Selecting Pictres for Competition

[jhnel]

I have to select 4 pictures out of 15 for a photo competition.  I would like forum members to look at the collection at the link below, and let me know which 4 pictures they like best.  Could you email your selection to:

 jamesnel@global.co.za  

Your assistance is greatly appreciated.
My competition album can be found at:

http://s40.photobucket.com/albums/e222/picturesjames/

Any other suggestions will be much appreciated
Regards

James

[larkvi]

Have you tried black and white for 11 and 13? Or increasing the contrast for 6?

Judges are unpredictable: I would choose 15, one of 3/4, any of 6/11/13 that you can improve with a little tweaking, and perhaps 2 for its novelty, to play to a wide range of tastes--but I am not a judge.

[wolfnowl]

In my experience, it can be almost impossible to say what will be judged well in a competition.  I've seen 'winning' images that I would have tossed in the can if I had taken them.  I also seen quite beautiful (to my eye) pictures that were passed over.  Depends on a variety of factors including who's behind the competition, the theme, the focus of the competition, etc...

Anyway, good luck!

Mike.

[Jonathan Wienke]

One can't answer this kind of question without knowing what contest you're entering. To win a contest, one must know what criteria the judges use to define a "good" photo. There are many possibilities: technical excellence, realism, emotional impact, uniqueness (finding an unusual perspective of something common, a different lighting technique, or devising an unusual color or tonal look), abstractness, eroticism, narrative/story, mood, humor, etc. Without knowing which criteria the judges value and how they are weighted, any entry you send in is a total crapshoot. There should be some written guidance in the contest rule, and looking at previous winning images is a good idea as well.

[russell a]

Jonathan listed a number of possible considerations.  Even then, the selection may depend on what the judge(s) "had for breakfast".  I think the best strategy is to enter one's own sense of what is best.  Unless one's aim is to become a "professional contest participant" (a dubious endeavor), why should you try to mold your work to meet someone else's criteria?  Close your eyes.  Roll the dice.  BTW, many contests are essentially fund-raisers to benefit the contest sponsors.  Know how much you are willing to invest to "play artist".

[to-mas]

In my experience, it can be almost impossible to say what will be judged well in a competition.  I've seen 'winning' images that I would have tossed in the can if I had taken them.  I also seen quite beautiful (to my eye) pictures that were passed over.  Depends on a variety of factors including who's behind the competition, the theme, the focus of the competition, etc...

Anyway, good luck!

Mike.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=89513\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

exactly, sometimes i dont understand how can some photo win.
like you said,sometimes i see on first places photos which i will leave in the darkness of my harddrive