In my last article, I talked about marketing your photos locally. This article will concentrate on photo contests as a way to market your photos.

Many photographers view photo contests as a way to achieve recognition for their work. Landing a big prize can be a great way to get your photography in front of the public and potential buyers but it depends on the contest. Not every photo contest is a winner. There are photo contests and there are photo scams. Smart photographers learn the difference.

Legitimate photo contests are fairly easy to spot. They are sponsored by a reputable magazine, organization, public park or government agency. The winning entries are guaranteed a prize and prestige. The prize can be money, merchandise or something as simple as a ribbon. The prestige can be publication of the image in a special issue of the magazine, an exhibition of winning prints in a public place, a traveling exhibit of the prints, and maybe an all expense paid trip to the awards ceremony.

National magazines like Nature's Best, National Wildlife, and Birder's World run annual photo contests that attract the best images from photographers of all skill levels. One of my images won an honorable mention in a Nature's Best contest and I still brag about it to this day.

Wildlife refuges, state park, art organizations and environmental groups sponsor photo contests all over the country. These contests offer prize money or ribbons plus display in public space or publications.

Then there are photo scams dressed up to look like photo contests. These can also be sponsored by magazines, organizations, parks and agencies. The difference is the winning entries are not rewarded prizes or prestige. The photo contest sponsor simply wants the images. They want the best images they can get for free and they get those images under the guise of a photo contest.

A large governmental organization runs one of these photo contests every year in my area. They advertise that the winning entries will be used on billboards and in ads promoting our fair city. Wow! This organization doesn't have to pay a photographer $4,000 for the use of the photo on a billboard; some fool will give the photo to them for free.

In addition, photographers "grant" all rights to the winning images to the organization forever. Wow, again! This organization just got a collection of photos that they can use when and where they see fit. The foolish photographer "granted" them the rights to a beautiful photograph in perpetuity in exchange for a certificate saying they'd won a place in the photo contest.

An environmental organization is currently running a watered down version of this same contest. The winning photos will be used in a book promoting the area. This same organization is paying full professional rates to the writer, book designer, book publisher, and book distributor but will get the photos for free because they are running a photo contest. Photographers from around the area will enter their photos not realizing this organization has money and usually pays a reduced but respectable rate for photography.

Winning or placing well in a photo contest can give a photographers prestige and bragging rights. That prestige is watered down, though, when fellow photographers know the contest wasn't legitimate. There's no respect when the photography community knows a peer gave away a photo for a cheap certificate.

On the other hand, there is a lot of respect for the winners of legitimate photo contest. Legitimate photo contests are a great way to let the best photos show regardless of the name recognition of the photographer.

How can you spot a legitimate photo contest? You and your photos are recognized in a manner appropriate for the contest. You retain the rights to your photos. The sponsor of the contest didn't run the contest as an excuse to build a large collection of photos for future advertising or editorial use.

So go ahead and enter your outstanding images in photo contests. Keep your eyes open, though, and read the fine print in the entry rules. It's easy to spot the good contests.

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