Six Tips for How To Win a Photo Contest

This photo won first prize in the candid/humor category of Popular Photography's 9th Annual International Photo Contest. It was also featured on the cover. I'd like to think it was because I followed my own advice, listed below.

Search the web and you'll find plenty of tips for how to win photo contests. Most of what you'll see will be a lot like this. It's generally good advice, but let's face it: If someone has to tell you that your entries should be correctly exposed, in focus, well packaged and neatly presented, your odds of winning even so much as an honorable mention are slim-to-none.

I can't guarantee you a win, of course, but as one who has won several contests--most recently, Pop Photo's 9th Annual International Picture Contest--I can speak with some knowledge of what it takes. Here, in no particular order, is what I suggest:

1. Submit photos that are positive and non-confrontational. Your selenium-toned, B&W prints of cadavers and embalmed body parts may have great artistic merit, but they're not likely to score points with mainstream judges--or mainstream audiences, for that matter. Contests sponsored by edgy art magazines or photo galleries are the obvious exception.
2. Look for images that tell a story or that project a clear idea or emotion. If judges can't immediately grasp what a photo is about in a few seconds, they'll simply toss it aside and keep looking. Remember: You won't be there to explain or answer questions. The image has to stand on its own.
3. Photo that feature water, snow, sunsets and beaches are perennial favorites, as are shots that feature animal or insect behavior. That said, unless the contest is for a family or kid-oriented publication, avoid sending in photos that are overly cute, sentimental or kitschy.
4. Play to your strengths. If you're good at street photography and it's a travel photo contest, enter street photos you shot in foreign lands. Another option is to seek out contests that are looking for examples of what you do best.
5. Regardless of the subject matter, ask yourself what sets your submissions apart from photos of similar subjects. Is it the lighting, the composition, the color (or lack of it), the technique? Your goal is not to send in something that's "just as good as the rest," but distinctly better.
6. Go easy on the effects. As tempting as it is to make a photo stand out by using Photoshop to pump up the saturation, boost the dynamic range, or create fantastic scenes, avoid using effects that call undue attention to themselves. Judges want to be captivated by the image itself, not by what you did to it.

Here's one last observation (and since it's an "observation," I don't have to put it up there with the "tips"): You may discover that entering contests is almost as much fun as winning. You get to sort through your best photos, re-live and re-think your motivations for taking them, select the best of the best, send them off and hope someone else thinks as much of them as you do. If they don't, it's nothing personal, try again another time; if they do, it's exhilarating, even if first prize is a P&S digicam you'll sell the next day on eBay. In the end, it's a lot like the lottery: You can't win if you don't enter.