![]() These are some of the photography competitions I like and enter regularly. You might never win a competition but still be very successful as a photographer and get all the jobs you want… Photography competitions I like And like I said, not winning doesn’t mean your photo is bad. It’s a word I’ve used a lot when writing here but if you want something in life, you have to persistent. It might make the difference later on in the competition when they have to pick one out of dozens of great photos. Also, the caption is something you should think about carefully. Surely Belgium was there, right? NOPE! You can’t enter the “National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year” competition if you live in Belgium… Hard work down the drain.įile size, theme, what kind of editing is allowed? Don’t give the judges an opportunity to discard your photo. A list of countries where you had to live to enter. I went back to the long list of rules and there it was. After hours of work, when I was about to submit the images… I couldn’t select my country of residence. I started to select images and checked if they had a chance to win. Last year, I wanted to enter the “National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year” competition and I went over the rules really fast. Would your photo fit in the shortlists? It’s time to be honest with yourself because you don’t want to put a lot of work in entering a competition you have no chance of winning. Obvious, right? But even if you think that a competition is right for you, it’s smart to check the winners of previous years. Even if you win, it’s the wrong exposure for your photography. Simply put, don’t enter a landscape competition if you’re a street photographer. Besides entering a great photo, here’s what I try to do. The only thing you can do is making sure you have a better than average chance to win. Like I said, there are no tricks or tips to win a competition. ![]() Become the Photographer You Want to Be: My Story - Part 1 Entering a photography competition.You don’t need to win a photography competition to build a career-even though it does feel nice… -) It shouldn’t keep you from doing more important work and after you hit ‘submit’, forget about it! Don’t keep going back to check if there’s a shortlist already or if they picked a winner. When I come across a competition that I want to enter, I try to get it over with, fast. It doesn’t mean your photos are not good enough! A lot of times-if your work is good-it just meant you weren’t lucky enough to be picked by the judges. I would definitely recommend entering photography competitions but you have to know what to expect and don’t be discouraged if you enter a dozen competitions and you don’t win one. You have to force yourself to look at it with the eyes of somebody else and that way, you learn a lot about your photos. Getting exposure is not the most important reason. I like to enter photography competitions because it makes me look at my own work differently. Some are pretty expensive to enter and I try to avoid those because it feels even more like a lottery. It also seems like photography competitions are becoming an industry. That doesn’t mean I don’t enter competitions but just like Instagram and other social media, I try to make them a less important part of getting exposure. It’s nerve-racking and consumes precious time! Selecting one of your photos and being happy with your choice before you enter it. Researching what kind of photos they’re looking for. Yes, they’re great for getting exposure as a photographer if you win but on the other hand, it’s a lot of hard work to enter a competition. That's why I have mixed feelings about photography competitions and awards. Your Photos Don’t Have to Be Spectacular Mixed feelings.Studying the judges? Maybe, but do you know what kind of photo they will pick based on their own work? Maybe they like something completely different. Sure, you have a better chance if you pick the right photo for the right competition but most people who enter know that. So, in the end, it depends on the judges to pick a winner out of a bunch of photos that are equally great-even if you don’t win, it doesn’t mean your photo wasn’t good enough. ![]() The thing is, even if the photo you enter is great, it will be great together with dozens of other photos. I’m a hundred percent sure that if you’d show all those photos to different judges, the outcome would always be different. Do you think the photo picked as a winner out of-let’s say-100,000 is truly the absolute best one? Can’t be. ![]() Now, I can’t say how much your chance of winning depends on luck but I think it’s significant. In my opinion, a factor that people tend to forget or ignore is luck.
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