Serious competitions: Am I good enough?

[geoffsta]

I am asked a fair bit from people to enter local comps, but I don't. I do enter the comps on here, only because I can see the results of the votes.
By looking at the number of members that vote on my images, I can gauge how well I'm doing with my photography. Plus the people who are voting on my images, are people I respect and admire.
With club or other comps there is only a first, second and third place. They do not tell you why you didn't win, or whether your image is average, poor or reasonable. And it can be upsetting if you think that the image you entered is a real winner, and it doesn't even get a mention.

My 2 cents worth.

Geoff.

[Fantasyphoto]

Oh Xen, what have you started? I guess I now know the topic of conversation over dinner next Saturday night?

Your choice of restaurant, your choice of topic so I guess your buying the wine

[fillum]

I think the important thing is to pick the right comps, those that fit with where you see your photography heading. My feeling is that if you look at the award winners and think "wow, I wish I had produced that" or "I'd really like to try something like that", etc, it's probably the right comp for you. But if the general 'flavour' leaves you cold it might be better to enter your work elsewhere.


Cheers.

[dbax]

Ok questions you need to answer,
If you enter and don't win ( or get a place or an honourable mention) will you be crest fallen and give up ?
If you enter and win will you need to get a bigger hat and get every door in the house widened ?
If the answer to these is no, then have a go, nothing to loose.
If the answer to these is yes then you need to think long and hard about why you are entering.
recognition is good but its not the be all and end all.
Do I think your good enough? I'd be very happy to hang some of your images on my walls !
I'd be very happy to take images of equal quality!
Have a go but don't dwell one the results, it is after all subjective!

[Xenedis]

very early on in my time on this forum I pencilled you in as one of my personal faves, based on the images I'd seen. And looking at that link only confirms that. I personally love most of those shots

Thanks Geoff; that's also a big compliment.

But I also totally appreciate that me liking them is no indication at all of how you will do in competitions.

You're very right about that.

Because photography is only a hobby for me, the only "competition" experience I have had is on this forum. Getting no votes is never pleasing, especially when you actually rate your own image (which admittedly isn't always the case compared to what others offer), but I just enjoy putting them out there and seeing what happens anyway. I was stoked the other day to get 15 votes for one of my shots. Sure, I was miles off the pace and still under halfway, but it was still a good result for me.

That's always pleasing. Here the environment is somewhat relaxed, and if you can see the points, you'll have at least some idea of how you fared within the entries and the context of the potentially wide variety of votes.

Anyway, rambling aside. If I took photos as good as yours, I would certainly have a go. The fact that you and Dtoh have both had average experiences in comps only highlights to me how tough I'm sure they would be (as you both put up some amazing shots), but you can only have a shot and just see how you go.

Thanks again for your encouragement. After having stepped back from comps for a while, perhaps now is a time to give it another shot.

I was surprised to see that Dylan hasn't done all that well in comps. I expected him to have had a lot of experience and a lot of wins.

Still, it goes to show that a photographer's success is not measured by competition results, as there's so much variability in the competition arena, and there's so much more to photography in general.

In my limited time on this forum I had also picked you out as someone whose work I find particularly interesting. Some of your pictures I really like, others I don't connect to the subject matter but it's always worth having a look at what you've done both out of interest and to try and learn something to help me improve. Some people are more competitive than others and it sounds like you have a desire to do this. The reasons for and against have been well covered by you and other respondents but to me it sounds like deep down you want to give it a go and therefore should.

Thanks Cam.

While I'm not hugely competitive with photography, you are right in that I do want to give it a go and see if I can get somewhere in that arena.

I use to argue with the X-man in the photographic forums of Whirlpool in years gone by. It was the X-man's seascapes that got me back into photography and I had the pleasure of meeting the icon on my first AP meet. I witnessed the death of the X-man's first Canon 5D and I admire how that didn't hold him back. The camera was replaced with a newer version within a couple of hours.

I have seen the X-man take on HDR and portraits. What can I say but there would be few photos that the fellow cannot do well. Self-portraits would be about the only thing that I can think of.

You will do well in serious comps (unless they are rigged or you let the 'politics' gets you).

All the best.

If I didn't know you better I'd think you were trying to butter me up to pay for brunch on Sunday. :-)

What can I say but "wow"? I didn't realise my seascaping adventures inspired you to get into seascaping. And thankfully my misadventures haven't dissuaded you from pursuing it. It is rewarding to know that something I've done has been a source of inspiration for someone else. I sure don't consider myself inspirational.

However, apparently so powerful is my influence that you also lost a piece of equipment to the ocean. I would dare you to throw that Nikon into the water, but there are laws against pollution...

Thanks also for your encouragement. I'm perhaps in a better place now than I was last year, so entering some comps could be rewarding. I happened across one very recently, which I'm intending to enter. I've got something quite different, which I think could do well in that comp.

Re self-portraits, yes… I just cannot see myself going down that path. It's for the best. :-)

Oh Xen, what have you started? I guess I now know the topic of conversation over dinner next Saturday night?

Not necessarily, but I'm sure you'll voice your opinion. :-)

Your choice of restaurant, your choice of topic so I guess your buying the wine

With your credit card. 1990 Grange should go well with the meal.

I think the important thing is to pick the right comps, those that fit with where you see your photography heading. My feeling is that if you look at the award winners and think "wow, I wish I had produced that" or "I'd really like to try something like that", etc, it's probably the right comp for you. But if the general 'flavour' leaves you cold it might be better to enter your work elsewhere.

I see plenty of images that cause a "wow, I wish I'd shot that" reaction. It's the sort of thing that inspires me.

As I've indicated throughout this thread (and I again thank those who've encouraged me to give it a try), I am keen to give it another crack, with perhaps a better sense of direction and more positive view of the experience.

Photography needs to be a constant learning process. I don't want to 'peak' and then travel along a flat trajectory. If I enter comps that have an abundance of seriously good images, get to see what does well and what doesn't, and even perhaps gain feedback from judges, it could result in me taking my own image making to a higher level, and that cannot be a bad thing.

Sure, there will be disappointment, but it's nothing I haven't experienced, and I'm always in search for a 'wow-factor' image in spite of whatever happens with competitions.

[peterb666]

If I didn't know you better I'd think you were trying to butter me up to pay for brunch on Sunday. :-)

That's sounds like a good idea. Thanks.

What can I say but "wow"? I didn't realise my seascaping adventures inspired you to get into seascaping. And thankfully my misadventures haven't dissuaded you from pursuing it. It is rewarding to know that something I've done has been a source of inspiration for someone else. I sure don't consider myself inspirational.

I don't consider myself inspirational either but have received comments along that line for my rather inferior seascapes. Heck, I even had Christian fundamentalists steal my images and claim it to be the work of 'god'. How little do they know but I am the exact opposite - after all I seem to have induced them into stealing - my wicked work has been done.

However, apparently so powerful is my influence that you also lost a piece of equipment to the ocean. I would dare you to throw that Nikon into the water, but there are laws against pollution...

Hmm, my loss was far more modest, a $20 remote control sender vs a $3200 camera body. Drowning Canons is almost as much fun as bobbing for Apples. Let's keep religion out of this.

Thanks also for your encouragement. I'm perhaps in a better place now than I was last year, so entering some comps could be rewarding. I happened across one very recently, which I'm intending to enter. I've got something quite different, which I think could do well in that comp.

Go for it. Hint, don't refer to the judges as morons until after the event.

Re self-portraits, yes… I just cannot see myself going down that path. It's for the best. :-)

We seem to agree with each other far too often these days.

[Dwarak]

John,

I have never ever won any competitions but having said that I have not tied hard enough. I am entering APPA as a student and I think it will be a good start for me if I get a bronze or a silver. I guess we will have to just try..

[jasevk]

John,

I have never ever won any competitions but having said that I have not tied hard enough. I am entering APPA as a student and I think it will be a good start for me if I get a bronze or a silver. I guess we will have to just try..

Bronze?? You'll have to aim for silver, cos There's no bronze!!

[Dwarak]

Bronze?? You'll have to aim for silver, cos There's no bronze!!

Yes that's right I meant silver I think the score is 75 for that one.


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[jasevk]

Yes that's right I meant silver I think the score is 75 for that one.


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80-84 = silver
85-89 = silver with distinction
90-94 = gold
95+ = gold with distinction


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[FallingHorse]

Hi Xenedis - I don't know if this is helpful to your topic or not but I read (in a book about entering photography competitions) that if you believe strongly in an image, you should enter it - even if it doesn't do well i one comp it may do well in another. I guess this comes down to certain judges preferences for one type of image or another.

I am a bit like you - I stopped entering because I felt that my images weren't doing any good so why waste the effort of getting them printed, postage & entrance fees when I am competing in the open field against people that are far more experience than I am.... but

Recently I thought I would have another crack at it. I am usually happy to see that my images score reasonably well even if they don't get accepted. Well today I got news of my first acceptance and a couple others were only 1 and 2 points off the acceptance level. For me, I feel this is a great achievement because I am scoring better than I was 12 months ago when my images were scoring well under acceptance level. OK so I didn't 'win' anything other than a moral boost but on a personal level I can see a huge improvement. Only 99 points to go until I can apply for my Honours lol. At this rate I will be an old but happy woman

[Xenedis]

Hey Jodie.

Thanks for your input.

It looks like this dormant old thread became active again recently.

Since I posted it, I've well and truly said goodbye to any form of competition, and I never proceeded beyond the contemplation I posted at the time.

All the best in your endeavours in the competition scene.

[FallingHorse]

Lol - I didn't realise how old it was when I commented