World Wildlife Fund Photo Contest

Here's some fun contest news for wildlife shooters! World Wildlife Fund (WWF) today launched the "Life Grows On" photo contest - presented by CVS/pharmacy Photo - to commemorate WWF's 50th Anniversary and to coincide with Earth Day. The contest is aimed at raising awareness of species and land conservation issues and seeks photos in three separate categories: wildlife, wild places, and people connecting with nature.
 
The contest is open to both amateur and experienced (not clear if that includes pros--you'll have to read more on their site) photographers and the first-place prize is a trip to see and photograph polar bears! Cool or what? Three first-place winners will win a trip for two on the Classic Polar Bear Photo Adventure provided by tour operator Natural Habitat Adventures. This travel package, one of the group's most popular polar bear tours, includes a journey into the realm of the polar bear with an expert photographer. Winning photos will be published in several communication vehicles across the organization that will reach more than 8 million people. There is an entry fee ($15) but it allows you to enter up to fifteen photos.

Here some more info from their press release:

•     150 finalists will receive a WWF red baseball cap in recognition of their amazing photos. There will also be an instant game prize (10 prizes given out each day), which is a WWF reusable coffee mug.

RULES

•     To enter the contest, from April 22 until June 17, 2011, participants must submit photos either online at www.WWFPhotoContest.org or by mail on a CD to WWF-US headquarters at 1250 24th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037.
•     Submitted photos must be the photographer's original work.
•     Limit 15 submissions per photographer. Along with the photograph, the following information is needed:
•      Description of photo
•      Name of Photographer
•      Mailing address
•      Email address

SELECTION

•     Entries will be judged by a WWF-selected panel and will be based on creativity, originality, technical quality, and fit to category.
•     The judges will select the top 50 from each category by July 1, 2011, after which the judging and decision-making will be handed over to the public for final vote. July 2 until July 15, 2011, the general public can vote for their favorite photos and select the winners.

ABOUT WORLD WILDLIFE FUND
WWF is the world's leading conservation organization, working in 100 countries for half a century. With the support of almost 5 million members worldwide, WWF is dedicated to delivering science-based solutions to preserve the diversity and abundance of life on Earth, halt the degradation of the environment and combat climate change. Visit www.worldwildlife.org to learn more.

And by the way, if you want some tips on entering and winning photo contests, I've written a book on the subject:  Winning Digital Photo Contests (Lark Photography Book).

Audubon's "Birds in Focus" Contest Deadline is September 7th!

Got bird photos? If you're an avid bird photographer (pro or amateur, there are separate categories) you should check out the annual Audubon "Birds in Focus" competition--the deadline is September 7th though, so no procrastinating. Prizes include all-expenses-paid trips for two to some very exotic destinations!

You'll find all the details on my new Winning Digital Photo Contests blog. I just posting a reminder here in case you haven't yet seen my new blog. You can read a bit more about this amazing photo there, too--shot by Rob Palmer and featured in my book Winning Digital Photo Contests (Lark Photography Book). What, you don't own the book? You're waiting for a sign from above? Consider yourself signed.  (Photo Copyright Rob Palmer)

Nikon International Photo Contest Almost Here!

The very prestigious Nikon International Photo Contest is about to begin accepting entries--check out my Winning Picture blog for full details! The contest is open to amateurs and pros and there are lots of Nikon cameras as prizes!

New Digital Photo Contest Blog!

I know what all of your friends have been telling you over the years: your photos are good enough to win a contest. Well, your friends are probably right! But there's only one way to find out--start entering your pictures in contests...and that's exactly what my book Winning Digital Photo Contests is all about. The book has gotten a really great response and lately I've been getting a lot of info about new photo contests and so I decided that contests were such a fun topic they deserved their own blog. So I created one! I'm going to use that space to talk about what it takes to win contests, where to find great contests and to share your winning pictures with the world. So check it out! And do me a favor while you're there, click on the "follow" button (do it for this blog too if you haven't already)--it's a good way for me to know how many people are reading the blogs and you'll also see the latest postings listed on your own Dashboard.

By the way, how good are the prizes you can win in a photo contest? One of the photographers that I wrote about in the book won a photo safari to Tanzania--and another had the front cover of Popular Photography!

Contest Book Featured in Shutterbug March Issue

I just found out this week that Shutterbug magazine has run a major excerpt (spanning six pages) from my book Winning Digital Photo Contests in their March issue. The theme of this month's issue is "Edit, Organize & Enhance Your Images" which fits perfectly with one of the chapters in the book where I talk extensively about the value of tightly editing your work and creating a good organizational system so that you can present your best work to contest judges and then track all of your contest submissions. The excerpt features several great winning photos from the book and as I've said here before, the great thing about the contest book is that it's entirely illustrated by contest-winning photos from (mostly) amateur photographers. Check out the March issue next time you're at the newsstand--lots of great articles and photos.

Inspire Someone You Love, Give Them a Book!

Well, OK, since it's "Black Friday" and everyone is talking about holiday shopping , I'll join the chorus and talk about book shopping or, more importantly, book giving (and that includes giving them to yourself). Since I was a kid I've always loved getting books as gifts and since I got seriously interested in photography in my teens, I've loved getting photo books. Fortunately my father was a photographer and my mother loved art and books. My mother also knew how much a single book could change someone's life and bring them the inspiration they needed. She was very good at finding just the right book for me at the right time in my life.

When I was about 15 and going through that typical teenage angst about what my life meant and what I might do for a living someday, my mother gave me Edward Steichen's autobiography A Life in Photography. It literally changed my life. I practically slept with that book (in fact, I probably did fall alseep with it in my bed) and found it enormously comforting and inspiring to read about Steichen's career told in his own words. It was probably no small coincidence that she chose Steichen's book as the first big monograph she bought me because I'd met him as a kid (though I didn't have a clue how important he was at the time). The next year, based on Steichen writing so much about how important Alfred Stieglitz was to him, I asked for (and got) Dorothy Norman's biography of Alfred Stieglitz, An American Seer. Reading that book was such an exhilarating experience for me that I could barely sit still while I read it. Stieglitz was responsible for giving many of the great photographers their first public exposure in his famous "291" gallery and he forever changed the course of photography and art (he was also married to Georgia O'Keeffe, who has always been my favorite artist). Around that same time my mother met Ansel Adams by chance (and talked his ear off, I'm sure) in Yosemite Valley and the next year my parents gave me his amazing book The Camera. It's the best book on camera technique ever written--and it always will be.

It was in reading those books (and many others that I got as gifts) that I discovered that photography was more than a hobby, it was a passion, a way of seeing the world, a way of living--and that photography was as high a form of art as any other. My head was nearly exploding with photographic inspiration in those days and my poor parents probably realized that giving me all of those books wasn't helping their cause in getting me to take up more financially-stable career like being a lawyer or a carpenter or flipping McDonald's burgers, for that matter.

I guess the point is that books can change people's lives. Books still change my life everyday. I love the idea of these new electronic readers like Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes and Noble), but there is no thrill equal to opening the covers of a brand new book and discovering the worlds within. I will always be grateful to my parents for having a houseful of books and for turning me on to the treasures of knowledge, inspiration and adventure that they offered.

If you know someone who has an interest in photography (or any other subject, come to think of it), consider giving them something that will last them a lifetime and might change the way they look at the world (and themselves): a great book. Whether it's a monograph that shares a photographer's life work or a how-to book that helps them develop their own talents, books are an amazing bargain. I've always felt (and this isn't just because I write books for a living--because I buy a lot of books) that if you pay $25 or $50 for a book and get one great life-changing idea from it, you've just got the bargain of a lifetime. I've put a page of Amazon links to photo books on my main site and maybe they'll give you some ideas. But if you really want really want to experience the fun of giving someone a book, spend a few hours in a local bookstore and touch and explore the books yourself--and while you're buying books for other people, maybe you'll buy one for yourself. You deserve it!

Oh, wait, I almost forgot to plug my own new book Winning Digital Photo Contests! Wheww. Glad I remembered. Happy shopping.

Digital Image Cafe Interview: Read More About the Contest Book

As I mentioned earlier this week, my new book Winning Digital Photo Contests has just been released (ahead of schedule, which is always nice) and it's already generating some nice media coverage. Earlier this week Todd MacMillan, founder of Digital Image Cafe, did an interview with me about the new book and it was posted today, so take a look if you have a few minutes. Digital Image Cafe is a great photo-sharing and photo-community site and it was their Photo-of-the-Day contests that helped inspired the book--so be sure to look at their winning photos while you're there. It's a very fun site with tons of wonderful photos and you can read more about their mission here.

Win Photo Contests: Read My New Book!

O.K., a little bit of shameless self promotion: I have a new book out called Winning Digital Photo Contests (Lark Books) and online stores (Barnes & Noble and Amazon among others) just began shipping it yesterday.

If you've ever wanted to win a photo contest or would just like to see some of the amazing photos that have won them, you'll love this book. The entire book is illustrated by photos--almost all of them shot by amateur photographers--that have won photo contests. The photographs will blow you away; their quality, diversity and sheer beauty is just incredible. And you'll not only read my thoughts on the photos and suggestions for how to take them, but you'll read comments from the photographers on how they made the pictures, why they chose that particular subject and why they shot the photo at that particular moment. Also, the meta data (exposure, camera, lens, etc.) is included for the vast majority of shots.

There are also profiles of two amateur shooters that have won enormous numbers of photo contests: Heather McFarland and Robert Ganz. When you read their stories and see their photos you will just be in awe. Honestly, their stories will inspire you. There is also an interview that I did with National Geographic photographer Jim Richardson--who has judged hundreds of photo contests--about what it takes to catch the eye of a contest judge.

I had the idea for the book about a year ago but I when I approached the publisher I told them that the only way the book would succeed would be if we could use contest-winning photos for the majority of the illustrations. Amazingly, they agreed (and probably lived to regret the logistical nightmare that decision unleashed!). We looked at thousands of winning photos from around the world, narrowed them down to the top 100+ photos and then contacted and interviewed all of the photographers. It was a grueling process at times, but it was also a lot of fun. In fact, as much as I like seeing my own photos illustrating my books, I couldn't have had more fun or been more excited about choosing the photographs for this book.

You'll also find a lot of information about how to find contests, what sorts of images get judges' attention and just a lot of good picture-taking advice. Entering contests is a great way to motivate yourself to shoot new pictures, it's an excellent way to share you photos with a worldwide audience and, of course, you could win some really cool prizes--trips, cameras, workshops, etc. So don't hide your photos in your hard drive, show the world! And we'll be updating the book regularly, so if you do win, let me know and we'll consider them for the next edition.