Winning Digital Photo Contests [Book Review]

Entering and hopefully winning contests was “all the go” when film camera clubs were all the go. Those were the days of clubs and societies that encouraged members to meet regularly, discuss new equipment and lavish attention on the art of photography.

Well, film groups may have nearly disappeared but contests — of the digital kind — are thriving, thanks to the Internet.

This has given new life to photography and stimulated creativity, raised the quality of the captured image and encouraged the competitive urge. Not only has the Internet stimulated the whole business but, as author Wignall points out in his book ‘Winning Digital Photo Contests‘ “there are the prizes” … publication print, new cameras, exotic trips etc. There’s even a list of hot sites at the back of the book!

How to go about it? Take chapter one on Pictures that Win. Most contest winners are of ordinary subjects but stand out because of technical precision, along with the ability to elicit an emotion, recreate a mood and deliver a feeling of passion. Not so easy!

A superb example of this is found on page 13: an Air France airliner lands at a West Indies airport, making a low approach just metres above surfers at a beach.

Other examples are immensely stimulating and will jolt you into action: a baby, one eye closed, looks over a mother’s shoulder; a line of four frogs, about to jump out of frame.

The illustrations in the book, along with advice offered, is unique and little short of superb.
If this does not activate you, nothing will.

More Information on Winning Digital Photo Contests

Author: J Wignall.
Publisher: Lark Books.
Distributor: Capricorn Link. 192 pages.
ISBN 978 1 60059 397 0.
Price: Get a Price at Amazon on Winning Digital Photo Contests