John Barclay recently posted along these same lines, a great post if you missed it and I see it coming up more and more in blogposts and in conversations.
Personally I do see the value for beginners, they do need some constructive criticism about exposure, hotspots, distractions, making sure that key elements are sharp, having good post-processing techniques, no ugly burn hslos from a hard edged burn tool, no cloning clone giveaways, advice about static versus dynamic compositions. But once you have those basic elements, then it comes down to impact and subjectivity, does that particular judge like that particular subject matter and the way that you expressed it. Read Jim's vert accurate reflection on image competition....
This is copied, with permission, from his February issue...
http://issuu.com/jimzuckerman/docs/photo_insights_february__16
I am not a fan of photography competitions. Photography is an art, it’s not a race to the finish or a game scored by points where only one person or one team can win. In this art form that we all love, there can be, and are, many winners. In fact, almost everyone who takes photography seriously has taken at least a few great shots. So, what is this winning and losing all about when it comes to imagery?
I am not a fan of photography competitions. Photography is an art, it’s not a race to the finish or a game scored by points where only one person or one team can win. In this art form that we all love, there can be, and are, many winners. In fact, almost everyone who takes photography seriously has taken at least a few great shots. So, what is this winning and losing all about when it comes to imagery?
To make my point, let’s say Van Gogh, Picasso, Renoir, and Rembrandt all entered the same art
competition
assuming they happened to live at the same time. Wouldn’t you think it
would be absolutely foolish to say one is better than the other? You may
like the work of Renoir better than Picasso or Van Gogh more than
Rembrandt, but so what? All of these artists are recognized the world
over as being great, not to mention the prices their paintings command.
And what judge would have the audacity to place one of these artists
above another when millions of people including art historians, curators
of art collections, art collectors and many others are going to have
myriad views on the subject, many of which will differ from the judge?
So why doesn’t this apply to photography? Obviously
not all contest submissions are great, but I can tell you that I’ve
judged many contests myself and my frustration is that too many images
should win. How could I decide on the best picture when 20 best pictures
could win? The 19 photographers who didn’t win -- when they easily
could have but for, essentially, the wim of a judge -- go away feeling
they’ve been cheated. And they have . . . by the foolishness of trying
to compete with art.
If you like to enter contests, don’t take them
seriously. I say the same thing to both winners and those who didn’t
win. Don’t allow your feelings to be hurt if you don’t win, and if you
do win, know that many other photographers took pictures just as good as
yours and they could have won as well. Your image was chosen after the
judges looked at thousands of images. With eyes glazed over from
exhaustion, after the initial process of elimination, they just happened
to choose yours because they were tired and wanted to go home. Trust
me. I know
Jim Zuckerman
Jim also offers workshops, ebooks, one-on-one instruction.
Jim Zuckerman
Jim also offers workshops, ebooks, one-on-one instruction.
