Wired photography contests
Recently, Wired.com has started doing a series of very cool photography contests, and I’ve been meaning to recommend them to people for a while.
Participating in photography contests is generally a good idea, actually: It keeps you on your toes, and it very much helps to keep thinking about what you are doing with your photographic work. This week’s contest is particularly interesting, though…
I guess this sort of follows from my post about How to win photography competitions: It’s important to start thinking as if you are viewing your photographs from the outside. Less ‘what am I trying to convey’, and more ‘what is a viewer going to think when they see this photograph’.
This morning, I had no fewer that 8 people e-mail me about the Wired photography contest, as it turns out that they are running this week’s contest on macro photography! Since it’s a topic close to my heart, and since I am quite a big fan of Wired (by pure coincidence, I sorted out a subscription to Wired magazine only last week), and finally because photography contest are the spaniel’s spuds (as they almost never say here in England), I figured it was only fair that I finally link to the guys…
Check out the most recent photo contest here, and whatever you do, don’t vote on my entry (it’s the same photo as shown to the left of this text)… Because if I somehow managed to win this competition (Hah, as if I realistically stand a chance - the competition is tough!), the world wouldn’t be fair - I’d much rather one of you guys win it. Go on, go for it!
Also, if you’ve never taken a macro photo in your life, it’s about time you tried it. It’s a lot of fun, and (frankly) one of the best reasons for having a SLR camera. And if you haven’t got a Macro lens - well, why not just make your own out of a Pringles tube?
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I had been watching these contests for a while. A few weeks ago, when the Night Photography contest was launched, I submitted 3 in the first 6 hours. I ended up winning 8th place with my piece Enchanted. Based on what I watched over the two weeks, the early submissions did best by far, except for those who seemed to have “gamed” the contest. While most slowly moved up and down the ranking, number 6 jumped up rapidly in a few days, and with an odd pattern of votes. Their system does not require registration of any sort, and so by discarding your cookies, you can vote over and over. I would not say not to take part, but don’t get your hackles up about it being “unfair” when you lose.
Thanks for the info on the Wired.com contests!
add me plz
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