The Digital Photography Show #42: How to Win Photo Contests and Win a Free Photo Class!
The Digital Photography Show #42: How to Win Photo Contests and Win a Free Photo Class! (27MB, 74 mins)
LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE
March 10, 2007: Welcome to far from home forty second episode of The Digital Photography Show!
I’m writing this on the red-eye from Las Vegas to Washington, DC. Depending on whether you judge by where I’m coming from or where I’m going, it’s either 2:24 or 5:24 in the morning. Which means I’m going to hate myself later today, but I’m too keyed up and uncomfortable to get any sleep on the plane.
The frequent interruptions from the pilot don’t help. Did I need to know that we had approached cruising altitude? That I could – indeed should – apply for a US Airways Visa right aboard this very plane? That if I ordered from the online catalog during the flight I’d save $30 on a $100 purchase? That he was lighting the fasten seat belt sign as we were approaching slight turbulence? That he was lighting the fasten seat belt sign again? Is this a flight or an infomercial?
In any case, one of the things I’m so excited about is the great chat you’re about to hear with Chuck Delaney of the New York Insistitite of Photography (NYIP). Chuck tells us about NYIP and what makes it the leading solution for those looking to hone their photographic skills in settings and timeframes that work for them.
He also is making available to one of our listeners a free enrollment in NYIP’s Fundamentals of Digital Photography course, a $300 value. As a former NYIP student myself, I’m sincere when I tell you this class will greatly expand your knowledge and skills. Listen for the instructions on how to win in the show, and send us the answers to the trivial contest at TheDigitalPhotographyShow@gmail.com by March 30, 2007.
Our main reason for inviting Chuck on was to act as our second celebrity guest judge. The first one, Rick Sammon,was a hard act to follow, but with hundreds of contest-judging experiences under his belt, Chuck more than holds is own.
Listening to Chuck critique photos is a master class in itself. Be sure to check out the contest finalists at www.dps.phanfare.com to see what Chuck is talking about.
And congratulation to our winner! We’ll post his image on this page later in the week, after he’s had a chance to be surprised when he or she hears that he or she has won (yeah, we’re mean like that).
The winner will receive the dreamy Intuos III 6X8 – a $329 value! Check out just how cool a tablet can be here.
Next week, we’ll be announcing our next contest. It’s the nuttiest one yet, so brace yourselves.
Thanks to our advertiser DXO (www.dxo.com) for the 20% discount they are only offering to listeners of this show. Try the program for free, and when you’re ready to buy, use the code DPSSHOW.
And don’t forget the fifty buck discount on Alien Skin’s Snap Art. Just call and tell them you heard about it on The Digital Photography Show.
Thanks to everyone for listening and joining us there on the blog. Write us anytime at TheDigitalPhotographyShow@gmail.com. For any reason. We’re lonely!
You’re the tops, you’re the Mona Lisa, you’re the tops, you’re the Tower of Pisa. You’re a melody in a symphony by Straus. You’re a Shakespeare sonnet, a Bendel’s bonnet, you’re Mickey Mouse!
Scott
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March 12th, 2007 at 6:06 pm
Hi Scott and Michael
It was very very exciting to listen to your show today. Due to time shift I couldn’t listen to the show on Sunday evening so I started on Monday morning early. I downloaded the show with my mobile phone via WLAN while standing under the shower and listened to it while driving to work. BUT, the show wasn’t downloaded completely so I had to wait to continue listening at work. My hands were getting wetter and wetter when coming to the end as I wondered who was the final winner of the photo contest.
I wanted to say thank you for choosing my photo. I was very impressed about your comments to it. I’m really looking forward to get that terrific price I won.
Keep up the great shows and greetings from South-Germany
-Horst Fuchs
(and yes Scott, you pronounced my Name correct)
March 12th, 2007 at 11:46 pm
Congratulations Horst! Your photo was fantastic…and congratulations to all the finalists.
Good show, guys. I enjoyed hearing Chuck analyze the contest entries.
What are the chances your listeners could get a discount at NYIP?
Keep up the good work, Scott and Michael.
March 13th, 2007 at 12:32 am
Congratulations to Horst Fuchs for winning with his great photo. I really enjoyed this show today. The photos were all so well done and listening to the judging was very informative.
Thanks for all of the great information, I will be looking forward to the next contest.
Mike
March 13th, 2007 at 6:00 am
Congratulations Horst! It was a great show, and very informative. Chuck was a great guest judge, and Michael and Scott, you guys are always good! :-)
I always look forward to your weekly podcast.
Holly
March 13th, 2007 at 7:00 pm
Hi there,
What’s that cliche about a picture is worth a thousand words… a lot of time going into describing photos for the contest that could have been viewed in seconds, I assume if the audience can recieve podcasts they can view images as well. Time is money and all, etc. But keep up the show.
What I really wanted to express is an unrelated pet peev that was lightly touched on by Chuck during the show, something perhaps worth discussing on a future show - Titling photographs. In my opinion NOTHING speaks more of “cheese” and amature photos than titling your shots, and the titles are always so God awful: “Reflections”, “Dreams”, or some pop song title like “Afternoon Delight” or “Yesterday”. Gag. Case in point, have you ever seen Thomas Mangelsen’s nature work, some nice photos but the titles are horrendous, laughable really. Someone should have a word with that guy (but I would be willing to bet Mangelsen himself has fully reseached the topic and found that on average photo sales increased by 17.3% on all images with cheeseball titles, so touche Tom!) Let’s have some spine people.
Is anybody with me or am I all alone here?
March 14th, 2007 at 3:43 am
Thanks for the kind words, all. I did think Chuck was an OUTSTANDING guest - and a great guy.
Kent, I get your point, but many people listen in their cars or at the gym and can’t look at the computer while they are listening.
As to your second point, I think photography can be used artfully or poorly, as can words. I think a good title can elevate or illuminate a picture - as in “Stop in the Name of Love” from our contest. It makes the visual pun clearer.
Of course, a title can also be mundane and ordinary, in which case I agree it doesn’t help. Some photographers probably do feel the need to title EVERYTHING, which is a mistake. I don’t need to know that a picture of a tree is called “Tree.”
In the case of the photographer you mention, I am not familiar with his work, but if he’s selling his prints, it may just be that’s its easier for people to order them if they’re named.
By the way, I am entitling this post “Post.”
March 14th, 2007 at 9:28 pm
I need to listen to the show. Look forward to it. I must say, the photo by Frank Fennema and the bridge is simply wonderful. I will be eager to hear how something else could have prevailed over that one. Amazing how different people have entirely different tastes and perspectives. Off to listen and learn! Congratulations to the winner — whose photo is also wonderful!
March 15th, 2007 at 8:12 am
I’m a big fan of your show. I’ve only been listening for a couple of months, but I’ve gone back and listened to almost all of the podcasts. I just have one (odd) comment and one request. The comment is that I had looked at your phanfare pictures shortly after discovering the show and I somehow mixed up who was Scott and who was Mike from the posted photos. What’s strange is that somehow your voices and personalities seemed to “match” my (mixed up) understanding of who was who. Now that I’ve realized my mistake I’m having a hard time re-adjusting to reality–it doesn’t seem right to me. As for the request–I would like to hear more about lenses. A lot of us don’t have the opportunity to actually look through or play with the wide assortment of lenses that are available and frankly I’m somewhat baffled sometimes trying to figure out why someone might prefer one lens over another. There seems to be a lot of “overlap”. Maybe this fog will clear up as I become a more experienced photographer, but I would imagine many of your listeners find themself in the same boat. thanks for the show.
March 15th, 2007 at 11:43 am
Kent, you asked if anyone was wtih you on the title thing. I have to say that I am not. I agree with Scott on this. I name mine with what ever pots into my head at the moment. Only once in a great while to I give it much thought. I do it so that I can find the photo again easier.
I also enjoyed hearing the photos discribed, my little mp3 player does not show photos adn I often listen while riding my bike or walking along the river.
Keep up the great programing Scott and Michael.
Mike
March 15th, 2007 at 3:56 pm
Michael,
Was listening to good old Radio 2 on my way down to a meeting yesterday and they gave the address of a website which allows you to actually watch a block of cheddar ripen over the space of a year!! This is the link to the blurb but within it is the link to the http://www.cheddarvision.tv webcam!! enjoy:
http://www.fwi.co.uk/blogs/rural-life/2007/01/say-cheese.html
Julian
March 15th, 2007 at 10:41 pm
Hi Julian,
This is too funny. I’ve seen the panda cams, but this is way more interesting to watch. I do wish it we could see it played back sped up. Now I had something to watch when we tape the show.
BTW, I still have my film camera loaded with Velvia 50. I probably won’t get through it until spring. At something like 50 cents a frame, I’m being a bit careful with how I use it. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Thanks again for that great link. I’ll share it with the cheese folks this spring when we meet up to taste cheeses from Spain.
–Michael
March 20th, 2007 at 10:29 am
Congrats Horst. I loved your picture, but couldn’t quite say why. It was so good to hear them talk about it in such a way that made it clear what made it so good.
Thanks guys for a great show. I’ll do my best to get my entry in for the next contest. I tried for this one, but somehow life got in the way. I was also finding using GIMP very confusing. Is there anyone else on here who uses it? That might be a nice show to discuss some of the other photo processing software out there (like the free ones).
Looking forward to the next shows. Keep up the good work.
March 23rd, 2007 at 3:37 pm
Hi Scott and Michael
I just found your website. Great job on the show. Learned a lot from your comments on the contest.
I had a different take on ‘Jumping for Joy’. My first reaction to the photo was that it was of the garter toss, and that the jumper was not the groom. In either case its a great photo
Don
March 27th, 2007 at 12:59 pm
I’ve been hooked to your great show and have listened to all. Some of the oddities I have observed are the reliance of post photo digital editing. I know that these vendors can provide much as being a potential sponsor of your show. Some will judge pictures without any digital editing, and will deduct points as more digital editing is performed. From my interest, I like to see the most that can be done on the picture capture. Anything after (digital editing), is perfection steered towards a specific audience…
Also, I am noticing quite a bias towards specific brands and cameras. Many photographers make the most of what they have and can afford. The gadget or photo junkies would the ones to constantly look to “what’s better” and “I think I should switch or upgrade”. Professional photographers need to make money and can’t be hung up in the constant upgrade cost of their equipment…
Above certain grade of equipment, there is a “demised return” in what you get for what you paid. Many of the lower end DSLRs would serve the greater masses listening to your shows. In fact, many of your finalist on the photo contests used high end prosumer point & shoots. Credit needs to be given to vendors that are leading the digital photo movement, as Canon (I was a Canon 35mm shooter) and Nikon (now a Nikon digital shooter) are using quite a bit of technology from Olympus. There is almost no credit or attention given to Olympus on your show. Look at Live View and Sensor Cleaning technologies originated by Olympus. Olympus’s attention is correctly given to providing the most camera for the best price. Heck, if Nikon did not come out with the D40, I would not have moved up from my Coolpix 8800 to a Nikon DSLR (Olympus & Canon entry level DSLRs were my considerations, in this order). If too much play was given to high end DSLRs, then it would have been very discouraging to even move up to this level as the total cost of ownership would be overbearing. It is very neat to see what you can get for a lesser cost, as opposed to what you can get for skies the limit prices…