Competition
Barry Monaco
Why Compete?
Great question. I wonder how many different answers we could get? How many members do we have, that's how many answers.
I have a camera and wave it around and got images, wow, I'm a great photographer. Look at my kids, doesn't everyone see how good my kids look in my great phots? Well no, they look like everyone else's kids, sorry.
When competing in photographic contests we must step away from our own world and take a hard look at how our photos are compared with images in a much larger world.
Competing is hard on your ego. You lose, your picture is not considered the best by other people. Some will go home and think that the judges are stupid or don't know how to see a good photo when it's put in front of them. These people may never come back. Others will ask why didn't my photo win? What can I do to make it better? What is better? How can I find out? Who can I ask? Certainly not the person sitting next to you that also lost.
One way is to check out what did win. Why did the judges pick those photos? Will the judges talk about why they picked those photos? How about the members that did win, will they offer help, guidance and ideas? Go to the many web pages of camera clubs, online contests and check out those winners.
My background: I owned camera shops for 23 years, taught photography and at times ran and competed in four different camera clubs. Did I win contests? Yes, I have a box of ribbons, trophies and plaques, but for each award I won I lost at least ten others, so I'm still learning. I had a sign in my shops that read "Amateurs teach Amateurs to be Amateurs". So learn from those better than you and teach those still learning.
Compete, compete, compete it will make you a better photographer.
Barry