Kellswan Loc: Massachusetts

Looking for some advice, when choosing a photo for a photo contest, art show, etc.
What is the best way to have your photos printed?

Brokenland

I'm reluctant in entering my images into contest or exhibits. One reason is that what I like doesn't mean other will like it. I would be suggested that you gather a group of friends and talk about several of your images. Vote on which seem more suited to be entered into these events.
As for printing, I leave all that Michaels as they've done superbly so far. in other words take your saved images to a framing shop or Micheal and having them upload the images to their system, they will discus with you the correct sizes and frame options.

William Loc: Mississippi

why not post a few of your best
UHH is on the move again@@@

CO

The Professional Photographers of America has their 12 elements of a merit image. See it at this website. Click on the plus mark at the end of each green bar to read a more detailed description.

https://www.ppa.com/events/photo-competitions/ipc-international-photographic-competition-overview/the-12-elements-of-a-merit-image

Click the + mark at the end of each green bar for a description

(Download)


(Download)

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

Go to the show and find out what photo's the JUDGES like. Then you will be ready for next year. As far as best way to have the photo's printed, look at the guidelines for the contest, it should tell you the size and any framing or mounting required.

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

Check out that PPA list posted above. If you have some photos that meet the criteria, go ahead and jump in. I wouldn’t wait because judges’ preferences vary from show to show, criteria list or not. There’s no harm in giving it a try, even if it only ends up being a learning experience. Don’t go in assuming you are going to win, ever. Go in, instead, hoping to do well. If there are a lot of entries, just getting yours hung in the show is often an accomplishment. And you might just go away pleasantly surprised.

rjaywallace Loc: Wisconsin

If you enter the contest, we sincerely wish you well. A gutsy thing to do. I agree with other’s advice that judge’s opinions vary from day to day, just being chosen to hang your images with other photographers is a terrific accomplishment. Start by memorizing the rules and recommendations of the contest itself. Then take that info to one of the major photo labs - in no particular order: Bay Photo (CA), Nations Photo (MD), Miller Photo (KS), Meridian (KS), Laser Light Prints (CA), Holland Photo (TX), White House aka WHCC (MN), Prodpi (MN). I’m sure others will add their favs.

Kellswan Loc: Massachusetts

Wow, thank you everyone for all that great information !!!

Picture Taker Loc: Michigan Thumb

I sell two types of pictures 1) paper 12X18 @$25.00 and 2) 24X36 0or 30X40 on canvas for $200.00 & $250.00.
My point is people who don't want to spend a lot can get a $25.00 picture and chose the mat and frame for them selves The canvas have a complete picture and can hang it with out a frame.
This may not work for you but it seems to work fo me.. I also discount to stores for 6 or more $100.00@

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Quite truthfully, choosing photos for a contest is a crapshoot. No matter how great your photos are, <cynicism> the snapshot of the puppy or the cute baby will win. </cynicism>
--Bob

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

You've been given some good suggestions. As to printing, by the contest's rules.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

flowers score well, some landscapes, baby animals, visually interesting street photography. Birds, wild animals unless you took them in the Galapagos, Brazilian Rainforest, African Wildlife Preserves, Architectural, waterfalls unless they are exceptional, people unless they are shot in a foreign land, etc often don't do well at all. Jump in, don't expect much and be surprised and happy if you do well.

I used to be a member of PPA and found the judges to be somewhat arbitrary, but they all seem to be that way anyway even outside of PPA. It's hard to be objective about something that is very subjective. Just because a judge doesn't like it (or doesn't understand it) doesn't mean that a)it's not a good picture, b)other people won't like it, c)it won't sell. I once entered an image into a themed competition where the topic was "street lighting" - and I selected an image that was taken on NYC's Highline Park. I selected it because part of the landscape architecture criteria involved lighting - and the winning solution was one where there wasn't a single pole, lamp post or floodlight above eye level - so that the scenery - in this case the buildings lit up at night - was not obstructed by lights. All the lighting was task lighting, and the walks, benches and stairs were beautifully and well lit, without dark areas. A very elegant solution. The judge DQ'd it because she didn't see any lamp posts. Sometimes you have to wonder how these people became judges. SMH. . .

photoman43

As a judge, If you know the name of the judges, go to their websites and see the kind of pictures they take and post. That is the best indicator of what they like.

And as others have said, judging is so subjective that results will vary depending soley on the judges preferences and biases.

That being said, make sure the image has one focal point of interest. Images that have greater impact have fewer subjects or points of interest.

Joe

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

Our photography club conducts a contest each month. Twice a year (usually) these contests require submission of printed and mounted images. For those, a portion of the scoring is based on the presentation of the image...print and mount. Our group is member of two regional photography organizations, so our local contests are conducted in a very similar manner and following the same rules as those organizations, since selected images are forwarded to their contests.

In general, the comments from the judges about my own prints and those of others lead me to share these suggestions to you concerning your specific question about printing and mounting:

--Be very cautious around using odd or unusual color palettes when printing. It's a photograph, not a painting.
--While the paper, mount, and mask are part of the presentation, they should not detract from the photograph.
--There may be cases when choices may be made where paper, mount, and mask intentionally enhance the presentation.
--"Weird" or extreme paper and mat choices generate a lot more negative than positive comments from judges.
--Make sure you have a really good (and pretty obvious) reason for using anything other than white or "off-white" presentation materials.
--Think the same about preparing contest entries as you would about preparing a museum exhibit.
--Read and heed any special instructions or rules pertaining to your specific contest.

In general, my observation is that most photography competitions are quite a lot like figure skating competitions. There is a lot of "establishment" thinking. Rocking the boat can be successful, but more often than not, it fails. And as has been pointed out above, there is some variability among judges, but most with any tenure are really grouped pretty close to a consensus point. They may fall a little bit to one side or the other, but will not be too far away from it.

artBob Loc: Near Chicago

I have judged photo shows and art shows. Here is my updated article about jurying that was published in "The Chicago Artists' News:
As a young artist, often angry at a rejection notice, I wondered, “Just how does that damn jurying work?” Now as an older artist who often juries, I ask, “Just how does that damn jurying work?” I have juried ten exhibitions and sat on selection committees for a college gallery and a co-op gallery. The exhibitions I’ve juried include a major big city art venue, a vicinity show, a major outdoor exhibition, a small museum showcase, and a small national exhibition. Each was different. Although there is no one recommendation I could give an artist about to submit an exhibit entry, there may be patterns in my experience that will help.
Do jurists talk to each other about the art they are looking at? Sometimes, but not at the first professional show I juried, a fairly significant print show in a major city. The majority of artists who submitted works comprised the upper tier of local people, some with gallery representation, a few with New York galleries. (How did we know? The “higher up” the exhibit, the more likely the jurors will know some of the artists who produced the works they judge.) There were over 600 entries, and the jury was told that “about 100 could be shown.” The three jurors (the head of the printmaking department at a renowned art school, a locally well-known printmaker, and me) sat at a table about ten feet from a blank wall. Each of us had a device with three buttons, “Out/Maybe/In,” which we pressed as a work was walked past us. Yes, each work was picked up by a volunteer out of our sight, walked across the front of the room, and each of us pressed a button! Before this I had juried exhibits where jurors sometimes discussed pieces that we were unsure of or felt strongly about, before we held up “In” or “Out” paddles. However, in this prestigious exhibit we making decisions in an instant. I felt like a god—an ignorant god.
Later in this button-jurying, while discussing which were to be the prize winners, I discovered something about prizes. Each of us had a different “Best of Show” in mind. Not being able to agree, we awarded that prize to the work that was the initial second place of two jurors and the third place for the other juror. We continued to compromise our way through the remaining prize winners. In my opinion rankings are a poor indication of worth.
Another exhibition, a regional juried years later, contrasted positively with that first experience. The jury for this regional show included a curator at a small museum, the head of an art department at a good art school, and me. Although at the time none of us knew the other, we talked over the coffee and rolls provided, deciding to share our judging guidelines. We melded a common set of criteria: highly skilled form (technique, visual elements, composition), a strong, unique statement (including subject matter), and consistent and well-shot slides. Since these are but generalities, throughout the projection of entries we expressed why we thought an artist did or did not meet the standards we had set. Minds were changed. I recall saying about one artist, “Fantastic technique, but I am getting tired of seeing her do the same subject matter.”
Another juror said, “Yes, but I think she expresses different things, strong things, with it.”
I asked the other juror, “So, what do you think?”
“I like it—it moves me,” he said. Continuing, he asked me, “Does it really bother you a lot?”
I replied, “No, I think you two are right; it should be in.”
And so we continued. Obviously poor or stunningly good work often got three no’s or three yes's. There was discussion or comment, however, on about half the works.
The director of the venue for this regional was nearby, and we did call her sometimes for help. Some might think that this is not good, and that jurors should not discuss anything not evident in the slide. Yet, sometimes outside information is helpful. Two examples: One submission consisted of technically superior photos, with views that were commonplace in two submission, but unique in the third. We asked each other if anyone knew the photographer. None of the jurors did, but the director said that the photographer who had taken up art several years ago, and that the piece we liked was from his most recent work. We put that piece in. Another example involved pieces that were “primitive” in drawing skill, but exceptionally strong in color and feeling, one with marvelous composition. The slides had been taken outdoors, leaning against a tree. Normally, the inconsistency and poor slides would have led us to think the artist had created a fluke, but a juror knew that the artist could not afford slides, and that two of the slides were of old work. We decided to jury in the strong piece, and asked the director to tell the artist to take good slides. The saying, “It’s not what you know, but who you know” is true to a degree. If done correctly, it can even be beneficial. In the cases above, working with the exhibition director and a juror’s outside knowledge led to better jurying.
These two exhibitions illustrate principles for good jurying: communicate and have standards. These help each juror to escape somewhat the nearly inescapable human tendency to be biased. No one can totally escape his limited view. Other jurors, however, can provide perspective
Having too many jurors, however, makes me uncomfortable. In jurying one “Top 100” Midwestern Art Fair I sat in a room with nine other judges, a sheet of entry numbers in front of me, slide projectors shooting images on a wall. We did not talk at all beforehand. The only words spoken during the jurying were about display appropriateness; there were no words about establishing artistic merit. Perhaps a good selection emerged from the whims of nine people who were literally and figuratively in the dark. Seeing the exhibition later, I felt that the work was adequate, but not outstanding, the result of averaged scoring.
For another exhibition I was the only juror. So that artists and viewers have some idea of what went on I wrote an explanation of the standards I used, to be posted during the show. Yet, having missed things while on group juries, I know I must have overlooked some good pieces. I am leery of juries made up of only one person or of more that three people. I definitely think a juror should write out and have posted his standards and comments about an exhibit.
As one of two people (the other person was a gallery director for a university) jurying an exhibit at a university museum, I felt comfortable. We talked with each other beforehand about our criteria, and even compelled the assistant gallery director to talk with us about his knowledge of some entrants. If information is shared as objectively as possible, I feel better able to judge the art. Nothing is isolated, and we are all prejudiced to some degree—the more I know, the easier it is to examine my position for signs of prejudice.
Another major outdoor exhibition in a suburb of a large city found me jurying alongside a professor at a highly ranked art school who was also a prominent art critic, and a curator from a major corporate collection. We were to pick prizewinners for substantial booty. The curator and I decided to introduce ourselves to the artists; the professor/critic just wanted to set a time for finishing. Returning from the tedious and long process of looking at art for 2 1/2 hours, I found the critic, already finished with his jury sheet, fairly tapping his feet waiting for the curator and me. Clearly impatient, he only wanted to tally our combined scores when the third juror finally appeared. Conversations about artists didn’t exactly cause him to roll his eyes, but he said very little specific. “Clearly superior,” or “just not talented” were the type of remarks made. He reminded me of many curators and critics, who seem to pick in order to impress and be included by other curators and critics. These art hierarchs have keen peripheral vision of their peers, since Artistic form does not serve as a standard. Discussion is impossible; you either “get it” or you don’t
For an artist, being juried is a strange brew of chance and skill. One acceptance or rejection does not mean much. Can artists do anything? They should lobby for the jurors (or juror) to present their standards in person or, at least, as a wall statement. These statements should not be the mealy-mouthed “so many good works were submitted...” but statements based on real standards, including content, technique, and form.
One question from my youth, “Does it help to submit work that resembles that of the juror?”, was finally answered. As an artist, I’ve done that, with both success and failure. As a juror, when I see something close to my style/technique I am very aware of any weaknesses that piece has. Recommendation: submit your strongest piece, jurors be damned. If the jurying is open and fair, you will have your chance. If it is narrow-minded, “the street” will know it after the show is up; and being in such a show is not much benefit.
Machiavelli, right about this one thing at least, pointed out that success depends on talent, hard work, and “buona fortuna” (good luck, knowing somebody, “the breaks,” etc.). We recognize, as he did, that we control only the second element. Part of that “hard work,” however, should include lobbying for good jurying, based on transparency of the jurors’ standards. Otherwise, we’ll have to put up with being juried by whims.


©2005 Robert Stanley
Chicago Artists’ News, Jun 2006, p6