Photography Thailand Forum

[lotuseater]

I was thinking recently and reading some post by photographers on their personal blogs about entering photography contests as a way to gain exposure. Winning an award looks really good on a CV and a winning photo will undoubtedly get a lot of exposure and probably a lot more exposure for a photographers personal website as well. However this comes at a cost. For many photography contests the cost is a literal one where the photographer has to pay an entrance fee to enter the contest. Others are free to enter but the institution running the contest makes a rights grab for the photos entered where often they can use the photo rights free, in any way they please, on any medium, indefinably. (Pros out there, what do you charge for a rights free photo with an indefinite licence?) My guess is it is the equivalent of a very substantial entrance fee for the photo. Also many institutions are making this claim for ALL photos entered and not just the winning photo. In essence it seems like an excellent way for the institution to gain hundreds, if not thousands of high quality images for next to nothing.

I just wanted to start a discussion on the pros and cons of entering photography contests as an means to greater exposure.

[epixx]

I find most of the photo contests rather unattractive for the exact reasons that you mention, and not many will gain you much, even if you win. A top photo in one of the "majors" (Sony and Nikon springs to my mind, but there are others) will of course give a lot of exposure, but the competition is immense.

In my experience, being visible many places, talking with people, expanding the network, is what works best. it's a question of spending a lot of hours,and spending them right. "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch."

[Marc Schultz]

Ryan - You raise some good points, and normally I don't address commercial issues on the site, but I will give you a few of my thoughts on this subject.
 
Fees for usage rights on stock photography varies a lot on the type of photo and intended use. Magazine, advertising, editorial, and internet usage will all carry different usage fee rates. Image placement, print size, print volume, and duration of use also plays a large factor too.

Then there is microstock, CENSORED WORD free rates, and rights managed rates. The spread is so big it is hard to really give you a straight answer. If you wanted to know what microstock rates are you can check them out on www.istockphoto.com and for rights managed rates you could find a similar photo to one of yours say on www.gettyimages.com and run through their pricing structure on a specified type of use to see what they would charge.

As for photo contests in general, personally I never bother with them, partly because I am not sure there is much commercial recognition from it. I could be wrong, but I think they would propel you more in an artistic sense rather than a commercial sense and my focus is more on the commercial side of photography at this point.

There is also the issue of cost that you raise, and unless you are confident your photos will knock the judges over, then you could be spending a lot of money for nothing. I often see winning photos from photo contests and they are not ones I probably would have picked myself.

This makes me think that the judges make very subjective selections and have certain agendas which could be difficult to read into. Of course, if you enjoy the whole process, the competition, and the chance of winning something then go for it. But I guess what I am saying is that yes, you could spend a lot of money without any returns and I doubt the commercial returns will be there from it either. The free usage they will get from your photos is of course another issue you have to be comfortable with.  

I hope that helps.

[lotuseater]

Cheers guys, that really helps and it does help to cement some of the ideas I already hold about the subject. I have never really bothered with photography competitions, personal competitions between close friends and small groups that I am involved with aside. I was thinking more of a way to gain simple exposure, not just in a commercial sense though the commercial interest it would generate would be more than welcome.