Should You Bother to Enter Photo Contests?
There are some things to consider first.
Let me start by answering the question in the headline above. The answer is…
It depends.
You knew that was coming, right?
Photography contests typically don’t offer you any detailed feedback on your images, other than a pass/fail grade — you either win or you don’t. So, contests are not an effective way to evaluate your skills.
But they can be fun. And most of us got into photography because we enjoy it. So, if you enjoy entering contests, then of course there’s nothing wrong with doing so.
And whether or not a particular contest is worth the time, effort, and money to enter is up to you. You may find that it depends on several things.
Contests vs. exhibitions
First, let’s make a distinction between a “contest” and an “exhibition”. The way I see it, one is a subset of the other.
A contest is any competition in which you submit photographs (either digital or print) in the hopes of “winning”. Contests can range in size from very small to global. They can come along once, or be a recurring “challenge” or “assignment”.
