I entered a comp in Aus with Canon and we were given 5 items to photograph. All items were the same for everyone and only 2500 were allowed to enter. There were a box with different smaller boxes inside, a blue pc of cellophane, a pc of chalk, a yellow dot and a red balloon.
You can find the site with the gallery here All of my photos are about 7 - 8th picture in from the front. There is a blurb on each one of them if you click on the photo.
There are so many great pictures I doubt very much if I'll get anywhere! There are 10 chosen by the judges in each category. Then from there you're on your own with public voting!
I'll share my favourite of the 5 I took. Bare in mind that I had to take my photos just after I'd had shoulder and hip surgery (within a few weeks of each other!) so I was limited as to what I could do, let alone what I was capable of doing!! LOL
My others are in my flickr but you will need to be my friend to view them. http://www.flickr.com/photos/85476081@N00/