Damien Demolder
Tharg the Mighty
Reged: 22/08/2001
Posts: 1022
Loc: Essex born and badly-bred
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As we launch the new monthly forum competition we want to know why you enter photography competitions in general. Are you desperate to win, or do you just enjoy taking part? Does the prize make a difference to whether you bother? Maybe you never enter competitions.
Let us know what you think, and register your opinion in our new poll on the home page. Go here to vote.
Thanks
damien
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See my photographs at www.wordsonpictures.com
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Fen
BAD WOLF
Reged: 12/03/2002
Posts: 20929
Loc: Currently Unknown!
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I enter for the fun and the challenge in taking part.
- Can I produce a photo that will fit the subject?
- Can I produce one that the judges will like?
- Can I remember to post it in time? !!!
Of course, it'd be nice to win or be in the "didn't they do well" category 
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Fen .......... My Galleries - My Blog - My Flickr
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Seven..
...or maybe Eight
Reged: 03/02/2003
Posts: 5102
Loc: Havant, UK
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The only competitions I have seriously entered are my club comps because
A. it makes me print
B. makes me more critical and selective
C. I like to hear the judges comments, way to improve
D. it's exciting
Over this past season I have become more competitive, I guess because of the success I have had I want to stay 'up there'!
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Tanya(BSRIPN)
CastVision
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TheAlex
newbie
Reged: 05/01/2008
Posts: 4
Loc: Staffordshire, UK
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I haven't entered the AP one yet as I've only just joined the forum, but for others I enjoy the challenge of having something different to do every month. I like competitions that are rated/marked as it's interesting and useful to read feedback on your work from other people.
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APchris
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 06/05/2006
Posts: 1601
Loc: Lincolnshire
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I've only entered the forum competition and that has always been just for fun! 
There are prizes this year though  so that makes it a bit more serious but that won't stop me from submitting entries again this year (will I cope with the pressure!!!  )
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Chris
Better a bad day on the water than a good day at the office 
My Flickr sets
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fabs
Carpal \'Tunnel
Reged: 10/04/2007
Posts: 2880
Loc: Beds/Bucks
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Quote:
I've only entered the forum competition and that has always been just for fun!
Same here, but I'm seriously considering joining the local camera club so who knows for the future.
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Hotblack
Dead Horse Flogger
Reged: 07/03/2006
Posts: 7352
Loc: Upstairs in the spare room.
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I suppose I do enter to win. What's the point of entering a competition otherwise? There is also the element of taking part and showing others in the club, or here on the forum, my work which is enjoyable.
Certainly the prize for the Landscape Photographer of the Year Competition encouraged me to enter it. Seeing as I take lots of landscapes I thought I would give it a go. That's the only major competition I have entered so far but I am now considering others for the new year.
Edited by Hotblack (05/01/2008 17:49)
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digitravel
I aint got nuffin
Reged: 03/12/2002
Posts: 1131
Loc: south coast uk
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I enter because
1.. It gives you some indication of your standards against others (according to the particular judge(s))
2.. Gives you an incentive to improve in all areas, including PS and printing
3.. Its pretty exciting to enter (even more so to win or be placed)
4.. It makes you a fabulously wealthy, talented, well loved pillar of society..
well..... at least three of the above 
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Bettina
Kein Titel
Reged: 12/02/2004
Posts: 4104
Loc: London
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I enter to win. Heck, yes, of course. 
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Bettina
http://www.vibrantpictures.co.uk
Vibrant Pictures on Flickr
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HelenEdith
Reged: 05/04/2000
Posts: 126
Loc: S.E.London
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If the prize is something I want, it's definitely an incentive to enter. Sometimes I will enter regardless of the prize. After all, I can always flog it off it I don't want it! It's a thrill to get a photo in print, regardless of the prize. (I have to admit to more success at getting into print than at winning prizes, so entering competitions is not the only way to achieve that thrill.  )
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HelenEdith
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NorthernNikon
Bulls Hitter
Reged: 16/12/2005
Posts: 6180
Loc: Harrogate, North Yorks
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My NY resolution to enter comps is driven out of a desire to win more stuff of course, but also because I want to be challenged, to take photos I wouldn't ordinarily take. Take Macro/close up photography for example, it's an area whihc doesn't grab me at all, and yet I think I've a very strong idea for any potential comps based on this theme this year. In the past, I haven't entered because invariably I haven't had a shot in my stock of sufficient quality to fit the bill rather than going out with the purpose of shooting to fit the brief.
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www.BarneyAllen.com the new home of ComicShots.
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IvorETower
Little Buttercup
Reged: 15/11/2006
Posts: 1760
Loc: Camberley, Surrey
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I enter the comps for fun on an occasional basis (knowing that I don't think I have a cat-in-hell's chance of winning). However it would be good to see my name in print, and as for a prize, well .......... let's just say that I am still in awe at having received a personal e-mail from Matt Monro's daughter about 8 months ago thanking me for a comment I posted on a forum
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Too many cameras, too many lenses.......
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chris000
veteran
Reged: 30/11/2005
Posts: 1286
Loc: Wiltshire, UK
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I don't like them.
I've entered the forum ones a few times but they are only for fun and everybody seems to treat them that way.
It was the predominance of competitions, and the fact that they seemed to matter so much to some members, that put me off camera clubs completely.
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Chris
The most beautiful thing under the Sun is being under the Sun - Christa Wolfe
www.chriswaldrenphotography.co.uk
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Rhys
Sasquatch
Reged: 15/01/2004
Posts: 3203
Loc: York (home of the speedbump)
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Ordinarily I hate competitions, but I've decided to have a bash at the forum ones for a laugh. I suppose it'll make me think about my photography more.
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NRIPN (Officially Nuts..)
RGMP.co.uk (My Website.. well early stages anyway)
Benchinistas.org.uk The home of Benchism
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MickLL
Two Grand Man
Reged: 01/08/2004
Posts: 2658
Loc: SE England
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I will only enter off my own bat if I know that I'm going to get feedback on my entry from someone who understands what they are looking at. As I've said many times before almost 100% of my stuff is natural history and so I'm looking for comments from that perspective.
I'll never forget the judge who described an emerging dragonfly as an "insect with prey". That tends to make it hard to respect further comments..
MickLL
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turbulentwheat
Grand Pumpkin
Reged: 12/04/2007
Posts: 1245
Loc: gloucs
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although I've probably seen a couple pics worse than mine I admire those phtographers who submit theirs. I'm just too embarrassed and no way do I have the confidence to submit anything for a proper competition. Enjoy looking at others though and have my favourites in competitions.
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Steve52
old hand
Reged: 08/04/2007
Posts: 793
Loc: Dawlish, Devon, UK
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I've only ever entered our work competition with no luck whatsoever, not even a highly commended. But it hasn't deterred me. I'll enter again this year. (Hmm. Wonder if work will do a seperate puffin section, as a puffin has been in the winning pictures for a couple of years now.)
Might post my pictures for submission on the appraisal forum to see what you lot think.
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FRIPN. Nostalgia just isn't what it used to be.
www.flickr.com/photos/mrsony/
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Done&rundleCams
Senior Member
Reged: 20/12/2001
Posts: 16752
Loc: Vancouver, BC
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I enter for the pure, albeit very rare, joy of winning 
Jack
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Life is a Photo-op
MY BLOG: www.nakedmanonawire.blogspot.com
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beejaybee
Marvin
Reged: 18/07/2007
Posts: 4982
Loc: Really Here In Name Only
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Quote:
I'll never forget the judge who described an emerging dragonfly as an "insect with prey". That tends to make it hard to respect further comments..
I know what you're getting at but I don't expect the judge of a photographic competition to have much more than a very basic understanding of natural history. It helps if they understand the difficulties of getting the shot but quite honestly it makes no difference at all if they misinterpret the biology of the subject - it's the pictorial quality that counts.
OTOH if they don't know, they should ask or refrain from making a definitive statement about the subject which has no bearing on the competition.
If the competition was for photography of insects in the wild i.e. approached from the natural history point of view rather than the photographic, things would be different.
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MickLL
Two Grand Man
Reged: 01/08/2004
Posts: 2658
Loc: SE England
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Quote:
I know what you're getting at but I don't expect the judge of a photographic competition to have much more than a very basic understanding of natural history. It helps if they understand the difficulties of getting the shot but quite honestly it makes no difference at all if they misinterpret the biology of the subject - it's the pictorial quality that counts.
I beg to differ about your second statement. I agree with the first part and it's why I don't enter general competition. I restrict my entries to those competitions where I know that the judge will be knowledgeable about Natural History.
I wish that I could remember where to find the quote that I remember from the RPS distinctions advice in NH photography. It goes something like "showing the essential features and/or biology of the subject preferably with an overlay of pictorialism" (the italics are mine).
In other parts of the advice it makes the assumption that, in general, the subjects are "wild and free".
The essence of good NH photography, at least in the circles that I know, is to show something that truly represents the subject and if possible shows something of the biology or habits of that subject. Therefore one needs a judge that knows something about the subject - not just about exposure and composition. In my dragonfly example one would have hoped that the judge would recognise that the photographer had chosen a viewpoint and depth of field and exposure that showed, for example, the tracheal tubes or the wing buds or any ID features or habititat or the fastening of the larval case to its support.
No judge could be supremely competent in all aspects of NH and, as you say, a general judge would most likely flounder. However those of us doing NH would prefer a judge that understands what it is that we are trying to do - and making a pretty picture is not the top priority.
As I've mentioned above it's not, absolutely not, just about producing pretty pictures. Having said that if you can achieve my quasi-scientific aim and at the same time make it pictorially great then you have done something very special indeed.
MickLL
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