Competition

Linda Dittrich, chairman 

Why Compete?

I found the following explanation on The Charlottesville Camera Club’s web site. They expressed the reason as well as anyone.

The monthly competitions are entirely voluntary: members may enter all contests, some, or none. We believe, however, that participation in these competitions provides an opportunity to grow as a photographer.

First there is the added discipline of taking on a topic that you might not normally pursue. Then, faced with an unfamiliar subject, you may have to think through anew the “how” to effectively present the “what.” The technical aspects of photography are just the tools you use to express your vision. Like any other skill set, it gets better with practice.

When you submit your work to a judge's objective eye for critique, you have to step back, too, and actively look at your photos in the same evaluative way. Why did I take this photo? Does it accomplish what I intended? What could I have done differently? No matter the judging outcome, learning to be objective about your own work is critical to the developmental process. Rules are described more fully elsewhere on this site for competitions.

Of course, not all photography is about competition. Sometimes you get to shoot what you love most. Then the critical processes you have mastered will make those pictures better, too, and even more satisfying.

Barry