next Annie Lebowitz. Sadly, due to my inability to hold my arms still, an inherent aversion to darkrooms and irreconcilable differences with the light meter, the union was never consummated. But for those of you who managed the marriage of talent and skill and consider yourself a superstar shutterbug in the making, you may want to enter Surface Magazine's Avant Guardian competition. Now celebrating its tenth year, the competition touts itself as the premier promotional outlet for American photographers and is meant to bolster emerging artists up the career ladder to commercial photography success. To submit, visit the Surface site, where your goods will be Tim-Gunned by the mag's creative team and a panel of international industry judges. While the $50 entry fee may seem a little steep for starving artists, the rewards are certainly worth the investment. A handful of hotshots, whose work embodies the balance between art and marketability, will be chosen and given the chance to spec shoot using Surface's network of studios, stylists and fashion clients. These shots may or may not be used. Only the best work will be chosen and winners will either be published in the magazine's annual Avant Guardian issue or travel in a touring exhibition that visits arty urban locales New York, L.A. and Miami. Some pieces will be chosen for both. Since it is only open to up-and-comers, if you have been published prior to 2006 in magazines with a circulation of over 100,000, you’re ineligible to enter (and apparently, are no longer “emerging,” so congrats). If you are interested, get snappy! The deadline for entry is July 9 and you can submit up to 20 images.

–Mara Siegler