There are many photography competitions out there to enter, regardless of your preferred genre. But will they help you improve your photography skills, or are they just for bragging rights? This video looks at photography competitions and what can help progress your photography.
As photographers aim to improve their photography skills, they often encounter competitions where they can measure themselves and potentially gauge their progress as photographers. In a past Q&A video, William Patino was asked if photography competitions were beneficial, and he answered that he did not think they were for most photographers.
After receiving feedback on his reply, Patino revisits that answer to address it more completely. Patino advises that he doesn’t think competitions are right for everyone. Sometimes, it is simply the stage one is at in their photography journey that makes them prohibitive. For example, someone only a few months into their photography pursuit entering a competition against seasoned professionals can end up being more discouraging than beneficial.
Patino also discusses some things to watch out for in competitions and advises that if you do enter a competition, choose wisely. Choose competitions judged by photographers and judges whom you respect in your genre. Also, watch for image rights grabs where, by entering the competition, you give up rights to your image.
While Patino clarifies his answer from his previous Q&A and acknowledges that competitions can have their place, the other tips he provides in this video are very helpful. They range from who is the best judge of your photography to steps you can actually take to progress your photography.
As someone who has entered various photography competitions in the past, I found the perspective offered in the video interesting and agreed with many points. Competitions can help you, but you have to understand exactly what you are after when entering one.
The results of photo competitions are completely arbitrary and unpredictable. Similar to the results of generative fill in Photoshop. Anyone who is prepared to pay money for the “work” of a jury should be aware of this. Often you also cede your rights and agree to a license-free use of the submitted images for further purposes.
I would not recommend anyone to take part in a photo competition. In the rarest of cases, an individual explanation will be given for the evaluation received. This does not really improve the individual learning curve. However, you should definitely study the results. In very few cases has the winner delivered a good photograph. Rather, preference is given to those who have mastered image processing down to the last detail and, for example, create landscape photos like a painter. The results are digital images and have only a remote connection with photography.
Therefore the best placed are those who have mastered image editing - this is something you have to learn if you want to be at the top of a photo competition.
I agree competition results are unpredictable. Ultimately, I find the competition prep one of the more valuable parts. I find if I am prepping for a competition my eye is much more critical of my work than I would be otherwise. I am sure there are several that don't need a competition for that, but for me - a competition helps me look at and evaluate images with a different perspective. It sort of forces it for me.
Editing certainly has something to do with it - but I think as an end-to-end process that factors in and is part of the craftsmanship of photography. From capture to the final result. (You may mean overly edited or manipulated photos - in which case, I would typically avoid competitions that allow that type of editing).
Additionally, I think if a photographer does more than just enter and forget there are potential benefits. I know for comps I enter I try to watch the results just so I can see - what images did well, how did they differ from mine, where were my images weak compared to the winners. Was it my composition that was off or editing or what.
And finally, William does mention in the video to be careful of the rules of a competition before entering, i.e. to make sure you either A) aren't giving up rights or B) at least aware of what you are agreeing to before entering.
Thanks for the comment! I am always curious what other people think on topics such as this!
Come on Jeffrey... you can't be serious that you need a competition in order to take your photography more seriously. Can you? That seems to be about the most superficial reason I could think of for improving one's images. I can't imagine that your love of craft wouldn't serve as enough motivation by itself, without the need to have your photos judged by some self-proclaimed expert, who more often than not is a worse photographer than you.
Edward Weston reportedly said that about all art critics do is psychoanalyze themselves. I concur with that. There's simply too many opinions about photography to subject yourself to the whims of a competition. If you really want a measure of your improvement, find a person whose photography you really admire, and discuss your work in a manner relevant for your style and objectives. No prizes, no scores, no comparisons to another person's picture... just some quality feedback that might help you improve. And if you do study photography seriously, you will always be your own best judge.
I mean - I fall into the take photography pretty seriously category already - with or without competitions! ;)
And I feel for me it is the competition prep that is valuable, more so than winning or placing. Having a contest deadline forces me to slow down a bit and REALLY look at my photographs as a collective and more critical eye to cull and sort them and decide what I'm going to enter. They are sort of the forcing mechanism.
I do agree, there are other ways to get feedback and critique. I really only enter one or two comps a year. I also do something similar to what you describe and seek feedback from others in certain online communities. As you noted (and as Will notes in the video), seeking feedback from photographers who have work you admire is an important component as well.
Thanks for the comment!
Whatever works for you. I just can't shake the feeling that competitions feel sort of slimey, and there might be better ways to slow down and evaluate your work. Consider routinely making prints. In my opinion there is no better way to evaluate a picture than to decide if the image is worth printing. Wasting paper and ink on crappy pictures pretty much gets to the point. And a print often exposes flaws that weren't so obvious in viewing the image on a monitor. There is no better way to curate one's work than assembling a portfolio of prints, and at the end of the day you've got something tangible to hold in your hand and be proud of.
Yep - I do all of those things, too. Exhibitions, peer review, feedback communities, printing.
There are good competitions out there - certainly not all of them, and quite possibly not most of them - but there are some good ones that have a good crew of judges, typically winners are work that I respect and admire, etc.
You must have a lot of energy for all that! :-) I feel too old for so many focus points. Getting out with my camera seems like enough time and effort as it is.
In a world that has artificial intelligence to enhance images, most photography competitions are a waste of time. Yes, organizers can enforce rules and checks but that's not enough (unless you can go back in time and have to submit a Kodachrome slide). You can see so many images online that you easily tell they have been altered by A.I. Unfortunately many people's desire for recognition is so high they have no guilt digitally altering their photos via this process. It's a no thank you.
My favorite competition does a raw verification step. So if you make the initial cut, you get a follow-up request to upload the raw images for verification as their rules are very strict about AI and even heavy manipulation of the image.
I don't enter a lot of competitions - but I try to enter that one each year they've had it because they take the process and judging pretty seriously with checks and balances to protect against what you describe. (because I agree, the proliferation of AI being passed off as real is starting to get annoying!)