Who Wins these Competitions?

So, following on from my last post (several months ago!!!!), I did not win the Outdoor Photographer of the Year competition. But, I WAS shortlisted so that is a great achievement for me. I was in the midst of feeling rather pleased with myself when lo and behold I got ANOTHER email, this time from The Scottish Nature Awards - I've been shortlisted again. So another nervy wait.

I'm enjoying entering these competitions. I get to put myself up against my peers and I'm doing well, it's a great confidence boost!

But who wins these? A silly question perhaps as most competitions are very open about the winner - or are they? A great example is Georg Karbus - Outdoor Photographer of the Year last Year and a category winner this year - check out his great website.

But I have started asking myself about the motivation organisations have for running competitions and I have to tell you there are some very shady practices going on in the world of photography!

Most reputable competitions are run to promote the organisation and drum up interest in it. Others are altruistic and are done to promote better photography. For instance I recently entered a small local competition run by Halfords - free to enter and the best images got some freebies. I got a pleasing wee 3rd place with an image I trawled off my hard drive and won a free service for my bike (I love getting these wee free things, even if I don't REALLY need them). Halfords got some photographers to come through the doors and a bit of local press and I got a freebie - win win!

Others run competitions you have to pay to enter (read the small print very carefully!!!). I look at these with great suspicion but if the cost is low and there are obvious administrative costs (like prize money and admin), I will pay a small fee that is worth the publicity for me should I do well. Outdoor Photographer, the Scottish Nature Awards are good examples. Others are the National Open Exhibitions where not for profit organisations put in a power of work to promote photography in the UK.

But there are others out there that fall in to two categories I find very distasteful. Ones that charge a lot of money per image entered - really what is the justification for that? It's just a get rich quick scheme by the organisers. And ones that may be free but claim the right to use all images entered for a variety of purposes, not just connected to the competition.

Recently Visit Scotland started a competition up. If I entered, they would be able to use my images free of charge, pass them on to third parties and use them perpetually. I would retain a worthless copyright. and that's just for entering. They have had thousands of entries already and must have a rather large stock photography collection by now. I find this disappointing, I would love to support the promotion of Scotland, but suddenly I felt like I was going to be exploited. I know a number of photographers feel the same way, but at the end of the day, I guess it is down to us as photographers to check the fine print and only enter if we feel that the incentive justifies the cost. I won't be entering... There is a very good article on this at the Scottish Photographers website.

So that's my message today - check the fine print. You can spend thousands of pounds on equipment and travel, put in hours and hours of effort and even take physical risks to get a good shot but there are plenty people out there who want to take your results for little effort, without paying you and to use for their own gain. Always read the Ts and Cs!