competitions whats your motivation.

Hi All,

Just a morbid curiosity of peoples opinions on why they enter competitions and what motivates you to do it.

I myself don't and more than likely won't its not that i don't have the images to do so, but more like i can't be arsed.

Do you feel having to pay to enter puts you off.?

Does the competition rules seam to be one sided and thats why you don't enter.?

would be nice to get a bit off feed back.

Goose

What a great question!

I've only entered a handful of competitions, I'd say there are two main motivators for me; the temptation of the (somewhat slim) possibility of winning something I want, and the ego boast of being picked out from the crop....

I hate competitions, because I hate losing!

I've done "Splash-in", on-the-day, competitions because I can pretend that I'm just having a dive with other photographers...

... but I still don't like exposing my (strangely fragile) self-esteem to the result of my exposures!

I hate competitions, because I hate losing!

 

I've done "Splash-in", on-the-day, competitions

Tim,

But then you win the overall prize at a Splash-In with someone else's crab and jet off to the Maldives!

By the way, Iike the Maldives photos.

With regard to Goose's original question, I like competitions because in a very general sense they give me the opportunity of assessing my images against my peers. The problem is finding the time to enter them!

All the best

Gordon

I don't come on here for a very long time...and then I do and see this question. I'll answer and explain how I view them - please be kind...

There are a few reasons I enter competitions. The first might seem silly to some, but it is by far the main reason for me: I dive and shoot with my husband a lot (a longtime pro UW shooter), and he is very skilled - so skilled that sometimes, it can be just painful to see what comes out of his camera (I commonly walk away from his downloads muttering, "I suck!" to myself). However, we work together a lot - both shooting and writing. I could do this and simply work off of his reputation, but I didn't like the way that felt. I wanted to develop my own reputation separately from him; competitions are one way to do that. The second reason is that when I am very fortunate, it can help subsidize my obsession, which is quite pricey . The third is that when it works in my favor, it is a complete and total thrill.

The problem? Competitions can be expensive...and there are just so freakin' many of them! Also, they are pretty much a crapshoot. You can enter a photo somewhere and get a huge placement and turn around and enter it somewhere else to not even have it get to the final round of judging. But this is art, and art is subjective, and you never know what the judges will or won't like. I do feel that luck is a big part of every win, whether it takes place in the water or in the judging room or both. Not placing really isn't losing, although I know the feeling and have had to remind myself of this.

Competitions are a lot like gambling. As such, I have a budget for competition entries, and I stick to it very strictly. (Some competitions are off-limits because I don't like the rules or reproduction policies. Some are more attractive because I admire the judging panel. But after x dollars have been spent, that is IT for the year.) I assume that I will be donating that money. Sometimes it works out, many times it doesn't, but no matter what, I have learned a lot and feel that I have done at least a little bit to achieve some of major objective #1, at least that's my hope. All that said, I am well aware (as are all savvy photographers) that those entering competitions represent a very, very small subsection of the skilled, fabulous shooters on this earth - most of whom, like you, can't be arsed with it. That is plain fact.

Like Tim, I am a huge fan of shootouts - same water, same conditions, same sites, same day, limited processing - that is as pure as it can get in this day and age. I wish there were more of them!

Allison

"I don't come on here for a very long time...and then I do and see this question." LOL! And ditto much of what Allison said (we talk about this a lot). While I've had my share of success with various compettions, I'm clear that 1) there are many, many far superior photographers out there that don't even enter and 2) it's totally a subjective crapshoot. I enter mostly to guage myself against my peers (that do choose to enter), but I can't deny there's a decent chunk of ego boost that goes along with any publication or recognition :-)

I always weigh the cost and PITA factor vs. the prizes and prestige of the particular contest. The cost (both $$ and time) to enter is definitely a big factor. While prizes like an Indonesian liveaboard on a class boat is great and worth a nice wad of cash, that's usually the one top prize. Even if you are the one, top winner, you still got to shell out for the air and be able to arrange the time to take advantage of it. I like the contests that let me "rank" my preferences in prizes - I'd much rather have a dive light that I'll actually use than time at some resort that I wouldn't ordinarily choose, I have to rework my schedule around their window and availability, AND that's going to cost me $1000's just to get there.

The rules are just the rules. They vary from contest to contest and year to year, so it pays to read them and play by them.

I also pay attention to the rights I'm giving away. While I don't sell many images, I know there are others who do rely on their images for a big chunk of income and they deserve our support. I'm not going to give some contest promoter "irrevocable, global rights in any and all media existing now or any time in the future" - some try and grab this just for entering (I'm talking to you Conde Nast! ), so it pays to read the fine print.

Phil

 

"... someone else's crab... "

"I'm not "someone else's crab, I am a free crustacean!"

... and you swam off, leaving two of us wi' yon morsel' o' seafood, I recall...