Recently we were asked to participate as a juror in a photography exhibit.  Over the years we have been judges or a juror for several competitions and exhibits and one of the questions we always get is “How do I produce an award winning photograph?” Generally this comes from the people in the competition either at the exhibit or after. In this month’s article we will try to answer that question and hopefully help you produce an award winning photograph.

First of all there are a TON of print competitions out there and you can enter for all kinds of prizes. We have taken a few of the “criteria” that individual organizations have developed over the years for judging such competitions and compiled them here to help you produce that award winning image.

Before you get too excited, understand that many of the competitions require you to release the rights or usage of any winning image as advertising and promotion for their event, disallowing you to use an award winning image again for other competitions. So once you have won such a competition, you will have to do it again in order to win a second time. But hey, if you did it once you can do it again right? RIGHT!

So what are they looking for? Below are a few of the answers that really matter based on our research and our own experience in producing and judging award winning images.

Criteria for submitting a competition winning photograph

Visual Impact – this is described as that “I wish I had taken that shot” or “wow” factor. Without exception, an image that stands alone where the viewer is simply in awe of the image is the number one winning statement.  To get there, many of the other factors must be in place.

Technical Quality - this is paramount to achieving that Wow factor. Be sure that your lighting and exposure is spot on, your color is perfect and the presentation is flawless. This also means don’t “over drive” your post production special effects unless they have a specific purpose to the subject matter. To enhance an image is different than to re-create that image.

Creativity - Ok, this is a very subjective judging criteria but honestly you know when something is creative. Don’t expect to be an award winner if you get off a bus in Egypt and take a photo of the pyramids as you stand shoulder to shoulder with all the others from the bus. Be artistic, think outside the box, shoot from new angles, under extreme conditions even when you don't feel like it. Take an arbitrary item and attempt to make it interesting, remember art has no boundries and explore something that broad you have to let loose and be free with your self expression.

Composition – all roads lead to your subject without exception. Your cropping, positive and negative spaces, supporting subjects, foreground, middle ground, and background, lighting, entry and exit points must all be geared to keeping your viewer fixated on your subject matter.

Emotion - the feeling of a photograph is completely driven by this, you want your viewer to “feel” empathize with your subjects even if it is a building. Every viewer will not feel or relate the same set of emotions with your images and that is fine so long as they are getting a tangable feeling from them. 

Titles - while not absolutely necessary for an image they do assist judges in “seeing” your vision for an image. Don’t try to be too fancy with your titles or make a statement unless it ties in with the image, but do title your images.

So it all seems pretty simple but how do you know if you have met the criteria before submitting your image to the judges of a competition? Simple, show it to other people. When we say this we don’t mean your friends and family, unless of course you grew up in a family of art critics. Your friends and family members will use 4 letter words like, “nice” or “good” to describe your images when you ask them for their opinions.

If you want a true opinion of your work, present it in its final format to someone whose photography or artwork you admire. Take it to a gallery owner, art teacher or interior designer and ask them to evaluate the image for you. You will likely get a more direct and honest answer from a random teenager than you will from your friends and family.

How often should you enter images into contests or competitions? As often as you can. Most competitions today only require a nominal fee to enter your images digitally. You don’t even have to print your images unless they are chosen for display or as the winner.