DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

Kinda depends. Is this a money contest or a prestige contest?

When I started the farm I used to enter vegetables at the county fair. There were money prizes. Having a lot of vegetables to choose from, I won a lot of prizes. The monetary gain was probably less than the gas used to transport the vegetables to the fair, and certainly less than my time spent choosing entries. But since I had started a farm, it was publicity and so I could charge those expenses to my advertising budget. Back in those days, it WAS my advertising budget (although I also paid for some business cards).

Photo contests? There were some at the county fair but I never entered those. I entered a couple 'challenges' at dpreview when I got going in digital, but the closest I came to a prize was in the challenge titled 'your worst photo ever'. I had a lot of trouble finding an entry. Too many to pick from. I never entered a contest that had an entry fee. I view them the same as the lottery.

Flyerace Loc: Mt Pleasant, WI

I won a contest and didn't know. They were reviewing the photos entered (slides) and I never saw mine. I thought they lost it. The last one shown was mine. It just so happened, I won. I was so relieved. I was so afraid they had lost my photo. Everyone congratulated me and then, life went on. End of Story

edrobinsonjr Loc: Boise, Idaho

I buy a nice island in the Caribbean and am never heard from again.

Ed

dvgofaz Loc: Toosawn, Arizona

Well I'll answer my own question and share my underwhelming experience with you all.

I was the 2021 grand prize winner of the international DPmag's 'Street Scenes' contest. I looked online for the link but apparently they are belly up now. I won $500 cash prize, a $350 Gura camera bag, Anthropics and Luminar software, an expodisk(a white balance device), a light bender flash bounce thing, and a coffee table book of the winning entries, with mine on the first page.

My winning image was used in their promotions for future contests and graced their website for a year or more.

It was a cool experience. it was a good photo. And that was it. Nobody saw the image and reached out to me for more street scenes, nobody wanted to buy/license it for anything, nobody wanted to hire me because of it.

No sour grapes here, I enjoyed winning and seeing my image used in emails facebook etc and the prizes were a fun thing too of course. But I entered thinking that a win or maybe a top three would garner some attention. Maybe other contests actually do give you a 'bump' somehow, I don't know. I've stopped entering, at least for now.

Scruples Loc: Brooklyn, New York

I must have been about 6 or 8 years old when I went to my aunt and uncle’s house. All the grown ups headed down stairs. I was a curious sort. I went downstairs and was watching my father and his friends play cards. It interested me and my uncle invited me to play. He explained Royal Flush, Straight, Full House, etc. My uncle asked me what money I had in my pocket. I guess I had a couple of nickels. We played for nickels and I was winning. What a great feeling. In a couple of round I was losing. After my uncle explained gambling I vowed that I would be good in math and never gamble. Poker, Atlantic City, Lotteries and what have you. I can’t bring my self to entering a casino.

watebo

Ribbon.

Dannj

Thanks for giving us some context. I guess how we feel about winning is a direct result of out expectations.

aweisbach Loc: Omaha Nebraska

Love the photo. Definitely an award winning level shot.

radiomantom Loc: Plymouth Indiana

Self gratification.

brentrh Loc: Deltona, FL

Just another certificate suitable for framing may bring in a few $ but not worth the effort like winning lottery you win big or just a fist of $ not enough to buy a ranch Scheme to take you money

Harry02 Loc: Gardena, CA

You will owe taxes for the full MSRP value that gets written off.
You will have friends and relatives you never knew about.
You will experience an onslaught of email deals.
Ready for your Pakistani wife? Eight live near you ...

krl48 Loc: NY, PA now SC

Wasn't the acknowledgement by a judge or judges that your submitted work was determined to be the best of all those received worth anything to you?

I won a small monetary prize for a street portrait I submitted to a local gallery's juried show. It still makes me feel good about myself and my efforts. That feeling stays with me long after the tangible monetary reward was gone.

You took a very good picture. It garnered recognition and accolades from the contest sponsor. You earned real tangible awards for your effort.

There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of photographers here on UHH who would be over the top thrilled to see their efforts acknowledged like that.

dvgofaz Loc: Toosawn, Arizona

thanks for your perspective and reminder, I admit I was giddy for a few days thinking about those very things. I should hang on to that!

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

I went through a period of entering photo contests. I've never "won" a contest, but a couple of times I've done fairly well. Once, my local club forwarded one of my entries to the Gulf States Camera Council bi-monthly contest, and I was awarded a ribbon. That one felt really good, because it was an image that I liked quite a lot. Of course, in another contest, I was accused by a judge of using a "completely unrealistic color pallette" (the photo was taken a short time after a rain storm in a usually semi-arid location). Finally, a judge awarded me a very low score for using an "archaic color pallette" to (accurately) render a pretty interesting desert scene. Based on their bios, I'm fairly sure that neither of those judgeshad any personal knowledge of either of the two locations.

I decided that on balance, entering contests (for me, at least) is a waste of time, effort, and emotional energy. I'm not willing to change my photographic style or approach just to do well in a contest.

Bill_de Loc: US

Since you joined UHH on 8/22, I guess the next thing that happens is you search out a place to show off your winning picture. I'm glad you did, as the picture you posted is a sure winner.

Congratulations

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