Continuing mission this year entering competitions, I have entered two more today. I was notified about them via email at the beginning of the month. In the email there were four listed but I only chose to prepare images for two of them. The themes were Life on Planet Earth and On the Road.
Both of these themes are pretty open to interpretation although Life on Planet Earth was looking for more nature shots and On the Road more travel/landscape images. I didn’t go out and take photographs for the sole purpose of the competition, as I never feel that I take good images that way. Instead over the first three weeks of the month while taking pictures I kept the themes in the back of mind, then this week I went through them and decided which ones I would elect to put forward.
When looking through my images I did take a look at what other entrants had entered, to get a feel of the level of what I was up against as well as to choose images that would stand out.
Life on Planet Earth had the brief; This month’s competition give you a great scope to
enter a variety of images. From tiny creatures to the largest mammals and
all fauna & flora.
Looking at what others had entered there were a lot of birds and insect pictures. I had quite a lot of macro shots but none cut the mustard compared to these.
ISO 250 50mm + 65mm Extension Tubes F/11 1/250
I had one though of a Black and Yellow ladybird that I shared earlier this month. I feel this shot, although not as great as the others being entered, has the edge due to its uniqueness and the colours of the shot.
Not many people had entered flowers and the ones that had were fairly typical compositions. I went looking again for a striking shot and remembered one of an Orange Cosmos. Shot with a long lens and f11 gives me the flower in focus with all the other flowers becoming a sea of green and orange. I think it is a good strong image and has a chance.
The last one I put forward for this category is a little bit risky but I feel that in an outside of the box way it could fit the brief. The shot is of Kamieńczyk Falls, which I had shared earlier but from a different angle and in black and white. The topic is Life on Earth and water is one of the biggest givers of life as well as having the ability to take life as well. Waterfalls as well are cutting through the earth creating a new landscape for new life. Personally I like the fresh colours with strong contrast. My favourite thing about this shot is the changing tone in water as it leaves the warmer light and gets colder in the shadows. There were no other shots like this that had been entered so far and I think it will stand out.
The other contest was On the Road and had another great brief; For this competition we are looking for images that depicts
your travels; from the site and scenes that you come across on the road. It
may be a person, a place, a structure or anything that portrays travel
through your camera lens.
With this competition you had one free entry and had to pay for additional ones. This had to be taken in the mountains while I was on holiday. In the mountains I took a lot of huge panoramic shots but really they were nothing that would (in my opinion) stand out. 
The picture I chose to enter is of the Bend of Death (Zakręt Śmierci), a 180 dregree curve of a radius of 30m, 775m above sea level. It is a HDR stitched image. I converted it to black and white using Silver Efex. This was an amazing site I came across and does depict my travels in the mountains of climbing high and walking around in circles.
Of course I hope I win but just by entering I am exposing my work to a much wider audience.
I would really appreciate any comments you have.
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Best wishes in the competition, Ben. It’s great that you are able to look at your images so objectively and confidently decide which ones are your best and are worthy of entering into a competition. I know that I would have trouble doing that with my own photos. Your images are all really good and provide really cool interpretations of the topics.
Thank you Mike, objectively looking at images is hard and something that takes a lot of learning and the removal of personal preference. I have had to do is so many times it has kind of becoming second nature.
Good luck, Ben. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us, which I bet many wouldn’t. And that makes you special (stand out)! 😉 Helen
Thanks Helen, I agree not many would and it can be quite hard.
Competitions are a bit of a lottery. You really have to know what the organisers want. We had a street photography comp in HK recently that turned into a bit of a debacle. Very few strong shots in the winning enclosure and one was simply dire. But the judges voted for it. Bizarre. But you have chosen well. Good luck.
It is a bit like a lottery, that’s a good comparison. The problem with competitions is the brief, interpretation of the brief and the style that judges like. That’s why I think you need images that are slightly more outside of the box.
As I tell my young students, it is not the winning that is important but the taking part. Although winning feels good.
Good luck! It was interesting to see your thought processes in your photo selection.
I enter a few competitions (and have done surprisingly well!) but the judges selections baffle me. Apart from technical ability, a lot of it seems to be down to theme interpretation and the judges’ personal taste. A bit of a lottery but a good way to improve personal critique!
I try not to get too down if I don’t succeed as photography is partially about taste and opinion. As you and others have said it is a lottery but you have to benin it to win it.
wow- the last one is fabulous…I hope you let us know how you did in the competition and if there is a website where we can see the entries..
Thanks for the kind comment, I should know thw outcomenin about a weeks time. I’ll dig around to see if i can find the link to the other entries.
Thanks for taking the time to comment.