Hi folks,

I wanted to let you know that the reason I haven't posted the February theme yet is that we are having technical difficulties with our photo upload tool. In fact, I'll have to extend the deadline for the January contest because several photos did not come through with some of the contest submissions you made.

The developer who built the tool for us is working on the issue along with our system administrators, and I hope things are back on line soon. Meanwhile, we'll get past contests judged -- including last year's Scavenger Hunt -- and announce a new theme as soon as the tool is working again.

Yikes, I did not anticipate how long it would take me to go through 1,919 photos to make sure each one met the criteria of the contest. I'm still reviewing them, so please indulge me awhile longer.

I've been looking over your terrific entries in the scavenger hunt contest - there are some really excellent images in the group. I'm glad that you have been able to fulfill the requirements of the list and be artistic at the same time -- bravo!

I do have some thoughts about the photos. If we get a lot of entries, we may have to be picky in terms of who met the criteria of the list items, so here are some suggestions that may increase your chances of making it to the finals.

The details of this contest took a little while to sort out, but I'm really excited about it, and hope you will be, too. I'm also happy to announce that the value of the gift certificates is being increased for this contest, and even better, they are being supplied by Hunt's Photo and Video (appropriate name). More on that later.

We're going to try a Photo Scavenger Hunt for the first time. The rules are extremely important, so I am going to post them first.

A bit of a twist this month, folks: Our judge, Suzanne Kreiter, liked four of your Loving Portraits photos so much that she asked if we could award a prize to the 4th place finisher in addition to the usual Top 3. As I think you all know by now, I'm pretty easy about these things. Besides, what's another 25 bucks?

So here are her Top 4 choices, followed by a link to a full-screen gallery featuring those 4 as well as the other 6 Honorable Mentions.

In judging February's "Loving Portraits" contest, Globe staff photographer Suzanne Kreiter said she was "very impressed by the depth of the interpretation of portraits of love. There are many truly successful portraits that scream love and devotion.

Among the more than 160 photos entered in our February contest are many really lovely -- and loving -- portraits. Shooting portraits isn't easy, but between the tips links I provided in the original solicitation and Suzanne Kreiter's comments as she judges your images, I hope the February contest helped you improve your skill in that genre.

I'm very happy to announce that the judge for our February contest, with the theme "Loving Portraits", is Globe staff photographer Suzanne Kreiter.

We announced this theme last month, but now it's time to provide the details.

FIRST PLACE - $100

"This is a photographer who's not afraid to get wet!" judge Stan Grossfeld of the Globe Photo Staff said of the First Place finisher in our February "Black & White" contest. "This photo has great energy and feeling, and uses light very well. It's a beautiful composition, very clean, slightly off-center, with good highlights and shadows and a great full water splash. I can tell the photographer used a wide-angle lens, crouched down, leaned forward, and took one for the team. A high shutter speed was used to freeze every droplet. The fact that you can't see most of the diver is interesting ... sometimes what you don't see makes a photo more alluring. I'm sitting here on a gloomy winter day in Boston, and this photo transports me to where I really want to be!"

SECOND PLACE - $50

"This photographer recognized that when you have a high-contrast composition, you don't need midtones," Stan said during his judging session. "This photo makes a statement with just light and shadow. I know I said before that good black and white photos need black blacks, strong highlights, and midtones throughout, but all rules are made to be broken. A lot of photographers would have moved in and just shot the quartet of horses. This photographer recognized the conflict between man and nature, the clash of two cultures. Without the power lines, it could be a scene from the 11th century. The power lines add an almost spider web effect, and in some ways, the horses seem penned in by man. I would have tried to even out the sky and eliminate the lighter spot in the upper left corner, because light areas draw your eye. But that's a minor point; this is a great photo that makes a statement."

THIRD PLACE - $25

"I just love the composition here -- it's very, very strong," Stan said about the Third Place winner. "And it's a beautiful print, with black blacks, detail in the highlights, and great tones. Not one part of the frame is unused -- there is so much to look at here. This photographer made good decisions about framing. If the photographer had pulled back, the photo may have included too much of the railings and not been so dramatic; closer, and you would have lost the scope, the fact that this is a four-story building. I would have waited even a couple of hours for someone to come up the stairs and catch them up against the white wall on the left one floor down to give the photo some scale, but maybe that wasn't possible. It doesn't matter; this photo still is very eye-catching. Congratulations!"

To see all of the winning photos, visit this full-page gallery.

OK, folks -- here's the Final 50 for February. Look these over and choose your favorites. We'll post the Voting Machine later this evening.

Stan Grossfeld sent these thoughts after he narrowed the field of 400+ photos to these Final 50:

The Globe's Stan Grossfeld just finished choosing the Final Fifty for the February contest; we'll build the Voting Machine on Monday and open voting as soon as possible. Stay tuned.

OK, I've finished adding all the eligible contest entries to these four galleries. If you don't see your photo, it may because you entered more than one photo, which is against the rules, or your photo was either full color or had too much color in it to qualify for a black & white contest. Or perhaps your photo showed up in Flickr's Search after I had gone through all the photos, in which case I'll add it if you tell me about it.

If you have any questions, just email raw@boston.com.

Try the Full Screen link to see the photos at a large size.

And now it's on to a third gallery ...

Remember to try the Full Screen link to see the photos at a large size.

Time for a second gallery so that the first one doesn't crash everybody's browsers...

As always, use the Full Screen link to see the photos at a large size.

So many entries that I'll have to split it into at least two galleries, and perhaps three. If you haven't entered the February Black & White contest yet, read more about it here. The deadline to upload your photos to Flickr is midnight this Saturday, the 28th. And if you want to size up the competition or make sure your tagged photo has made it into Flickr's Search, check the entries on this Flickr page, filtered by the contest tags. As always, if you need help, just email me at raw@boston.com.

Use the "Full-screen" link on this gallery to get the best view of the photos:

OK, folks, I'll start the February contest gallery today, as soon as I get out of a 10 a.m. meeting and post some exhibit info. There are a TON of entries, and some really terrific compositions.

Should you set your camera to shoot in black & white, or should you shoot in color and convert later?

Is high-contrast lighting, which can wash out colors, better for B&W shots?

And without color to create drama or attract the eye to an element of your photo, how do you retrain yourself to focus more intently than usual on shapes or texture or patterns?

All questions that I know you'll answer with some great photos in black and white, the theme you chose for February. The deadline is midnight Feb. 28. Here's how to enter.

It's never too early, and now that we're running ahead of schedule with the January contest, might as well think about a theme for February. But don't forget to enter the December contest, with the theme 'Tis the Season; the January contest, for pictures that illustrate Cold, is also open for submissions.