I recently entered five images into the RISE international photography awards. These awards are open to photographers worldwide in 9 different categories- from newborn, to wedding to pets!
They received over 2000 entries last year, and while final numbers for 2019 haven’t been released yet, they were expecting close to 5000 in 2019!
It was my first year entering the awards and as I said, I entered 5 images. I am very pleased to announce that of those 5, I received 4 bronze awards! I also find it incredibly interesting to receive the feedback from judges. It also often shows how subjective art can be. For example, the image of Pepsi and his gorgeous family, one judge said it needed to be cropped in more, one suggested I shoot even wider and crop less, the other said it was perfect! A real goldilocks situation! The majority of comments were positive for all 4 of the images, though there were little bits of criticism too. The majority of the judges also didn't like the fire hydrant in the image of Cecil! Though I disagree with them, and this was done purposefully, it still gives me plenty to think about when shooting next time about what others may be seeing. And taking a bit of criticism is the only way to improve! These are my images!
