65
B+Wsame picture, that has not made
the final cut for the last two
or three years, into the yearly
competition. Learn from Dave
and shake things up a bit – get
outside your comfort zone and
do something different. Do
not enter the same picture of
that cottage with the perfect
reflection in the lake again, and
do not moan when the judges
don’t rate your picture highly,
even though it is perfectly
composed and obeys the rule
of thirds to the letter. It’s dull,
Dave – try a portrait.
Judges/organisers: Make sure
that all work is judged, wherever
possible, anonymously.
Whether we care to admit it or
not, it colours our judgement if
we know who the photographer
is. I have been a judge at a few
awards, and a couple of times
when I recognised a picture as
having been taken by someone
I knew, have withdrawn myself
from commenting on it.
Participants: Obvious though
this is, it is often overlooked.
Stick to the theme of the
competition. Artistic licence is
fine but don’t leave the judges
struggling to work out what
your picture is about and why
it is in this particular category.
Judges/organisers: Think
carefully about the category
name. Make it open enough for
interpretation but not so broad
as to create confusion. Try to
help the participants.A
nd, lastly for the
judges (this is a
personal point
of view that will
likely divide people), decide
what you want to reward in
your competition: a good
photographic eye or retouching
skills. I firmly believe that the
good photographer is not the
one who takes the picture of
the beautiful girl in the studio,
and then comps together a
couple of backgrounds taken on
a holiday to Cuba and blends
them (however seamlessly)
together to produce the image,
no matter how eye-catching
that image may be. No! The
smart photographer, the really
clever one, and the one whoAfter my rant in the main text,
I have been entering a couple
of interesting photographic
competitions.
But not before I have read all
the terms and conditions and
made absolutely sure that my
copyright is not infringed in any
way. There are an awful lot of
competitions out there, the vast
majority of which are, I’m sure,
professionally and correctly run.
Sadly there are still a few that
aren’t, so make sure.
One of the best photo
competitions still remains the
Pink Lady Food Photographer
of the Year Awards. This is
not only a professionally run
and excellent competition
(and one in which I have had
a modicum of success) but a
classic example of studying
the categories. A huge number
of photographers will take one
look at the title of the awards
and write it off instantly as they
presume it will all be pics of
twiddly cup cakes and the like,
but some of the categories such
as the Politics of Food and Food
for Sale offer almost endless
possibilities for photographers
of any persuasion.WHAT TIM DIDTHIS MONTH‘Confidence in your work is one of the most
difficult things to achieve, but also one
of the most important.’
will get my vote every day of the
week, is the photographer who
gets up at dawn and takes his
or her picture in situ, making
use of the beautiful light and
the location without having to
resort to any trickery. Computer
skills, however clever, should
never get in the way of a good
eye. Make a separate category in
your competition for Photoshop
Phil to enter, but never confuse
it for photographic skill. After
all, who wins the Grand Prix?
Lewis Hamilton, who drives
brilliantly, or his mechanic who
ensures the car goes fast?