Competitions?

[dilshad]

Recognition is a big thing, I completely agree...

What do others think?

Prizes v's Recognition?

Hi,

I think that i am new bie to comment on this. but i just want to share about mine experience.

I have started a competition named as "The first International Photo Challenge 2010". I have promoted it on facebook and on the online press release submission sites, photography forums and blogs and i am getting nice response i am getting at least one or two entries on each single day and it is just one week old competition. And i think that i am able to get more entries on coming days if i keep working on this.

So this is mine own experience. i think that if you promote your competition on online social networking websites.

[Gobae]

Do you have an emotional tie to dPS?

Yes, everyone here have been absolutely fantastic, but it's not exactly the same.

Anyway, since I'm rarely interested in competing to begin with I'd have to say I'd probably compete for "cash and prizes". Fame and recognition are ethereal and fade with time. And since I don't sell my photos I don't care about "getting my name out there". So I'd definitely prefer a tangible that I can use for years to come.

[VegasMike]

A trip to Vegas would be nice, oh never mind I'm already here. I would like to echo what others have said in that recognition of some sort or being "published" would be great.

Mike

[BCampbell]

Personally, recognition from a website, even a very large one, doesn't mean much.

It comes down to what the goal is. I'm sure it's different for us all; for me, it's to keep improving, and work on generating sales, something I've just started doing.

99% of my flickr hits do nothing for me in either respect. Random strangers don't comment, and if they do, it's just to say something trite like "Nice Capture!" Honestly I'd rather people not leave those kinds of comments, they're less than worthless to me. And it's very rare that flickr leads to sales, passively at least.

So, okay, DPS features my photo, and I get an avalanche of hits. In a week that subsides, and I'm back where I started. People have short memories, the Internet compounds that.

If I'm looking to improve my work, I have a core group of friends who I can trust to give me honest, useful feedback. Again, I don't need to be featured on a website to get this. In this case, a prize is going to do me much better. Better gear gives me more options. Cash lets me buy gear, or some books, or some travel to practice on new subjects, or print some photos, or invest in something that leads to sales. That's infinitely more useful than even 100,000 fleeting hits on flickr.

Don't get me wrong; like anyone, I like seeing my name out there. We all like to be noticed. But in the long run, it doesn't do much, 99% of the time.

[Sime]

I wasn't thinking recognition from a website... I was thinking bigger...

Personally, recognition from a website, even a very large one, doesn't mean much.

It comes down to what the goal is. I'm sure it's different for us all; for me, it's to keep improving, and work on generating sales, something I've just started doing.

99% of my flickr hits do nothing for me in either respect. Random strangers don't comment, and if they do, it's just to say something trite like "Nice Capture!" Honestly I'd rather people not leave those kinds of comments, they're less than worthless to me. And it's very rare that flickr leads to sales, passively at least.

So, okay, DPS features my photo, and I get an avalanche of hits. In a week that subsides, and I'm back where I started. People have short memories, the Internet compounds that.

If I'm looking to improve my work, I have a core group of friends who I can trust to give me honest, useful feedback. Again, I don't need to be featured on a website to get this. In this case, a prize is going to do me much better. Better gear gives me more options. Cash lets me buy gear, or some books, or some travel to practice on new subjects, or print some photos, or invest in something that leads to sales. That's infinitely more useful than even 100,000 fleeting hits on flickr.

Don't get me wrong; like anyone, I like seeing my name out there. We all like to be noticed. But in the long run, it doesn't do much, 99% of the time.

[BCampbell]

I wasn't thinking recognition from a website... I was thinking bigger...

Yes, you mentioned something like a gallery hanging... that's nice, but what's the context? Will there be an opening event? Are the photographers going to be invited to speak and meet the gallery owner, other exhibitors, and patrons? Who will be looking at the photos?

If that's not what you're thinking, try being less vague. My apologies if I missed something in the thread where you were more specific.

The question is what opportunity is being given to the winners. A prize is very tangible opportunity. Recognition is just potential, and usually very little of it. There's a reason photographers are told not to let publications use their photos just for credit, with no pay. The recognition doesn't mean much.

[Sime]

Less vague? ...Try being less rude!

I wasn't being specific because I don't have specifics, BCampbell... I was trying to find out what a bunch of "learning photographers" might like...

My apologies if I read you wrong - twice...

Yes, you mentioned something like a gallery hanging... that's nice, but what's the context? Will there be an opening event? Are the photographers going to be invited to speak and meet the gallery owner, other exhibitors, and patrons? Who will be looking at the photos?

If that's not what you're thinking, try being less vague. My apologies if I missed something in the thread where you were more specific.

The question is what opportunity is being given to the winners. A prize is very tangible opportunity. Recognition is just potential, and usually very little of it. There's a reason photographers are told not to let publications use their photos just for credit, with no pay. The recognition doesn't mean much.

[Gobae]

There's a reason photographers are told not to let publications use their photos just for credit, with no pay. The recognition doesn't mean much.

That's a very good point and said much better than I did.

It's kind of ironic that many of the same voices who want cash instead of recognition from magazine publishers are saying they prefer the opposite from a DPS competition.

[newPerspective]

For me it would be 'Recognition'. When I won the 'Curves' assignment and it was announced on the Home Page of DPS, it did wonders for me. It was a very nice feeling when I received the 5 Million Dollar Crumpler bag, but the amount of satisfaction, and the feeling self-confidence and ego-boost I got out of the recognition was probably 100 times more. My love and passion for Photography grew even more. Thank you DPS.

There's a reason photographers are told not to let publications use their photos just for credit, with no pay. The recognition doesn't mean much.

May be it all comes down to how much of a seasoned Photographer you are, how many competitions you have won, how many awards you have received. For someone at that level another recoginition or a publication becomes more of a 'Rights' issue than an acheivement.

[BCampbell]

Less vague? ...Try being less rude!

My apologies if I came off as rude, just trying to give you some honest feedback. It's hard to say if I would personally prefer a hard prize or recogniztion if I don't know exactly what the recognition is. I don't necessarily think an exhibit as the end result of a contest is a bad idea, but we're talking about a worldwide group of possible entrants. If someone's not even able to physically see their work on display because it's across the country or on another continent, that's not very persuasive.

I would probably enjoy going to a gallery and hearing a group of photographers speak briefly about their photos that were chosen in a competition. I think any amateur would enjoy the opportunity to get their photos in front of real pofessionals and curators who give a little feedback. But seeing that happen with such a wide entry pool is doubtful at best.

On the other hand, if there were a contest local to me that ended with prints in a gallery, I'd be interested because I could easily leverage that toward other goals by attending events at the gallery and networking. So I think the "recognition" style of prize is highly contextual and relies on detailed specifics.

Thus, a hard prize, something tangible, seems to be a better option. Several people in the thread like the idea of gear tailored to the photographer. Of course, we all already have cameras, so while I'm sure we'd all love a newer, better model, we don't need one; more specific gear, like tripods, bags, flash units, etc. are a crapshoot, not everyone wants a new camera bag or speedlite. So, it seems like gift credit at an online retailer like B&H or even Amazon might be appropriate.