Rob,
I understand the motivation for press regarding a winning image. I'd probably issue a press release to my local paper or have a big ol' splash page on the front of my site saying how great my images are if I won...then again maybe not. I have looked at
www.denisreggie.com ( i think that's the site) We all know who he is and what he's done for our industry, Infact we can all go to his seminars and learn quite a bit about it but I really don't think I'm the type to broadcast such achievements. Admitedly I haven't achieved anything other than a very happy client base!
Denis is a different story and frankly in a different league than most if not all but there are so many photographers (present company excluded) that spend a lot of time and effort making these pretty prints just to brag on their sites that they scored a 9 at WPPI. My clients don't know or care what WPPI is. They judge my work first and my personality second. I have great relationships with fellow wedding vendors who refer me a lot so i just don't know what the competition would do for somebosy like Dan who says his business is growing well and he's doing fine. I'd rather make the prints and show them to clients to get their approval. I really don't need my peers approval about my work. ( i know how that sounds) As long as my family things i'm ok and my business grows each year...i'm cool with that.
I understand the part about using the competiton to make yourself a better photographer but I can honestly say it might make you a better printer? Or you can work with a great printer who makes your work look better???
Who has time to think about all the cool wedding photos there are at these competitions while your actually shooting a job. I don't..that much I know. My head is totally focused around the task at hand, trying to achieve the most creative results each weekend. I use the winter months to reflect back on the past season to find the best images to use in my portfolio or on the website. (i'm printing them as I write this)
I really don't want the tone of my thread to be threatening in any way toward Dan or anyone else who frequesnts these competitions. I just don't understand the draw.
I got an email from a friend the other day saying PDN or Fuji was running a "Top Knots" competition. Looking at the winners last year it seemed like only one person submitted becasue she ran away with several categories. The photos were nice but I would have thought the competiton would have been tighter.
Dan,
I don't know if you get PDN in the UK but you might want to look into that. it's a fairly well respected magazine here in th U.S.
joe
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