Thoughts On Print Competition

By Travis Hill

When I think about images for print competition, I try to think more about qualities of art.   Qualities such as color, posing, texture, and lighting.  I look to incorporate the things I have learned in my art classes into my photography.  Vincent Van Gough is my favorite artist.  His paintings were different than other artists of his time.  I want my photography to be different.

The judges reward unusual and creative photographs with higher scores.  This is the reason why I shoot a lot in infrared.  It is so unusual that it gets attention. 

Also, I try to look for things that will be distracting. T hings like signs or garbage cans.  Distracting areas lower your print score.  I have learned to avoid these types of distractions when I am setting up my photos.  It is important to look around carefully at everything before you take a picture.