Why Enter Photography Contests?

There are many reasons to enter photography contests. Contests allow you to compete with the leaders in the industry on your image quality, image originality and skill. Competing is a way to assess your work and to learn where you are doing well and where you can improve. Competing has given me a sense of my abilities right now and has helped me to hone my skills with each entry. There is also a sense of accomplishment to have your work judged by experts in the industry and to be found of a high level of standard. I feel good knowing that my hard work is paying off and I know my clients appreciate having award winning images of their families.

WPPI Second Half Awards 2020

Christmas Eve eve, I found out that two of my entries in the 2020 WPPI were awarded silver and one of those images actually made it to 3rd place. I’m beyond thrilled and frankly I was shocked to see that result. I would have been ecstatic to receive any award as I know that the WPPI is a huge contest with stiff competition. Amazing photographers from around the world compete in these categories so to be able to get any award is a huge accomplishment for me. It was a goal to place eventually but I never imagined that I could place this year! Competing in contests is important to me as it helps me push myself farther and work on the weak areas of my craft. Every enter regardless of the score has given me valuable feedback about ways I can improve my lighting, skin handling, post processing and improve the details in my final images. Finally, it’s a huge honour to place behind such talented artists. What a perfect Christmas surprise and such a positive way to end 2020.

I was also thrilled when the Rangefinder magazine contacted me to ask a few questions about my third place image. If you want to read their article on eye catching portraits you can find it here.

For information about the WPPI follow this link.

RISE Awards 2020

Last year was such a great experience entering the RISE awards that this year I knew I would enter again. In 2020 the awards added a great new feature of audio feedback. The written feedback was informative and did help me to understand how to improve my work but the audio feedback contains so much more information and is completely worth adding to your images!

The sister heart image may be my all time favourite image of mine and I’m thrilled for a silver award on it! In a few weeks I will be hanging a big metal print of this image up on my wall.

If you would like to enter the RISE awards follow this link for more information.

RISE international Photography Awards 2019