Remember the photo contest I mentioned in a park about 30 miles from where
I live?
Compared notes about it with another local photographer . . . a guy who
does magnificent landscapes and took a 1st Place in the photo show I just
closed last weekend. Seems the rules for the photo contest he was given
were different from the ones I got. Called the organization sponsoring it
and tracked down the Official Keeper of the Rules (took two days of
calls). They weren't printed on the handbill. That should have been a
clue to me there might be other problems.
Not only must all the photography be done on May 21st starting at 1 PM, it
ends at 3 PM! All the photography must be done within a two hour time
window . . . starting about 15 minutes after the Sun's zenith at about 70
degrees above the horizon due south and ending with the Sun about 55
degrees above the horizon in the southwest.
The Moon offers a number of opportunities entirely lost:
The 21st is two days before a Full Moon. A couple days before a Full Moon,
it has a full disc although it's not quite evenly illuminated. On the 21st
it will rise about two hours before sunset. Under these conditions with a
clear sky, it's possible to enhance a suitable landscape photograph toward
the south and south-southeast just before sunset with a Moon in the
sky. There is also the possibility of doing landscapes well-illuminated by
the rising Moon after dark (if blessed with clear sky).
I am not thrilled.
There are plenty of other opportunities and venues for my work; I don't
need this one. What bothers me much more:
(a) Submission requirements are geared for general public
participation. Not a Bad Thing _by_itself_. Could be a Good Thing were it
not for . . .
(b) The painfully short two-hour time window is one of the worst times of
day for photographing nearly all outdoor subjects. It encourages using the
"Shotgun Method Followed by Prayer Vigil" with the desperate hope that
something worthwhile results from a two-hour frenzy. It isn't conducive to
making good photographs; it has an extremely low "Keeper" yield.
(c) The contest is sponsored by an art association in partnership with a
local well-known professional photographer who has been in business over 20
years. They should know better than to structure a contest in a manner
that seriously hampers the making of good photos.
(d) Strong likelihood numerous participants from the general public will
continue to be discouraged by their photos from this event, some of whom
might pursue photography more seriously if it were conducive to making good
photographs. This is an opportunity to foster greater interest in the
photographic arts being lost by an art association and local professional.
I may not go . . . driving time and fuel cost for two hours of photography
isn't worth it. If I do go, it will be to do much more over a much longer
period than during the contest time. It will depend on weather conditions,
and if perchance something that meets my personal standards happened to be
done between 1-3PM, I might enter it.
-- John
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