Photo Contests

I have only entered one or two contests since I became serious about photography a couple of years ago. I have, however, only entered contests where the winner is chosen by a panel of photography experts who know all about composition, subject matter, clarity, depth and creativity. These are some of the key qualities an outstanding image should possess.



When a contest winner is determined by "votes", the result is invariably what we see unfolding here with the 2010 Summer Edition Contest. There seems to be quite a bit of controversy brewing and, in my opinion, this only detracts from all the images entered.



I would suggest to Administration they consider a contest where the winner is chosen by "experts", experts who can even be a panel of Lafango member photographers who have demonstrated they know what qualities a "good" image should have. The identity of this panel would not be revealed for obvious reasons and of course, they could not participate in the contest they are judging.



To take this a step further, to satisfy those that insist on a popular vote, there would also be voting going on and at the conclusion of the contest a "grand prize" winner would be announced (determined by judges) as well as a "Members Choice" winner (determined by popular vote). This may or may not end up being the same image.



Contests are supposed to be fun..let's try to keep the fun in it.



lkw