Is this exotic?

So I didn’t win, but not surprising in hindsight. At the Awards Night, held at Spectra’s Grafton Street shop, last Friday night, Dave McKane of Digital Beginners (now Institute of Photography) revealed the winners and the decision process behind their choice. I see that the winners haven’t been posted on his website yet, but read on for some reflections on losing…

I haven’t entered many photography competitions, but it is probably fair to say that it is one of the best ways to grow as a photographer and to improve your skills. The original criteria for the Spectra Photo / Digital Beginners competition was as follows:

…we’re looking for photos that show the exotic nature of travel.

A travel photography competition… right down my street. So with hopes high, I submitted my entries, as outlined below:

With nearly a thousand entries, I certainly didn’t envy Dave’s job, but felt in with a chance when looking at the technical merits of some of the entries. I was applying some of the usual measures:

• Is the image perfectly sharp?
• Is the horizon level?
• Is noise, or image artifacts distracting?
• Is it over or under exposed?

On to the awards night. Many thanks must be extended to Spectra and to Digital Beginners for a wonderful night. Drink and conversation flowed in equal measure. I got a few moments to speak with Dave, and he explained his sorting approach. When sorting a thousand photo’s, he relied solely on:

…whether the student answered the question! Whether the photo showed the exotic nature of travel.

You will note that I highlighted “exotic”. Were my entries suitably exotic? Short answer…

No.

Truth be told, shots of the sunset are two a penny, likewise of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Taj Mahal. I can’t fault Dave’s choices for the winners of the competition. Congratulations to all of them. I will come away having learnt a valuable lesson, and with a renewed drive to push myself as a photographer. The kicker… for each of the shots that won, I have similar or better (in my humble opinion ) in my library. They are not going to win any competitions sitting there!

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Grand Central, New York - Just try taking out a tripod here!

I haven’t often entered photography contests, primarily because I couldn’t decide what shots to submit (as you will soon see, that hasn’t changed much!). Spectra Photo & Digital Beginners are running a travel photography contest together, which was right up my street, looking for photos that show the exotic nature of travel. The rules are very open, and there is no limit to the number of images you can submit. Closing date is midnight on Sunday 7th of September 2008, so don’t hang around! Read more to see my entries…

I do have a couple of whinges though… hey it wouldn’t be me if I didn’t!

• You need to print your entries in Spectra stores – no problem there – but they use Kodak Kiosks which I find exhibit a terrible orange colour cast. The photo at the top of this post is near grayscale but looks like sepia in the print out
• I printed some shots in my local Spectra in Limerick, 11 8×6 inch shots for <€20. I printed some more in Dublin and it was over €20 for 7. Come on Spectra, get your act together! The sales assistant tried to fob me off saying that it was due to competition in the area – what?

Anyway, here are my shots – enjoy!

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