Wednesday 12 September 2007

Photo Contest Tips

The horticultural society to which I belong is having a photo contest. I put together a few tips for our newsletter, and thought I'd share them here.

I’ve been fortunate enough to be on the receiving end of photography advice since I was born (my father is a part-time professional photographer), so I have collected a few words of wisdom over the years:


l Make sure your photo is in focus! Crisp pictures
win contests. Out of focus ones don’t.

l Frame your image properly (i.e. pay attention to
how you position the main subject in the photo).
Last year’s judge pointed out that many of the
photos could have been improved by cropping
them (i.e. positioning your subject properly within
the frame). All entries in our contest must be
4” x 6” (your photo will be disqualified if it doesn’t
meet this criteria), so this means that you have to
frame the photo properly when you shoot it, or
have it printed so that the central image is situated
properly within the frame (very easy with digital
cameras). Don’t take a pair of scissors to your
4”x6” print or it will no longer be 4"x6"!

l Only enter images that reflect the contest subject.
If the category is “farm scene” the main thing you
see in the photo should be a farm or something
that looks like it’s on a farm.