I was photographing in the last months – please tell me when you like them:
In honor of National Photograph Month, which takes place during all of May, this list is designed to give photographers of various styles and levels some resources to go for inspiration, ideas and a little extra spending money. The selections I have chosen to refer here not only represent opportunities to win awards or money with your photographs but a vast majority of them also can be used to prompt your experimental and creative vision. If you don't feel ready to enter any contests, it may be fun to review some of the past themes and give yourself regular assignments as a way to add more challenge and structure to your artistic routine. There is some great stuff available at these sites in terms of motivational tools in the form of both contest topics and galleries of other photographers' winning work.
A Singular Creation Contest
http://www.asingularcreation.com/showdown-rules.htm
The contest is an open theme calling for all genres of photographs and mixed media pieces. It is free to enter and as of now, the prize is $50. A Singular Creation is a community where artists can network with one another to get feedback on their works in progress or display their finished photos to potential buyers. This is one of the more down to earth and realistic photography and art sites out there. The work featured is really great, but not in a way that is pretentious and intimidating. Instead, the gallery seems to encompass all types of creative technique and visions and is very inspiring to browse. Keep this link in your mind somewhere for future reference, as new contests are advertised frequently.
Quantum Leap Strategies Ongoing Photo Contest
http://www.quantum-leap-strategies.com/photo_contest/photo_contest.html
This contest is very particular about the subject of the work they choose to award. They seem to be more traditional and conservative as opposed to experimental and abstract. For instance, their ongoing monthly photography contest does not accept work that features people. If you feel you have really great images of nature and the inanimate world around us, portrayed in a quality true color photograph, though, this might be a wonderful place for you to not only make a few extra bucks but to also get exposure. On top of that, the organization donates some of the money associated with the contests toward a charity that focuses on helping the blind. The current prize is $250 for the winner but that is subject to change.
Kodak Film Color Photo Contest
http://www.kodak.com/US/en/professional/contests/colorsOfLife/colorsOfLifeIndex.jhtml
Kodak along with American Photo and Popular Photography Magazine host ongoing contests that reward professional and amateur photographers with exceptional representations of nature and people displayed in quality color prints. This one is quite challenging and I am inclined to believe that they too, probably recognize more classic photography than modern or experimental pieces. This is a great place to submit your nature photos though, or crystal clear portrait photos, and the award money is very liberally distributed.
Apogee
http://www.apogeephoto.com/contest.shtml
Apogee Photo Magazine refers to itself as “A free online magazine designed to inform and entertain photographers of all ages and levels”. Along with a variety of great resources for blossoming photographers, they host free contests on a bimonthly basis to fulfill a changing theme. The themes are really interesting and require creativity and some real intuition and thought to try and tackle. This is a great place to get inspiring ideas for your photographic subject matter even if you don't ever even officially enter the contests.
College Students Only
http://www.popphoto.com/article.asp?section_id=5&article_id=1563
This place seems pretty open to any type of photograph. There is no fee to enter and you must be a college student to submit work.
Foto Fanatic
http://www.fotofanatic.com/Photos/Contest/Browse/
Foto Fanatic hosts monthly contests with unique themes to jumpstart your creative artistic abilities. Similar to the contests listed above, the winners of this site's contests appear to feature more of a classic, traditional type of subject matter and the images are examples of exceptionally clear color prints. The contest offers a great challenge though, and again, a great place to look even if to simply use the theme categories as ideas to work from to inspire your next photo shoot adventure.
Parade Magazine Snapshot Photo Contest
http://snapshot.parade.com/
Parade Magazine is continually on the lookout for charming, goofy, beautiful or any type of snapshot photo that celebrates the joy of life and makes you want to smile upon looking at it. Visit the website and view the past winners and you will get more of an idea what they are looking for. This seems like a fun contest to enter, as most people have a snapshot or two laying around that they always thought they could do more with. Here's a chance to show up your creative zest for life and display your photographic talent. You also may win $100.
Better Photo Ongoing Theme Contests
http://www.betterphoto.com/contest.asp
This is a very active website and is a great place to test out the universal appeal of your work if you are a beginner or intermediate level photographer. Any level of artist can enter but this seems like a place that is exceptionally welcoming of new work and quite possibly focuses a major aspect of the judging process on potential. As with the other theme contests mentioned above, consider visiting this site to help get those creative juices flowing. Click on contests and look through examples of past themes.
EphotoZine Monthly Challenges
http://www.ephotozine.com/photocomp/
This online photography resource features some truly incredible examples of photography in a broad range of genres. They seem very open to the more obscure and controversial type of photograph and one might possibly make a guess that they encourage it. A great place to enter your work no matter what level of photography you practice. Each month there is a theme but as many sites have topics that force images in your head immediately about what you could potentially take pictures of, these subject categories require some dedicated thought. Some of the themes are rather obscure in nature and require some thinking out of the box in order to achieve. This is a great opportunity for people looking to expand their photographic style into the more experimental artistic realm.
Amateur Photographer is the world's oldest weekly magazine for photography enthusiasts. With its unique weekly format, it is the first for news and digital and film equipment tests. Regular features on reader portfolios, darkroom, digital, black & white and photographer profiles ensure all areas of photography are covered.
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