In January I won Professional Photographers of America International Print Competition. Started with 1,600 entries whittled down to 1, I won the Diamond Award for my category and the Grand Imaging Award for the whole thing. I bought home two trophies and $11.000. USD. I am still overwhelmed and humbled that my simple black and white image beat out some of the best photographers in the industry. I just hope that my win inspires others to try competition, you just never know where it will lead.
How does it inspire anyone, you have a 1599 chance to lose? You are likely to lose. Quality doesn't mean anything if you all are trying and if you aren't then why aren't you trying? It's not the winning , it's the striving that is important (for future wins?) - or so the main message of this vid is. If you have lower expectations then you will be happy. If you enter more competitions will your chances go up or not?
@@boheem3451 When I entered this image I didn't expect it to win, I wanted to see if it could compete with other images, 1600 photos entered, 500 made the cut then they were broken into 16 categories 32 in each category . I made the round of 32 if I didn't make it out of that round I would have received a bronze medal, which I would have been perfectly happy with, but it went a lot further than I expected. I knew it was a good image, it was a surprise to me that it beat out all the others.I am relatively new to print competition, I have had some images win awards and had some crash and burn in competition, I was told this image won because it looked like a real photograph I didn't use any photoshop on it. I'm just an average photographer no fame or big name, but I hope to inspire others to not fear print competition like I did and give it a try, just put in your best image and stand behind it. It doesn't matter if you win or lose, I've been on both sides, but if you don't try how will you ever know.
@@boheem3451Its true that 1599 will lose, but the point I took is that our humble non-professional imagery *can* win against "some of the best photographers in the industry". A person who chooses to focus on the negative side of things,is unlikely to take a chance on their own success.
I recently submitted my image into a juried art show at a local art gallery, and it was chosen. I don’t care if I win a prize. Just having my photograph hanging on a gallery wall is gratifying enough. Looking at the other entries gave me the inspiration and motivation to step up my game and do better. This video came out at the right time! Thank you.
I enter competitions with absolutely no success but I enjoy it. It causes me to examine my own work critically. It also makes me look very carefully at the work of others especially the winning entries. Often I am blown away with the quality of the work but occasionally I am mystified by the judges' choices. One recent example was an image which was almost a dead ringer for one of mine but technically inferior. The point is that judges are fallible and their minds sometimes work in mysterious ways. It is best to approach contests solely with the aim of improving your own practice realising that personal improvement is the only real benefit, not prizes.
Took the plunge and entered this Hasselblad competition. I know my images are strong, but when dealing with judges personal tastes, your photos might not get the WOW reaction. Anyway, no pressure -LOL- just a friendly bunch of folks showing off what they think are their great photos...from all over the world.
I’ve gotten quite a few press association photo awards as well as a few others photo contests. I have never in my life made a photograph with the motivation being to win awards. I do it because I enjoy it. Occasionally I get something worth keeping.
I get a kick out of our state fair competitions. Average pics/snaps with blue ribbons & outstanding photographs with no ribbons. Still, fun to look at & study.
Thank you for your thoughtful perspective. It seems that competition is a tool that you can use to give yourself focus and stretch yourself. It can also provide an opportunity to receive constructive criticism from others. However, it is a double-edged sword that can cut against you if you become too invested in the prize, if you try to shape your work to please the judges, or if you accept criticism or advice that steers you away from your vision. One thing that seems to get lost - competitions also benefit regular people by giving us the opportunity to view photographic art that would otherwise have remained hidden from public view or never created at all.
Hi Alex Really enjoying your recent videos and in particular thought you nailed it regarding competitions and the benefit to the entrant. Have judged club competitions for the last 15 years. A t the end of the day there is only one winner. Participants need to understand the benefits of entering competitions beyond the joy of winning Bob
Hi Alex great content. I was in a camera club for a number of years and I really valued the competition side of the club. This gave me skills in improving my work. I love how you spoke about competitions giving you purpose and focus. I definitely agreed sometimes photography can be an exercise of just showing people your latest work on social media. If you real focus on your work for a comp then that can be very rewarding and great for ones well-being. Ace video great topic cheers Alex.
I routinely enter call for entries to group exhibits (including photo galleries that I am a member of) and have an impressive resume of successful ones. My work as been seen and judged by a lot of outside curators. It's great to have one's work acknowledged by folks in the industry. The only disappointment is that none of this has resulted in additional/follow-on opportunities.
I guess one question I have is whether the benefits you highlight of entering competitions can be gained without having to go to the expense of entering them. Surely we can polish our work doing the best that we can without entering the competition and subjecting it to someone else's subjective judgment. A second question concerns the downsides of not winning. What does it do to us to "fail". Will it do more damage to our creative spirit? A third question I have is what counts as "progressing" or "improving"? Is it something that can be gauged by competitions? (Okay, I have *too* many questions.)
Hi Alex, i liked this topic it's one we don't hear about much. I like entering photo competitions but what i would like to see is to get some feedback about the photo that i entered. Thanks. 😊
I'm at my computer now, watching this video on the right monitor and working on my photos heading into a local-ish juried show on the left. Why do I enter? Similar to as to why I play in a band . . . making it through to the gallery stage is a lot like performing. Additionally, I like the challenge (although I know picking art is very subjective even for the jurists). Thirdly, it is great to see the other works and study these pieces. When your work is on the wall with other works you can really compare and contast (to learn and not bitch or gloat). A good learning opportunity. Oh yeah, and the exposure doesn't hurt.
I belong to an online photographic competition community called Photocrowd. It is full of competitions where you upload images into subject based competitions and the images are then judged/rated by the other entrants in that competition. You can also create your own competitions which are either rated just by other entrants or both entrants and yourself. Each image once rated is given a points value which when added up create a photographer league. I see it more as a bit of fun just to gauge how I see myself against others and I currently sit at 794 place out of 17,340 and have won four competitions. It's worth looking at in my opinion as there really is no effort on your part to enter. (no entering prints etc) 🙂
Never been in a club. Never even put a picture in at the state fair. Never show very many of my pictures even to my family. I wouldn't even know where to start.... but I still take the cameras out to take pictures. Just something else for the kids to throw away in a few years.
As a Camera Club judge, Alex, here in Australia, I found your talk extremely interesting. Many of the images I see are of the standard of the examples you put up. I encourage the makers to enter national and international comps. We are lucky to receive training in all aspects and genres that will come out way as judges. Break rules, not every images has to be sharp, aesthetics, art appreciation and so on. The best advice I give is have fun, challenge yourself to the definition, not oh, this one will do, if you like it, would you print it and proudly put it up on your wall at home? If it passes your pub test, go for it. Chances are you will do well and that's a bonus, maybe you don't, Take a positive viewpoint as to the suggestions the judge makes on improvement, you can disagree, that's fine. Regardless of level, one can always learn. I class myself as a good photographer, do ok in comps sometimes, but I believe I can teach the art better. I need to pay attention to myself more!
I enjoy entering competitions. It gives me the opportunity to appraise my work critically. When the competition charges 50+ Euro for the privilege of entering I pass.Some competitions are just a cash cow for the organisers.They profit with thousands and provide zero feedback.It's a lucrative business for them. Regards.
Like many, I’m in a local photography club, and…..have entered a few comps, until one particular ‘judge’ decided to berate one of my favourite images of a section of the Taj Mahal. Along the lines of ‘you’re never going to be a documentary photographer’. Ouch! So from there I’ve only entered into the What members have been shooting this month section. No judging no commentary etc. BUT you’re right, ignore the dickheads, and focus on an area of interest and improve the same. Thankyou! Needed that inspiration mate! ‘
Beside the idea of focusing on something to improve one's skill, I'm just wondering, looking at the Hassy Awards you show us, how many of those images will be part of the history of photography? When one looks at this history of photography, how many of them would have won the competition ? Some, for sure, but no so manhy I guess. From what I see on those images, many of them are kind of "commerciel like" images with no real meaningful content, or the meanigful content is less visible than the technical skill, it takes a backseat. I just finished Rothko's book, The Artist's reality. In this book Rothko says that art is the talent to suggest a general concept out of a perticular situation. Which is quiet close of what you say when you present us great photographers. Usually images that win such competitions are spectacular images, images that need lots of technical skills. But is it enough to make a piece of art? If one focuses too much on the tedchnical aspect of photography, aren't we missing the point? Not saying that one does not have to work on one's technics. This book of Rothko is very interesting, he says that all artists have flaws, bad skills on certain subjects. The first period of Rothko isn't very intersting, he was obviously not very good in drawing, but accepting that weakness gave him the opportunity to do the unique masterpieces he did. Work is surely one of the keypoints of competence, but it will never replace the creativity, the sight on the world, etc. I personaly think that the best competition you can do is against yourself. Decide your own standards and try to reach them. No matter what others do or think.
I cannot take the images required to win a Camera Club comp, third, fourth no worries, its just my photography is different and the time I did try to compete I totally lost my way, lost my own flow, took two years to get it back. never do that again.
There is an extant argument for Banal Photography as a distinct genre. Look at Eggleston's work. Some would argue that the significance lies in "body of work' where vision and intent take shape and become discernable to the viewer...
Photography has always been a real passion, but I've never entered competitions because I've felt my photos were never "good enough"-my creative talent lies more with pen to paper. I fear the day that AI photos win prestigious awards.
Most of them just want your money. say 20 dollars per entry with 1,000 entries and they bank 20,000 while the winner may get 2500 and maybe a couple of photo's in a magazine. I belonged to this one photo group and submitted many photo's and never got high enough in the rankings to amount to anything. Come to find out, they based their rankings on how much you paid for your ranking.
Quite funny talking about club competitions, look at the judges work, if it's not as good as your own don't enter. As for the Hasselblad masters what can I say, I don't care if Marek Wurfl uses a Hasselblad or not those portraits were, dull, boring, lifeless and soulless and I checked his website and the pattern continues, it's like he has bored them to death.
In January I won Professional Photographers of America International Print Competition. Started with 1,600 entries whittled down to 1, I won the Diamond Award for my category and the Grand Imaging Award for the whole thing. I bought home two trophies and $11.000. USD. I am still overwhelmed and humbled that my simple black and white image beat out some of the best photographers in the industry. I just hope that my win inspires others to try competition, you just never know where it will lead.
How does it inspire anyone, you have a 1599 chance to lose? You are likely to lose. Quality doesn't mean anything if you all are trying and if you aren't then why aren't you trying? It's not the winning , it's the striving that is important (for future wins?) - or so the main message of this vid is. If you have lower expectations then you will be happy. If you enter more competitions will your chances go up or not?
@@boheem3451 When I entered this image I didn't expect it to win, I wanted to see if it could compete with other images, 1600 photos entered, 500 made the cut then they were broken into 16 categories 32 in each category . I made the round of 32 if I didn't make it out of that round I would have received a bronze medal, which I would have been perfectly happy with, but it went a lot further than I expected. I knew it was a good image, it was a surprise to me that it beat out all the others.I am relatively new to print competition, I have had some images win awards and had some crash and burn in competition, I was told this image won because it looked like a real photograph I didn't use any photoshop on it. I'm just an average photographer no fame or big name, but I hope to inspire others to not fear print competition like I did and give it a try, just put in your best image and stand behind it. It doesn't matter if you win or lose, I've been on both sides, but if you don't try how will you ever know.
@@boheem3451Its true that 1599 will lose, but the point I took is that our humble non-professional imagery *can* win against "some of the best photographers in the industry".
A person who chooses to focus on the negative side of things,is unlikely to take a chance on their own success.
I recently submitted my image into a juried art show at a local art gallery, and it was chosen. I don’t care if I win a prize. Just having my photograph hanging on a gallery wall is gratifying enough. Looking at the other entries gave me the inspiration and motivation to step up my game and do better. This video came out at the right time! Thank you.
I enter competitions with absolutely no success but I enjoy it. It causes me to examine my own work critically. It also makes me look very carefully at the work of others especially the winning entries. Often I am blown away with the quality of the work but occasionally I am mystified by the judges' choices. One recent example was an image which was almost a dead ringer for one of mine but technically inferior. The point is that judges are fallible and their minds sometimes work in mysterious ways. It is best to approach contests solely with the aim of improving your own practice realising that personal improvement is the only real benefit, not prizes.
Took the plunge and entered this Hasselblad competition. I know my images are strong, but when dealing with judges personal tastes, your photos might not get the WOW reaction. Anyway, no pressure -LOL- just a friendly bunch of folks showing off what they think are their great photos...from all over the world.
I’ve gotten quite a few press association photo awards as well as a few others photo contests. I have never in my life made a photograph with the motivation being to win awards. I do it because I enjoy it. Occasionally I get something worth keeping.
I get a kick out of our state fair competitions. Average pics/snaps with blue ribbons & outstanding photographs with no ribbons. Still, fun to look at & study.
Thank you for your thoughtful perspective. It seems that competition is a tool that you can use to give yourself focus and stretch yourself. It can also provide an opportunity to receive constructive criticism from others. However, it is a double-edged sword that can cut against you if you become too invested in the prize, if you try to shape your work to please the judges, or if you accept criticism or advice that steers you away from your vision. One thing that seems to get lost - competitions also benefit regular people by giving us the opportunity to view photographic art that would otherwise have remained hidden from public view or never created at all.
Like how the journey towards the competition is what it's about. Thanks
In photo competitions, it matters less that you like a photograph, and more whether you agree with the judges
I stay away from competing, but bravo to anyone who has.
Hi Alex
Really enjoying your recent videos and in particular thought you nailed it regarding competitions and the benefit to the entrant. Have judged club competitions for the last 15 years. A t the end of the day there is only one winner. Participants need to understand the benefits of entering competitions beyond the joy of winning
Bob
Hi Alex great content. I was in a camera club for a number of years and I really valued the competition side of the club. This gave me skills in improving my work. I love how you spoke about competitions giving you purpose and focus. I definitely agreed sometimes photography can be an exercise of just showing people your latest work on social media. If you real focus on your work for a comp then that can be very rewarding and great for ones well-being. Ace video great topic cheers Alex.
I routinely enter call for entries to group exhibits (including photo galleries that I am a member of) and have an impressive resume of successful ones. My work as been seen and judged by a lot of outside curators. It's great to have one's work acknowledged by folks in the industry. The only disappointment is that none of this has resulted in additional/follow-on opportunities.
I guess one question I have is whether the benefits you highlight of entering competitions can be gained without having to go to the expense of entering them. Surely we can polish our work doing the best that we can without entering the competition and subjecting it to someone else's subjective judgment. A second question concerns the downsides of not winning. What does it do to us to "fail". Will it do more damage to our creative spirit? A third question I have is what counts as "progressing" or "improving"? Is it something that can be gauged by competitions? (Okay, I have *too* many questions.)
Hi Alex, i liked this topic it's one we don't hear about much. I like entering photo competitions but what i would like to see is to get some feedback about the photo that i entered. Thanks. 😊
Wonderful thoughts .. Thank you so much.
I just submitted mines! The ones I took today
I'm at my computer now, watching this video on the right monitor and working on my photos heading into a local-ish juried show on the left. Why do I enter? Similar to as to why I play in a band . . . making it through to the gallery stage is a lot like performing. Additionally, I like the challenge (although I know picking art is very subjective even for the jurists). Thirdly, it is great to see the other works and study these pieces. When your work is on the wall with other works you can really compare and contast (to learn and not bitch or gloat). A good learning opportunity. Oh yeah, and the exposure doesn't hurt.
Great photographs👏😇
I belong to an online photographic competition community called Photocrowd. It is full of competitions where you upload images into subject based competitions and the images are then judged/rated by the other entrants in that competition. You can also create your own competitions which are either rated just by other entrants or both entrants and yourself. Each image once rated is given a points value which when added up create a photographer league. I see it more as a bit of fun just to gauge how I see myself against others and I currently sit at 794 place out of 17,340 and have won four competitions. It's worth looking at in my opinion as there really is no effort on your part to enter. (no entering prints etc) 🙂
But I do take a gander at contestants to get ideas I imagine there are actors from everywhere watching the Academy Awards. ❤❤
Never been in a club. Never even put a picture in at the state fair. Never show very many of my pictures even to my family. I wouldn't even know where to start.... but I still take the cameras out to take pictures. Just something else for the kids to throw away in a few years.
As a Camera Club judge, Alex, here in Australia, I found your talk extremely interesting. Many of the images I see are of the standard of the examples you put up. I encourage the makers to enter national and international comps. We are lucky to receive training in all aspects and genres that will come out way as judges. Break rules, not every images has to be sharp, aesthetics, art appreciation and so on. The best advice I give is have fun, challenge yourself to the definition, not oh, this one will do, if you like it, would you print it and proudly put it up on your wall at home? If it passes your pub test, go for it. Chances are you will do well and that's a bonus, maybe you don't, Take a positive viewpoint as to the suggestions the judge makes on improvement, you can disagree, that's fine. Regardless of level, one can always learn. I class myself as a good photographer, do ok in comps sometimes, but I believe I can teach the art better. I need to pay attention to myself more!
Thanks for sharing.
informative content
Hi! In the video you mentioned that you might help other photographers, perhaps, win in photography competitions. In what way you might help?
I enjoy entering competitions. It gives me the opportunity to appraise my work critically. When the competition charges 50+ Euro for the privilege of entering I pass.Some competitions are just a cash cow for the organisers.They profit with thousands and provide zero feedback.It's a lucrative business for them. Regards.
Like many, I’m in a local photography club, and…..have entered a few comps, until one particular ‘judge’ decided to berate one of my favourite images of a section of the Taj Mahal. Along the lines of ‘you’re never going to be a documentary photographer’. Ouch!
So from there I’ve only entered into the What members have been shooting this month section. No judging no commentary etc. BUT you’re right, ignore the dickheads, and focus on an area of interest and improve the same. Thankyou! Needed that inspiration mate!
‘
good points 🙂
How do you know about Horley? If you live near me, we're meeting up. Lekker ;)
Hi Alex, your "check out this video here" link did not appear. I would love to read more about your portrait of Karen.
Beside the idea of focusing on something to improve one's skill, I'm just wondering, looking at the Hassy Awards you show us, how many of those images will be part of the history of photography? When one looks at this history of photography, how many of them would have won the competition ? Some, for sure, but no so manhy I guess. From what I see on those images, many of them are kind of "commerciel like" images with no real meaningful content, or the meanigful content is less visible than the technical skill, it takes a backseat. I just finished Rothko's book, The Artist's reality. In this book Rothko says that art is the talent to suggest a general concept out of a perticular situation. Which is quiet close of what you say when you present us great photographers. Usually images that win such competitions are spectacular images, images that need lots of technical skills. But is it enough to make a piece of art? If one focuses too much on the tedchnical aspect of photography, aren't we missing the point? Not saying that one does not have to work on one's technics. This book of Rothko is very interesting, he says that all artists have flaws, bad skills on certain subjects. The first period of Rothko isn't very intersting, he was obviously not very good in drawing, but accepting that weakness gave him the opportunity to do the unique masterpieces he did. Work is surely one of the keypoints of competence, but it will never replace the creativity, the sight on the world, etc.
I personaly think that the best competition you can do is against yourself. Decide your own standards and try to reach them. No matter what others do or think.
Does one need a photo made with a Hasslblad to enter the Hasslblad competition?
No! Got it: Just having to go to the website for the answer.
I cannot take the images required to win a Camera Club comp, third, fourth no worries, its just my photography is different and the time I did try to compete I totally lost my way, lost my own flow, took two years to get it back. never do that again.
Entering regularly difernt onse, but I look at it as like buying a lottery ticket. Sometimes it's just pure luck.
Was that picture around 24 seconds just a Microsoft Paint sketch?
It would be interesting to know altogether how many competitions you actually entered..
Quite a few.
I dont have any good pictures to win any prize because I photograph the banal in a banal way
There is an extant argument for Banal Photography as a distinct genre. Look at Eggleston's work. Some would argue that the significance lies in "body of work' where vision and intent take shape and become discernable to the viewer...
Photography has always been a real passion, but I've never entered competitions because I've felt my photos were never "good enough"-my creative talent lies more with pen to paper. I fear the day that AI photos win prestigious awards.
I share how I do things but I compete in nothing, photography or my other hobby rifle shooting. I can't stand playing by anyone's rules.
Most of them just want your money. say 20 dollars per entry with 1,000 entries and they bank 20,000 while the winner may get 2500 and maybe a couple of photo's in a magazine. I belonged to this one photo group and submitted many photo's and never got high enough in the rankings to amount to anything. Come to find out, they based their rankings on how much you paid for your ranking.
Quite funny talking about club competitions, look at the judges work, if it's not as good as your own don't enter. As for the Hasselblad masters what can I say, I don't care if Marek Wurfl uses a Hasselblad or not those portraits were, dull, boring, lifeless and soulless and I checked his website and the pattern continues, it's like he has bored them to death.
I just submitted mines! The ones I took today