Organize a Successful Facebook Photo Contest
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CREATE A PHOTO CONTESTPhoto contest
Participate in photo contests successfully
If you participate in a photo contest you're in there to win obviously, whether it's for the prizes , the recognition or just the thrill of it. An important prerequisite is that your pictures need to be of 'winner quality'. So taking an awesome shots is key! Showing the right subject, in the right ambience and light, technically good and interesting. Original and fitting with the theme of the photo contest.
How do you do that? Perhaps you're a natural, in that case you're in luck. For those who are not there's the possibility of a 'lucky shot' or hard work. Experience learns us that there's nothing wrong with that and it's actually more fun. There's a reason photo courses are that popular and members of photo clubs teach their photo friends what it takes to be a great photographer. In photo magazines and books authors will explain how to take a winning shot. There's a lot to learn from that.
In the end it's important to practice a lot and try to get more experience taking pictures, an eye for detail and a little luck.
Good luck! and have fun!
Tips & Tricks
We have collected some useful tips for you that will help you get better odds to win when competing in a photo contest.
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The small letters
Bear in mind the contest terms and conditions are followed, they sometimes contain 'small letters'.
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Think lateral
The theme of the photo contest will invite you to think creatively about your subject. You will find success in a surprising and creative approach obviously.
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Less is more
A good photo is usually a clear well structured image. Not a chaos with more content in view than you want. Cropping might help get a better composition
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DO NOT take a photo
Go and make a plan before you start taking pictures. Write and sketch about the theme to get inspired.
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Investigate your camera
Explore the options your camera offers, the manual will tell you a lot and the automatic settings will do a lot for you, however the manual settings offer you more creative freedom than the built in computer will offer.
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Closer, a little more, a little more....
Approach your subject, a photo should never have too much distractions. Place the subject in the corners or try to tilt your camera. Discover what the possibilities are to selectively focus, some parts of the picture can be blurred in order to have the subject stand out.
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Today I'll do it this way
Try to make a special, less expected shot by using reflections, filters, frames or different angles.
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Editing
Are you planning on editing your pictures using Photoshop, Lightroom or other photo editing software? Try playing with contrasts, cropping and colors and change the ambience and feel of the picture. Try to match it with the subject.
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Cut & paste
Most of the time it is allowed to manipulate or edit your photos, check this in the contest rules and conditions. Cropping and adding effects using Photoshop or Lightroom can lead to surprising results. Be careful not to be over enthusiastic doing this, it can also make your photo worse.
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Less is sometimes.... more
The moment will make or break the picture. It's important to press the button at the right moment. Luckily a picture doesn't cost anything anymore, take a lot of pictures of the same subject to make sure you don't miss the moment if you think it's important. Choose the climax, the winning goal, the tear when loosing, the train passing or the deserted beach.
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Turn your camera around
Your camera is like a window to the world, but you can choose wether it's a basement or a rooftop window. Try to place it at the best spot! Sometimes it's interesting to take the picture the other way around than you're used to. Not the game, but the audience, not the party but the kitchen filled with dishes, not the girl but her make up, not the car but the tracks.
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The other face
The world will look different form another angle. Nice people can get angry, an oldtimer is also polluting and flowers are also a commercial product. Good food also consists of ingredients bough and prepared for you and the police is also your best friend.
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Get going!
Take a picture that triggers you and has a thought behind it. Choose your frame and the right moment. Choose the approach that fits your subject. Make a good composition with an interesting story in which the atmosphere and color reflects the feeling. The technique adds something to the image that didn't exist and submit that picture to the contest.
You want to be recognized, beat others to the prizes and be the best.
Bear in mind: you don't decide who wins, the jury does. Depending on the know-how of the jury you'll win or not. Art is a matter of taste and feel, and there are no standards for that.
Smart tricks?
A creative approach of the theme will give your image an important advantage over your competitors. Surprises will always score well! You do need to meet the expectations of the organiser though.
The jury of an estate will want the building to be in the picture. If the contest is held for amateur photographers with an accent on art a more creative approach will work better. Than you might even win with a picture of the landscape in the sandpit of your kids.
Wrinkled orientals, savage wilderness and stinking cities will always draw our western attention. Turning windmills and beautiful girls will draw attention to an oriental jury.
A jury that consists of markering, government employees or PR managers will probably make safer choices than photographers, artists and professors when deciding on who should win the photo contest.
If you can predict the character of the jury this will raise your odds at winning. But members of the jury might also be reluctant if they suspect you're working towards their 'taste'.
Judgement
Imagine the judgement process as follows:
There's 300 photos waiting in a room. The contest jury members walk by and try to eliminate all the photos that won't score. Any photo with nothing to criticise stays on the table. As long as your photo can't be criticised it will remain in the selection. The selection will get smaller until it becomes clear your photo will be one of the nominees for the prizes.
That's when it's important that your photo is exciting and attractive.
And then....
You will only win the main prize if the Jury likes your picture and there's not a better, just a little more exciting, picture lying around. It is also important your picture doesn't resemble last years winner and your pictures falls within the norms so nobody will start complaining. In short the jury needs to be able to proudly present your picture as the winning shot. Make sure your picture does not contain anything that doesn't belong there. Realise you can't argue about taste.
Countless examples
There's often a catalogue or top 10 of the photo contest's best shots. If your lucky the jury has explained why the photo was selected giving you something to learn from.
Don't just look at what's in the picture, try to imagine what the photographer did to take the picture. Where was he standing? At what time of the day? What lens did he use? Did he add something to the subject or did he make a creative choice with the settings of his camera.
On photo exhibitions there's a lot to learn. Sometimes tours will be organized; an extra chance to as smart questions. Also photo courses and photo clubs are a great opportunity to ask experts tips on how to take better photos. This is one of the reasons why members of photo clubs often score better in contests.
Standard images
Some subjects are liked by everybody. Jury members are also people and sometimes they will also like the clichés
Sunsets, old cards, nude girls, sky scrapers, desert dunes, lavender fields, carnaval in Venice, athletes in blurred photos, dead trees in deserted landscapes, flowers and butterflies, twilight in cities, temples and towers, monks and ritual cleanings... they're beaten paths.
Sometimes it's better to go for a cliché, don't submit pictures that just reflect your own memory.
Your own child in the bath tub, your friends in the bar, a skier in the distance or your lover trying to support the tower of Pisa, it will probably only interest the ones concerned.
Manipulate?
You might win the contest with foul play, copying the work of others or using (part of) their pictures. You could copy your self by using the successful shot for more than one contest. You could try to keep out competitors or raise the amount of votes of your own entry. Photo contests offered by photo-contest.info have all kinds of mechanisms to try and detect and prevent foul play, vote and entry restrictions, geo and ip restrictions, monitoring tools etc. The jury will disqualify your entry right away if they'd suspect foul play but perhaps you're able to cheat anyway.
This will not make things easier and more fun. The sweet taste of victory will be bitter if won by cheating. Taking great photos and having fun doing so is a lot better way to use your energy.