Everybody has different goals when it comes to photography. Some just want to learn to take better photos of their friends and families, others want to move into professional photography and make money taking photographs.
For some people though, there is another level, fame and fortune. Well, probably more of the fame part.
If you've been doing photography for a while, you may find that you've gotten to a level where your photographs are good enough that you may want to consider entering them into photography contests.
You will always find contest being held all the time depending on what particular subjects you are interested in.
The PX3 Prix De La Photographie Paris is Europe's biggest and most prestigious photography competition and has several categories for both professionals and non-professionals. Categories ranges from Advertising, Photojournalism, Book, Fine Art, Nature and Portraiture.
Competition here of course is tough. But one of the ways to try to improve your skills is by matching it against other competitors. Partly through learning and partly as an incentive for you to be creative. Face it, some people just get better when there is competition.
Here are 2009 winners of the PX3 competion. To enter the contest, submit your work here.
Another competion I found is the National Wildlife Magazine photo contest. Since this is a wildlife magazine, the categories are oriented towards nature. Categories include Global Warming and Wildlife, Mammals, Birds, Other Wildlife, Backyard Habitats, Connecting People and Nature, Landscapes and Plant Life.
To enter the contest, submit your photos here.
These contest requires an entry fee to submit your photos which ranges from $15 to $30. Some requires one entry fee to submit several photos, others require you to pay one entry fee per submission.
There are several guidelines you should follow before you enter your photo into any competition.
1. Read the rules
Some contest are open only for residents of certain countries. Make sure you are legally allowed to enter before you send in your photos.
Some don't allow excessive post processing or combining photos. Make sure you follow the rules.
2. Follow the categories/subject/theme
This is probably the biggest mistake of most submissions. Most photo contest has certain themes they want you to follow. This is because photography is so varied, that it is virtually impossible to choose the best photography from millions of possible themes or subjects.
Make sure that you study your photography and look at it as a judge would before you submit it. I have entered a photo contest before and I saw a lot of submissions that has nothing to do with the theme. Obviously, those photos while good would not even be considered in the running.
3. Read the rules again
The most important part of the rule is who owns the photo after it is submitted, after the contest and after you win. Most of the respectable contest only provides for them to have the right to publish your photographs to promote their contest or to print in their magazine without compensation. But you keep the rights to your photo after the contest.
Remember this, YOU NEED TO KEEP THE RIGHT TO OWNERSHIP OF YOUR PHOTOGRAPH. Trade magazines and major contests knows that the most important thing for a photographer is to own the rights to their photos. This is because a photo can be sold and resold for money. While they don't pay you if you don't win, they do provide either a prize or recognition if you win. That alone could raise your profile to actually get more income. So it is a fair trade.
Trade publications know that they have to pay a photographer for right to use his photo. That is the normal procedure, so when they hold a contest, they are encouraging people to be involved with their magazine but the contestants retain the rights after the contest.
I have seen photo contest where the company holding the contest states that whether you win or lose, once you submit your photo, they own the rights to it. That means, they can publish the photo in the future without further compensation to you. The company of course was not a publisher of a magazine but was selling some baby products. Guess what I did, I didn't submit anything.
While this may be fine for some, if you are really serious about photography, you probably don't want to lose the rights to your photo. Who knows, you may actually be able to sell some of them for hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in the future.
I am by no means a professional photographer. I have only submitted one photo so far and won as a runner-up. These rules I got from reading about entering photo contest and from my own experience. It is by no means to discourage you. A contest is about fun and hopefully win some prizes and gain recognition. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't protect yourself in the process.
So go out and submit!
For some people though, there is another level, fame and fortune. Well, probably more of the fame part.
If you've been doing photography for a while, you may find that you've gotten to a level where your photographs are good enough that you may want to consider entering them into photography contests.
You will always find contest being held all the time depending on what particular subjects you are interested in.
The PX3 Prix De La Photographie Paris is Europe's biggest and most prestigious photography competition and has several categories for both professionals and non-professionals. Categories ranges from Advertising, Photojournalism, Book, Fine Art, Nature and Portraiture.
Competition here of course is tough. But one of the ways to try to improve your skills is by matching it against other competitors. Partly through learning and partly as an incentive for you to be creative. Face it, some people just get better when there is competition.
Here are 2009 winners of the PX3 competion. To enter the contest, submit your work here.
Another competion I found is the National Wildlife Magazine photo contest. Since this is a wildlife magazine, the categories are oriented towards nature. Categories include Global Warming and Wildlife, Mammals, Birds, Other Wildlife, Backyard Habitats, Connecting People and Nature, Landscapes and Plant Life.
To enter the contest, submit your photos here.
These contest requires an entry fee to submit your photos which ranges from $15 to $30. Some requires one entry fee to submit several photos, others require you to pay one entry fee per submission.
There are several guidelines you should follow before you enter your photo into any competition.
1. Read the rules
Some contest are open only for residents of certain countries. Make sure you are legally allowed to enter before you send in your photos.
Some don't allow excessive post processing or combining photos. Make sure you follow the rules.
2. Follow the categories/subject/theme
This is probably the biggest mistake of most submissions. Most photo contest has certain themes they want you to follow. This is because photography is so varied, that it is virtually impossible to choose the best photography from millions of possible themes or subjects.
Make sure that you study your photography and look at it as a judge would before you submit it. I have entered a photo contest before and I saw a lot of submissions that has nothing to do with the theme. Obviously, those photos while good would not even be considered in the running.
3. Read the rules again
The most important part of the rule is who owns the photo after it is submitted, after the contest and after you win. Most of the respectable contest only provides for them to have the right to publish your photographs to promote their contest or to print in their magazine without compensation. But you keep the rights to your photo after the contest.
Remember this, YOU NEED TO KEEP THE RIGHT TO OWNERSHIP OF YOUR PHOTOGRAPH. Trade magazines and major contests knows that the most important thing for a photographer is to own the rights to their photos. This is because a photo can be sold and resold for money. While they don't pay you if you don't win, they do provide either a prize or recognition if you win. That alone could raise your profile to actually get more income. So it is a fair trade.
Trade publications know that they have to pay a photographer for right to use his photo. That is the normal procedure, so when they hold a contest, they are encouraging people to be involved with their magazine but the contestants retain the rights after the contest.
I have seen photo contest where the company holding the contest states that whether you win or lose, once you submit your photo, they own the rights to it. That means, they can publish the photo in the future without further compensation to you. The company of course was not a publisher of a magazine but was selling some baby products. Guess what I did, I didn't submit anything.
While this may be fine for some, if you are really serious about photography, you probably don't want to lose the rights to your photo. Who knows, you may actually be able to sell some of them for hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in the future.
I am by no means a professional photographer. I have only submitted one photo so far and won as a runner-up. These rules I got from reading about entering photo contest and from my own experience. It is by no means to discourage you. A contest is about fun and hopefully win some prizes and gain recognition. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't protect yourself in the process.
So go out and submit!
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