The Art of Winning Photography Competitions

The Art of Winning Photography Competitions

Doing this blog entry as a friend of mine told me to share the experience after winning a couple of Photography Awards in Europe.

Personally , I do not feel that I am good enough yet or am I around long enough to comment on this matter…… so this is more like a fun piece that will hopefully improve the chances of the photographers reading this. Entering competitions might seem like trying to win the lottery but the rewards can be far greater than the actual physical prize. Here’s what to look out for:

1)   Knowing the Competition

I am a big supporter of doing research.  It pays to know what the competition is about. Research past winners and judges to know what the contest is about.  Some photographers tend to overdo this and send in replicas of past award winners but do realize that judges tend to be different year to year so that there is no prejudice over a certain style.

2)   Reading the brief and understanding the requirements

There are often many categories or genres in any given competition.

It’s good to know what are the expectations and it would narrow down the scope of how to go about creating your entry. It would be a great pity to see a well taken photo entered in the wrong category.

3)   Creativity

It always helps to have a fresh perception of how things should be done.  Judges tend to favor entries that are different especially from those available in the industry. General attributes of a winning photo are as followed: Ability to create Impact, Technical Ability, good composition , have an interesting subject matter and creating an atmosphere. There is always the argument of Technical Competence Vs Emotional Impact and the judges are normally the ones that decide but if one can marry them both, your chances are considerably higher.

4)   Entry Fees and Rights

The nominal fees of 10 to 20 Pounds per entry are acceptable ….. at least to me. Any more than that shows that the organizers might be more interested in generating revenue than recognizing the works of the photographers. Do read  the fine print and understand how it works in terms of ownership. Some contests will claim all rights to reproduce the work for their benefit, even those that do not win. The photographer should maintain full rights instead .

5)   Your purpose for entering the competition : Prize, Recognition and Publicity

Some contests have wonderful cash or photography related prizes but that should not be what you should look for. Recognition and Publicity is equally important as well. The 2 awards that I have won have exhibited or are published in the UK, Belgium , Italy, Poland , Germany and China. This is an opportunity for you and your work to be seen and should be top priority as it may gain your opportunities to get work overseas in future. Photo contests are an excellent PR and Marketing tool and can be the extra push the client needs to see to give you the job, but at the end of the day, one must still deliver results as the recognition from a top photography organization can only get you so far.

6)   The Mentality of Entering Contests

Do not fall into the habit of entering all the competitions you stumble across. Know your strengths and enter those that you feel you have a good chance of doing well.  I enter to see how I would fare against the people in the industry and use it as a way to push my limits in order to improve.

I understand that there are photographers who are all-rounders but there should be a few specific genres you are better at or more interested in. There are entry fees involved……. And if you are on a budget like me, it’s good to know what to enter.

At the end of the day, you cannot win them all. I have entered in numerous contests of which I did not do well in many …….  It’s good to have people acknowledge your work but it is also possible to feel depressed when you do not do well. Do spring back fast and don’t let it affect you too much.

That’s all for now…… do let me know if you feel there are other components that you feel are crucial . Will be more than happy to add it to the list.