Hi, I’m very much an amateur photographer and I’d really like to advance and develop my skills. I’m debating whether to enter one or two of my photographs in to competition, whether that be nationally (UK) or internationally.
I know I won’t win, but I’m really after critique by more experienced and honest photographers.
Has anyone else done this, and did you gain any benefit from doing so?
Better to post in some local groups (on Facebook) perhaps. There are also subreddits dedicated to giving critique on your photos. r/photocritique is one of them.
Competitions are… meh. It’s all subjective anyway. There is no ‘best’ photo really. Some competitions are good, most are worthless to be honest. Also the fact that everybody can organize a competition these days… it isn’t as prestigious as it used to be to win one. I see a lot of local agencies and freelancers organising all kinds of competitions, and some photographers that have like a dozen badges on their website of competitions they won (which nobody ever heard about before anyway, but yeah…).
I see so many that have like ‘Best editor 2019’ or ‘Best young photographer 2021’ and ‘Winner photo selection X 2023’. And if you look into those competitions it’s like organised by some local folks in their specific town. But if it helps you impress clients, I guess it’s useful lol.