I've only been doing photography seriously since 2011, and I've never had the courage to enter a photography contest... until now. To be honest, I'm not even sure what made me decide to enter a contest this year. Maybe it's because I've never done anything remotely close to this before. Maybe it's because 2016 is my year to set new goals and try new things. Maybe it's because I had some really great weddings and sessions in 2015 and was proud of the work I did. Or maybe it's because I feel like I've finally found my style and what makes my photography different from others. Maybe it's just because I'm tired of being scared to put myself out there and I'm tired of not trying to better myself. Whatever the reason, I'm glad I went for it.
Earlier this year I entered 50 photos in the annual Shoot & Share Photo Contest. This contest is HUGE, with thousands of photographers from all over the world submitting photos that are seriously the best of the best. I wasn't expecting to win anything or even get close to winning anything, but I was curious to see how my images might do. There were 10 rounds of voting plus a finalist round, and each day it was exciting to see that someone out there was voting for one or more of my photos (contestants had no idea which images were still in or how well our photos were doing until the end!). While I was nowhere near becoming a finalist, a few of my photos did place in the the top 30%, 20%, and even 10% in their categories, and that is way better than I was expecting. Considering how many thousands of photos were entered into each category, I can honestly say that I'm very happy with my results and will try to beat my own score next year. :)
My 2016 Contest Results
These images placed in the Top 30% in their categories. They made it to the 5th round.
These images placed in the Top 20% in their categories. They made it to the 6th and 7th rounds.
These images placed in the Top 10% in their categories. They made it to the 8th round.
(Fun fact: this family photo was #773 out of 13,283 family images submitted!)
