By Bruce Schaefer

Be an Award-Winning Photographer – Like Me!

Have you ever wished you could be an award-winning photographer? Like Emil Parkarklis, star of iPhone Photography School, or Mark Hemmings, internationally known photographer and instructor, whose entreaties to take their online courses flood your inbox with free videos?

Well, you can, in just a few months, following this easy 2-step process:

1. Submit an entry to the next SSCC Novice competition.
2. Repeat Step 1 until you win your award, usually within 2 months.

How can this be? Because so few images are entered in the Novice category these days. Last month, there were 8 entries for the Projected category; 2 of them were mine, giving me a 25% chance.

Why don’t more members enter? Who knows. Fear of criticism perhaps? Fear of failure? That shouldn’t be, because only winners are revealed. The also-rans remain anonymous until they also win one day.

Whatever the reason, it’s an opportunity that is sadly missed by people who want to improve their image skills. Judges not only critique your offerings for mistakes, oversights, or blemishes that bring an image down, but they also offer suggestion for improving future shots. Even if you don’t win, you win. The result of critique is that you gradually begin seeing more of life around you.

So do it: go through your pictures, find some you like, crop and adjust them to your liking, and send them in next month. Enjoy the thrill of seeing your product appear on the big screen before a live audience and a certified judge. Sometimes it’s humbling, sometimes it’s a cause for celebration. But it’s always a hoot of some sort.

Pantheon of Award-winning Photographers, 2023