all competitions

One of the best ways to improve your photo skills is to enter competitions. Fortunately there are a lot of competitions around! While competitions will vary in the skills range of the photographers that they attract, there are certain tips to winning that apply to anyone who wants to participate. Below are eight basic bases to have covered before submitting an image.

* Only submit images that are relevant to the contest theme or category.
* In the same contest, don’t submit the same image under multiple categories. For example don’t submit the same image of kids looking around a tree under both “Child Portraits” and “State Parks”.
* Focus! Well focused pictures will always be given preference by any judge while poorly focused images are almost immediately passed by.
* Exposure! Properly exposed images are always in the hunt for ribbons.
* Creativity! Show the world a new viewpoint. Picture the subject in a new and pleasing way. Stay on topic with the theme but consider pushing the envelope.
* Image titles don’t count in the first selection rounds. If your image relies on its title to help it fit the contest theme or category it will likely not make it beyond the first round of judging.
* Read, understand and follow all of the rules. If the contest asks for images as 11X14 prints or as 3 megabyte files make sure that your submission complies.
* Pay particular attention to the legalese on the image submission form where the reproduction rights are spelled out.

With many competitions your image will not be returned win, lose or draw. In most cases, any image submitted has limited reproduction rights released to the contest organizers for other purposes such as promotion and advertising.