You’ve seen incredible winning images from worldwide photo contests, and you wonder how yours might fare against others in a competition.
If you have a striking image that evokes emotion and meets the contest criteria, it’s always worth entering it into legitimate contests. Let’s look at how to exclude contests that might be considered questionable.
I’ve noticed that some contests are more objective than others. Questions are raised when contests aren’t transparent about their judging.
While I won’t name names, here are some things to watch for when you enter contests. With this in mind, you might understand why your photo wasn’t chosen, and how that may NOT be a reflection of your skill or the quality of your photo.
Fundraising contests: Some contests are run to raise funds for NGOs, charities, or kickstarter-type projects. If you notice that the historical “winners” are always the same few people and determine that they are friends with the contest operator, this might not be a contest into which you want to invest money. If it’s a cause in which you believe, go ahead and pay the entry fee, or donate directly.
Free contests: Nothing in the world is really “free.” Free contests have an agenda. It’s up to you to determine why they want so many photos. Is there a clause in the rules that states they can use your image for their own promotion, with or without credit to you, without payment? Do you want to give away your work for someone else’s success? Who’s doing the judging–the owner of the company? Who are the past winners? Are they past contractors (to get around the “no employees may enter” clause) that can be promoted as “winners” to promote the company in some way?
Paid contests: Many contests have fair entry fees and blind judging by professional photographers. A question arises, however, if those judges offer classes on how to win photo contests. Do they exclude themselves when they see a student’s image? Do judges exclude themselves if they see a friend’s image? What about past judges who have the inside scoop on what a particular contest looks for in an awarded photo–are they allowed to enter the contest with that advantage? It’s OK to reach out to the contest organizers and ask questions if these circumstances arise.
Judges are human and have human preferences, despite being charged with being objective when judging. One judge may love bears and scores all bear photos higher than other photos of better quality. One may hate spiders and score your incredible, unique macro shot lower, despite your technical brilliance and clear narrative. In one contest, photos of animals shaking off water seem to win a disproportionate number of times; in another, photos made by camera traps are always the winners. Do your research on the judges, learn about their own photographic style, and decide it your photo would do well before their eyes.
There’s a wonderful resource, created by an acquaintance of mine, that has organized almost every wildlife contest available. His website shows the opening and closing dates of contests, criteria to enter, and other valuable information. He has been building including of the winners of past years and a scoring system for photos: https://www.naturephotocontests.info It’s a good way to investigate contests to determine where your photo might have the best chance of being recognized.
Always remember, whether or not you win or place, the decision is based on someone’s OPINION, not fact, unless your photo is blurry, flat, and actually terrible, but I know you won’t enter those, will you? Don’t ever let someone you’ve never met and who wouldn’t know you in a room of two people determine whether or not you respect your own work. I have had photos not make the first cut in one contest, and win in another. Never take contest decisions personally, because the winners are based on subjective criteria, no matter how objective the judges strive to be.