I have been competing in my club competitions for many years. At first I looked at it as a learning experience while taking part in my club activity and learning a bit. Nowadays I have changed my thought process a little. I find competitions to be counter-productive to being creative. Judges seem to see things more techically minded. They don’t think outside the box, if you will. They don’t seem to notice that your selective sharpness was artistic editing for instance. They seem to see things only in terms of technically correct or not.
The image below was entered in the comp in my club and the judges zeroed in on the sky, making a comment about the lack of detail and if Id fixed it, it would have scored higher.
First of all, the day was in a bit of a snow storm, causing a largely detail-less sky, I get it. He also went on to recommend the replacement of the sky. If you look under the bridge at the background, you can see that there is atmosphere happening and therefore, the sky would be pretty much white. In my opinion, you can also tell by looking at the trees above the old mill. The mill is the main star of the photo so I didn’t believe that the sky meant that much. I got to thinking that I would try out swapping the sky but after taking another closer look at these things, It would be quite hard to change the sky and make it look convincing. Judges lose their minds if there isn’t sky detail for them to see. They see only technical stuff, they think you need sky detail and to see detail in the darkest area of shadow at the same time.
For these reasons and a couple of others, I’m leaving competition behind for the freedom of shooting what makes me happy. I wish to shoot things that make people ask questions, things that require attention. I don’t always wish to answer the questions for the viewer, there isn’t anything wrong with letting them investigate a little. I don’t wish to impress the viewer with a bunch of pop and oversaturated colour, I would rather invite them in to investigate and experience the piece.