I was looking around at a couple photo contest and noticed that some charge an entry fee and some don't...
So I figured I'd ask more experienced photographers than myself, would you pay to enter if you could win a new camera outfit?
Depends. Some (most) contests are poorly disguised attempts to harvest images or make money on entry fees. But there are a lot of legitimate ones, mostly non-profit organizations. Many charge a small entry fee to cover the overhead of handling prints.
Examples: Smithsonian, National Geographic, US National Parks, State Fairs, Cultural Organzations. The Iowa State Fair is a big one. Averages over 2,000 prints from 800 people. Charges $5 per print to enter.
redcrown wrote:
Depends. Some (most) contests are poorly disguised attempts to harvest images or make money on entry fees. But there are a lot of legitimate ones, mostly non-profit organizations. Many charge a small entry fee to cover the overhead of handling prints.
Examples: Smithsonian, National Geographic, US National Parks, State Fairs, Cultural Organzations. The Iowa State Fair is a big one. Averages over 2,000 prints from 800 people. Charges $5 per print to enter.
That makes $10,000 in entry fees for the State Fair example. Now...how much of that is "prize" money or donated to some cause etc..
Or..is it used to rent/light/clean the pavillion/venue so the show can happen in the first place?
I think the use of images for promotion of the event should be considered a 'right' given to the show by the photographer. I don't think the 'rights' should extend beyond the use of the image in a brochure/book/poster/website that promotes the show itself.
There are similar "books" that feature annual contests with submission fees. You have to wonder how much is made by the publisher (perhaps a savvy photog) who sponsors these and gets thousands of entrance fees and then sells the books to the participants too.
