Tips on Entering Photo Competitions.

County and State Fairs are still a ways away but you may be getting shots that you plan to enter into the photography competitions already.  

A tip I would like to give is to keep your winning images secret!  As someone that has judged competitions before I know that the judges prefer to not know who's images are who's.  It adds bias whether we like it or not. 

Another reason... you don't want your competition to know what they are up against or they may raise their own bar to beat your best image. So be sneaky ;)

A few BASIC things that judges look for: (remember, judging is part "rule" and part opinion so nothing is 100%)

• Sharpness of the photo.  Unless going for an abstract or other like type of shot make sure your subject is in focus!  And if it is not make sure that someone that was not there when the photo was taken can tell why from the image.
• Rule-of-thirds. This can also fall under composition. In most cases the rule of thirds can help you make sure that the composition is pleasing and interesting.  This again is not always the "rule" but for the most part try not to have your subject smack square in the middle of the frame.
• Proper Exposure.  Keep your highlights down and your shadows up whenever possible.  If there are spots that are over exposed (blown/pure white) that are not supposed to be I would recommend not entering that shot.
• Interesting photo!  This one is HUGE.  This one is one of the most important because if it does not "catch" the judges attention then it does not catch the judges attention. Simple as that.  If you are going to enter a shot that is a photo that EVERYONE takes a photo of make sure it is unique. A few examples of commonly taken shots: Squirrels, sunsets, fireworks, cats and dogs, your own kids ect.
• "TST" Or as my father-in-law, who has also judged many times before calls, Technical Stupid Things. These are things like: What size your print is, how and what it is mounted on, text on the front of the image, proper category ect.  Make sure you know what size your images HAVE to be in the devision you are going to enter into because in most cases they are different! If they say mount it on foam core with the photo flush to the edge then that is the way it HAS to be done. If you have any questions on any of that contact the person listed that is in charge of the competition before hand or you will have your image turned away.
• Enter Early. Easier said that done, but if you have the option to enter at the beginning of the time given to enter your images take it!  You will find if there are things that you need to fix that you will hopefully have enough time to fix them before the cut-off date!

This is just some basic guidelines on this just to get you started.  But the BIGGEST MOST IMPORTANT thing I can tell you is to HAVE FUN!  With so many great and amazing images in competitions it is very hard to make the final judgement on a photo and sometimes it is almost an "enee, meenee, mynee, moe" between two or three images. If you don't place or get a 1st it is ok as long as you had fun entering!  But ALWAYS enter your image even if you don't think it is going to win, because if it did not place then it is what you expected but if it does... BONUS!