My Photography Journey
I always struggle with what to write in my blog. I wonder what my clients, my followers, my friends, and the general public will find interesting. Well, going out on a limb here to talk about an area that I knew nothing about before becoming a professional photographer and hoping you find it somewhat interesting and educational.
I am talking about photographic competition. I first heard about photographic competition when I started attending the Dallas Professional Photography Association monthly meetings several years ago. This was before COVID so they were actually displaying printed images and judging them. During COVID, as with many other things, it moved to being online/digital and has remained there. I gathered that this monthly competition was sort of a big thing among the photographers but it seemed out of my reach. I was just happy to be learning the basics and honing my skills. The members are all very encouraging about photography in general and with learning and they especially encourage others to enter print competition.
Over time, this repeated encouragement starts to find its way into your head and you begin to start entertaining the idea of possibly submitting an image. After all, they said it will help you become a better photographer – although I wasn’t sure how at the time. Fast forward to last year when I submitted my first image into competition. You learn pretty quickly that it requires thick skin and a mindset that this is not about you personally but helping you as the photographer become better technically. It can make you really nervous waiting for your scores by 5 judges and then hearing their comments and what they would have liked to have seen in the image.
Fast forward to now and I am starting to get the hang of things, although I still have much to learn and areas in which to grow. I really appreciate how encouraging the other members are as well as the judges – some are from our local guild and a 2-3 will be from around the country, so the judging is a cross section of a variety of experienced and accomplished photographers.
The images you see posted here are some of my images that I entered into competition, one is my first image ever entered, and 4 of which have done well in competition. I'll let you guess which is which and see how discerning your eye is!
And there is not just one competition – we have them at the local level, state level, national level, and international level. I have now received 4 “merits” at the national level – these merits count toward a Master of Photography degree which I hope to earn in the next year or so. I will need 9 more of these merits to go along with the other required merits I have already attained.
And, just as they said, I can now say I agree that entering photographic competition makes you a better photographer. I think more about the technical elements and details when I am photographing – whether it is a person, family, or landscapes. I still have much more to learn but isn’t that a great thing!
Competition aside, I want to include here part of a paragraph that I wrote in this blog post when I was retiring from UT Southwestern which is referring to why I want to do professional photography full time. It brings me "great satisfaction when I am able to provide portraits of their family that they truly love and are excited to display in their homes. Knowing that I have been able to capture their family connection and then preserve it and bring them joy every time they see it, excites me and challenges me to keep learning more and getting better!"
That is something worth aiming for!