Do you enter any competitions?

[Jubi]

Looking around the web there is a vast multitude of photography competitions with all sorts of cash and equipment prizes.
I'm wondering if DPS readers enter any of these free-entry competitions, especially ones that are run weekly/monthly.
Have you ever won, (and how much money) and which competitions do you think are better run then others?

Thought this would be an interesting topic, as who doesn't want their photography recognised as the best?
Apologies if this is in the wrong section - wasn't sure.

[Daisho]

I hate to do it, but sometimes we need the strong hard medicine....
Competitions
check it out, even an entire sub section on the topic.
Oh and I did enter one, big one which was worth the hassle, well, how do I put it? Selection of winners was a mixed thing, some deserved it, others, well, not.

[dakwegmo]

Originally Posted by Jubi

Looking around the web there is a vast multitude of photography competitions with all sorts of cash and equipment prizes.
I'm wondering if DPS readers enter any of these free-entry competitions, especially ones that are run weekly/monthly.
Have you ever won, (and how much money) and which competitions do you think are better run then others?

Thought this would be an interesting topic, as who doesn't want their photography recognised as the best?
Apologies if this is in the wrong section - wasn't sure.

I used to enter a lot of competitions. After losing some I thought I should win, and winning some I thought I should lose, I realized that winning was so subjective as to be essentially meaningless in terms of the quality of your work. I will occasionally enter them now, if the prizes are good, or there's some other value gained for winning or simply entering, and if the contest terms are fair to the photographers. Even then, I consider "winning" almost as arbitrary as a random drawing for winners, and don't put much value in what it says about my work.

Originally Posted by dakwegmo

I used to enter a lot of competitions. After losing some I thought I should win, and winning some I thought I should lose, I realized that winning was so subjective as to be essentially meaningless in terms of the quality of your work. I will occasionally enter them now, if the prizes are good, or there's some other value gained for winning or simply entering, and if the contest terms are fair to the photographers. Even then, I consider "winning" almost as arbitrary as a random drawing for winners, and don't put much value in what it says about my work.

Exactly.

I entered a photo of my son in 3 competitions this year. At the big competition, it got honorable mention (several hundred entries). At a smaller competition (12 entries), it got 1st place. At the third competition (20 entries), it didn't place at all.

Competitions are incredibly random, which is why I rarely pay an entry fee, especially if it's online.

That being said, between two local competitions, 9 of my 14 entries placed, which won me enough gift cards for a new, heavy-duty backdrop holder.