What separates the professional photographer from the knowledgeable amateur photographer? Money. The professional photographer earns a living by doing what they love to do. The professional photographer and the amateur photographer have a lot in common. One of the biggest common denominators is that they both like to have their work recognized and appreciated by others. For the professional photographer that recognition and appreciation comes from having many satisfied customers who recommend him or her to others. For the amateur photographer that recognition and appreciation comes from sharing their pictures with family and friends. It also comes from having their pictures posted to photography forums where they receive positive votes and comments from their peers. For the amateur photographer the greatest recognition comes from entering and winning photo contests. So, why are so many amateur photographers hesitant to enter contests or quit after only entering one or two contests?
I asked many of the amateur photographers that I’ve known for years and the consensus was that contests were a waste of money. Most photo contests, like writing contests, have an entry fee attached. There’s a good reason for that; those entrance fees go towards help defraying the cost of the cash award or the physical prize. I understood their frustrations because the competition is great and it takes more than just entering a great photo to win these contests, you need to know a few dos and don’ts about entering the photo(s).
Follow the rules for the contest. Contest rules are just as important for the amateur photographer hoping to win the contest as writer’s guidelines are to the author hoping to have his or her piece accepted by an editor for publication. You must follow the rules or your entry may go from the photo editor’s hands to his or her wastepaper basket. A few of the rules common to all photo competitions are
1. Image size limits
2. Number of photos entered
3. Entry photo file format
4. Entry date (there’s a deadline that must be met), and
5. Model release forms signed by the person or persons in the photo(s) or signed by a parent or guardian if the person(s) are under eighteen.
Keep focused on the contests theme. Every photography contest has a theme that the photos submitted must fall in. Some themes may be subjective, like sad, happy, funny, joyful, etc. some themes may be concrete, like children, pets, zoo animals, portraits, birds, water, cityscapes, landscapes, etc. the important thing to remember here is that the photo must be on the theme or it will be rejected out of hand.
The image must be clearly focused. There are exceptions to this rule i.e. a deliberate soft focused portrait, but as a rule, your subject should be in perfect focus. Badly focused entries will be rejected out of hand just as entries that don’t fir the contest theme are. With photo contests, technical excellence is just as important as the subject matter.
Picture size, bigger is better. Bigger is better as long as the pictures don’t exceed the maximum size as given in the contest rules. If the rules give the maximum size as 8X10, submit 8X10 and not 4X6 or 5X7 photos. On the other hand, if the rules state 8X10, don’t submit 12X14 prints.
Do your homework before shooting any pictures for the contest. Many contest sites will provide you with a link to a page where you can view winning photographs from previous contests. Study those past winners carefully to find out what the judges are looking for in a winning entry. If there isn’t a link to past winners, Google the judges to find out as much as you can about them. If they’re professional photographers the odds are that they will have a business web site where you can go to study the kind of photography that they do.
From time to time, I will be listing contests that I feel you might be interested in on the Photography Q&A Page, so keep an eye out for those if you want to enter and win some worthwhile contest.
