Competitions, good thing or not?

[Kerrie]

I think ( therefore I am? ) about comps like this -

Any time I see ' restaurant of the year' or ' best of ...'. , my first reaction is " as voted by who?" ESP if it's a marketing message lol.

A judgement has been made on something, and as society , we immediately accept the judges decisions as gospel, without many thoughts , and regard the winner as number one, without question. Maybe his brother is on the committee? Anyone heard of politics? Lol. Not saying that happens here! Just speaking generally. And it's just one view.


Ok. Another view, Comps are great, if it inspires you to be Your best. If other people agree, you win, it feels good, you are recognized. If they don't, it still feels good ! cos you got to complete something You were happy with. And if you learn somethiRomney from the winners entrEllie the process, well even better. I don't like to lose comps.....So I don't. I get something positive from them all. Even if that something is, try again. That's something to look forward to.

As for AP comps? Sometimes I don't vote cos they are all so good, I can't decide. Or I get passionate about the one I picked, and BOOM, it doesn't win. Aarrgghhhh.


Im starting a new thread. What, for you, makes for an outstanding / really great photo? What do you like ?

For me......interesting, beautiful, different / unique wins every time.

Be proud of what you do. Win every time !

[outstar79]

For me, and in particular the competitions I've entered on this site and others are a learning curb for me. You do get an idea of what may appeal to your audience and other photographers be it professional, amateur or otherwise. I also look to those that won and get a greater understanding of how their compositions have worked for that particular picture, their use of shutter speed, sensitivity etc have worked for them.
Competitions are a way of seeing how you stack up against others in your chosen field and it's always good to get an idea of how well you do against others and search out possible ways to improve. Is it the be all and end all in photography - definitely shot. Subjective - yes. Enjoyable - absolutely!

[Shelley]

Interesting thread. Why do I enter competitions. I don't bird to put photos in comps, I bird because I love it and sometimes I enter comps, because it's a human weakness I have, lol, wanting others to like my birds.

Its more important to enjoy what you are doing and I agree it's subjective. I like to see my shots in exhibitions and people enjoying looking at them, that gives me pleasure.

[Arg]

I remember the The Simpsons episode where someone suggests to Bart he should run for class president, but Bart is totally disinterested. Then, half way through the show, the light goes on and Bart realises it's not an exam, it's a POPULARITY CONTEST.

From that moment on he's a ball of fire and utterly unstoppable, as a different set of skills and behaviours are needed and its right up Bart's alley.

The moral of the story was that elections are not like exams, by their nature, and are neither attractive to, nor won by, the best in class. Even though they can be heaps of fun. For some.

As they say in Dragon's Den, "For that reason, I'm out".

[Xenedis]

Photography competitions measure people's ability to compete in photography competitions.

They aren't by any means a measure of one's ability as a photographer.

The most talented phtographers I know, and whose work I admire, don't bother with competitions, unsurprisingly.

[Steve Axford]

Few top photographers bother with competitions. Why - because they are a lot of work, particularly the good comps, and there is little reward. But, they can be good practice and they can help to hone your skills. Just because you don't do well in them doesn't mean you aren't good, but if you consistently do well in them it probably means you are at a reasonable standard.

[Arg]

And the great thing about AP comps is that they are FREE, you learn WHAT PEOPLE LIKE, and they are full of EXCELLENT PHOTOS!

[Kym]

Photography competitions measure people's ability to compete in photography competitions.
They aren't by any means a measure of one's ability as a photographer.
The most talented phtographers I know, and whose work I admire, don't bother with competitions, unsurprisingly.

Few top photographers bother with competitions. Why - because they are a lot of work, particularly the good comps, and there is little reward. But, they can be good practice and they can help to hone your skills. Just because you don't do well in them doesn't mean you aren't good, but if you consistently do well in them it probably means you are at a reasonable standard.

And the great thing about AP comps is that they are FREE, you learn WHAT PEOPLE LIKE, and they are full of EXCELLENT PHOTOS!

Which is why competitions on AP are about fun and way forward for self improvement (ditto camera clubs etc.)

Not so much on AP, but there are people who are competition junkies, but here on AP if it is not fun why do it?

I was speaking with a relatively new member on the phone last night who made a few beginners finals and won a comp,
he has progressed from a complete noob to being a competent 'tog in about 6 months, (with a lot to still learn).
He entered a lot of comps in that time as well as posting images for CC.
This case is exactly what AP is about!

[Steve Axford]

Bout sums it up.

[knumbnutz]

I tend to get bitter and twisted when I don't do well in a comp. That's me though, I dont play well with others when the red flag drops.
It doesnt help when you are passionate about the photo you have entered.
There has been a lot of good feedback in the thread and Steve said be dispassionate with the photos you've entered and I understand why you say that, as well as send in one's that are popular, not necessarily ones you like.
But I think that is what is potentially right and wrong with comps too, is that they can be swayed one way or the other based on personal preferrences not what is say technically a good shot.
Perhaps on the other hand, judges should be less passionate about what they like and more on what is technically correct and then add in the wow factor. I dont know how that sounds but as an example, I start my voting based on how the entered photo relates to the comp title and then on the details of the photo and finally whether it really wows me.
That will rule out some greats photos that i dont feel are properly related to the comp.
Anyway, I think the comps here are run very well and often i see some stunning photos and think - dont bother they deserve to win and normally do.
I think along with good CC and education, you will become a good tog, great ones have the creative eye and inspiration that i will never have. It is a hobby for me and if i do well and have a couple of good photos here and there I am happy, to win a comp is a bonus.

[Kym]

I tend to get bitter and twisted when I don't do well in a comp. That's me though, I dont play well with others when the red flag drops.
It doesnt help when you are passionate about the photo you have entered.

Some thoughts on judging...

I was judge at one of the larger clubs here is SA a few weeks back.
(There were no less then 3 APS national judges who had entered images that night, crazy really how it made me feel)

At the end of the night one of the locals button holed me complaining about his score and my comments.
As a judge you have to have a thick skin and be true to your assessment of each image.
His image was good, but not outstanding and had a few minor tech defects so I gave it a 6.
He obviously had a different expectation.
Afterwards I spoke with a couple of the other judges and they thought I had it pretty spot on. Whew!

The funniest thing was I gave the image of the night to an entry by one of the APS national judges who
is also the SAPF judging co-ordinator.
I had no idea who's entry it was, but to me it was the outstanding image of the night.

Judging is subjective!! I think the more experienced one is the more you pick an image based on both impact
and technical merit. I'm not sure less experienced people factor the technical aspect as much as they should.
Impact should always be more than technical, but I find I discount small but obvious issues more than
I did a few years ago.

End rambling... Judging is another great way to learn.

[Steve Axford]

I tend to get bitter and twisted when I don't do well in a comp. That's me though, I dont play well with others when the red flag drops.
It doesnt help when you are passionate about the photo you have entered.
There has been a lot of good feedback in the thread and Steve said be dispassionate with the photos you've entered and I understand why you say that, as well as send in one's that are popular, not necessarily ones you like.
But I think that is what is potentially right and wrong with comps too, is that they can be swayed one way or the other based on personal preferrences not what is say technically a good shot.
Perhaps on the other hand, judges should be less passionate about what they like and more on what is technically correct and then add in the wow factor. I dont know how that sounds but as an example, I start my voting based on how the entered photo relates to the comp title and then on the details of the photo and finally whether it really wows me.


That will rule out some greats photos that i dont feel are properly related to the comp.
Anyway, I think the comps here are run very well and often i see some stunning photos and think - dont bother they deserve to win and normally do.
I think along with good CC and education, you will become a good tog, great ones have the creative eye and inspiration that i will never have. It is a hobby for me and if i do well and have a couple of good photos here and there I am happy, to win a comp is a bonus.

The trick is to accept competitions for what they are, which is popularity contests. This is not a bad thing, but it isn't perfect either. With the comps on AP, the voters have some photographic knowledge, so there will be some bias towards technically good photos, but it just a bias. You can easily get technically poor (well, less than perfect anyway) photos that win - or very good photos that win. You have to accept that landscapes will do better than street photography and portraits will do better than underwater. That is partly the the number of entrants in those fields and partly the voters preferences, but all judges have preferences. I always get a little miffed if I lose, but really it's very minor, and you recover quite quickly. Sometimes it means that your photo wasn't quite as good as you thought, sometimes it is just blind luck and sometimes it means that you entered the wrong photo. Try to honestly decide which one and move on.
Good luck for your next attempt.

[Xenedis]

It doesnt help when you are passionate about the photo you have entered.

I'm not sure how one can be anything but passionate about the images one enters into a competition.

The trick is to accept competitions for what they are, which is popularity contests.

Or measures of people's ability to do well (or otherwise) in competitions.

[Steve Axford]

I'm not sure how one can be anything but passionate about the images one enters into a competition.

Just don't enter your favourite photo. Enter your most popular photo - popular with the judges that is. That way you are more likely to win and less likely to be miffed by failure (it wasn't your favourite image anyway).

[knumbnutz]

I totally agree.

To the same point when you are first interested in photography, you get wow'ed by brilliant colors and then you overprocessed, then you had a shot at HDR because it wow'ed you for a short while...etc etc (i think i have seen a graph on this!)
After a while your sense of what is good, bad and brilliant becomes more astute and you are out shooting you can recognise a good photo and take it. You have honed the skill and any PP you do is a fine tune and not about trying to make something that is not.

The same can be said for judging.
I look at some of the major comps in Aus and I must say I am pretty disappointed. I see one of the mags that is done through AIPP and it is written by a photographer, full of his ads and his contributors and the entry fee comps are run and judged by him. On the surface I see this as a great business, but my sceptisism wins out here. I also see the contrived nature in all the AIPP awarded images. So ..they are not for me.
I must admit i am slack to go to another camera club meet after changing states but was quite impressed at the one I went to in Melbourne although I felt underaged there ! The quality of person and overall professionalism shown was exceptional and the night was worth it. I need to try again in QLD.
To be fair, the internet is a hard game, humour and sensitivity is not easily conveyed and sometimes comps are the way around this or sharing the photo with trusted fellow and passionate people like you find here, it is pretty well behaved compared to other sites.
I guess that why we are here !

Some thoughts on judging...

I was judge at one of the larger clubs here is SA a few weeks back.
(There were no less then 3 APS national judges who had entered images that night, crazy really how it made me feel)

At the end of the night one of the locals button holed me complaining about his score and my comments.
As a judge you have to have a thick skin and be true to your assessment of each image.
His image was good, but not outstanding and had a few minor tech defects so I gave it a 6.
He obviously had a different expectation.
Afterwards I spoke with a couple of the other judges and they thought I had it pretty spot on. Whew!

The funniest thing was I gave the image of the night to an entry by one of the APS national judges who
is also the SAPF judging co-ordinator.
I had no idea who's entry it was, but to me it was the outstanding image of the night.

Judging is subjective!! I think the more experienced one is the more you pick an image based on both impact
and technical merit. I'm not sure less experienced people factor the technical aspect as much as they should.
Impact should always be more than technical, but I find I discount small but obvious issues more than
I did a few years ago.

End rambling... Judging is another great way to learn.

[Xenedis]

Just don't enter your favourite photo. Enter your most popular photo - popular with the judges that is. That way you are more likely to win and less likely to be miffed by failure (it wasn't your favourite image anyway).

Y'see, that's game playing, and I've no interest in playing silly games to win competitions.

I'd prefer to be out photographing and creating great images. My photography is worth far more to me than the opinion of some judge.

[Xenedis]

I must admit i am slack to go to another camera club meet after changing states but was quite impressed at the one I went to in Melbourne although I felt underaged there !

What, you haven't turned 65 yet?

[Steve Axford]

Y'see, that's game playing, and I've no interest in playing silly games to win competitions.

I'd prefer to be out photographing and creating great images. My photography is worth far more to me than the opinion of some judge.

But you seem to be miffed that you don't win. You were very pleased to get a photo on a magazine cover, but that it just as much of a game. Anyway, life is a game. We play it to the best of our ability

[ricktas]

If you want to enter competitions, do so.
If you don't want to enter competitions, no one is forcing you to do so.

Each to their own, live and let live, and any other sayings that fit.

[NikonNellie]

I've never been in a camera club but I do like to enter the comps on AP - I use them as a personal challenge not as a challenge against other members. I have extended both my photographic and creative techniques when challenged with an unusual theme. It's not about the winning to me it's more about recognition by my peers that I have taken a good photo - It's not but more for me.