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?
Have you read my Macro book?
I am rather proud of the fact that I have written a book about macro photography. It looks like that →
Hang on, did I just say a book? Sorry about that. All modesty aside, it's the book on macro photography. It's got a huge chapter on equipment, tons of info about the various styles and topics, a chapter on lighting, and even a chapter on digital darkroom stuff especially for macro photography.
Seriously, this book is 288 pages long, and it's got everything you ever wanted to know. And loads you probably didn't want to know, but that might come in useful anyway.
Get your copy of the book from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk today! If you prefer, you can buy a signed copy directly from me from this page.
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Categories: Competitions | Macro
Tags: Competitions | Macro | Wired.com
This entry is © Haje Jan Kamps / Photocritic.org, and was posted on Monday, April 7th, 2008. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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#1 - April 7th, 2008 at 20:42
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.
#2 - April 7th, 2008 at 20:51
Thanks for the info on the Wired.com contests!
#3 - April 8th, 2008 at 12:44
add me plz
#4 - June 27th, 2008 at 20:36
i’m always on the lookout for good photography competitions to enter, so when i found your site, and started browsing around it (some pretty cool articles you got by the way) and came across this one, it piqued my interest.
having had a look at the wired.com website, i can see no mention of the terms and conditions other than the following:
“The photo must be your own, and by submitting it you are giving us permission to use it on Wired.com and in Wired magazine”.
this seems like a _very_ vague (and for that reason, potentially very liberal) usage policy, and one of the type that has been strongly criticised when used by other contests… am i just missing the link to the “real” T&Cs?
i just think people shouldn’t give away the rights to use their art so flippantly, and competition organisers should only request fair usage - for example, only to be able to use the winning photos (not every entered photo), and only in connection with certain things (e.g. photography-related articles), and non-exclusive, and bla bla bla… you know the kind of stuff i mean.
it just makes me disinclined to send a photo into their comp to be honest, which is a shame really, as they probably have good intentions.