Here are some arguments against and for entering these contests.

Do Not Enter!

1. Losing is a bummer, if you consider not winning to be the same as losing.
2. The judges of the contests are usually photographers, not consumers. Photographers have an entirely different way of rating photography, especially that of other photographers, but consumers are the ones many photographers want to please…that is sell to.
3. Contests cost a fair amount of money, especially if you enter more than one, or multiple images in a single contest. Of course, there is always a deal to enter more than one, which tempts one to enter images that are less “trophy worthy”. Unless you have some exceptional photography, your entry fees go to pay the more advanced photographers and the owners of the operation.
4. There thousands of photographers out there with the time, fitness level and skills to take images as good or better than what you might get. If you are a part-time or recreational photographer, you just don’t have as many opportunities to take exceptional photos.
5. You realize your photography is still mediocre. You may need a few more years under you belt before your work might compete in these contest. That means your time and money is better spent developing skills through workshops, personal experiences in the field, YouTube tutorials and other post processing training.
6. Some contests allow or encourage cheating. Well, they don’t call it cheating, but let’s just call it heavy handed editing with stretched mountains, moved objects or something else closer to that somewhat negative phrase, “artificial intelligence”. If you are more interested in composition or a unique aspect of photography, your work might not draw the necessary attention.
7. Don’t enter if you are going to be a bad sport about not winning. If you have a hard time being happy for the winners, stay away from the contests.

By all means, enter!

1. You may win. That could be a real feather in your cap, or at least a big ego booster. It also means you will often get a coffee table book with your winning image prominently displayed in the book. How good will that feel!
2. You can brag about it on Facebook or Instagram, thus getting even more accolades from your fan club. Or you can post in on your website. 
3. You will support other photographers who are running the ship. I know, this is not a real reason, but I did feel just a tad good by supporting other photographers who have the energy and time to run this sort of operation. If I were broke, I would not have felt so good.
4. If you plan ahead, this can be a goal. That is, your goal may be to make images that are worthy of winning, rather than snapping as many shots as you can of a particular scene or bird. You will learn that you have to study more, practice more, be in the field more.
5. You will pay attention to previous winners of these contests. Most of the contests have a “Top 100” or so. Viewing those images can be a real motivator.

These last two reasons are the real reasons you should enter these contests at some time. Just the fact that you are entering makes you take a more serious look at your own work, improve your work and feel proud of your work. When I was working towards accreditation as a cosmetic dentist, I received a couple of very sad letters (sad to me). They said something like, “Although you may have provided the best service possible to your patient and the patient is likely thrilled to have such fine dentistry, it does not meet the criteria required for accreditation. This made me work harder. It was a long process in my case, but I did achieve this goal, one of the bigger accomplishments of my life. While judging photography is much more subjective (there are very few standards that must be met), the growth process can be similar.

If you are prone to enter contests as a challenge to yourself to get better, then by all means enter the contests. If your sole motivation is that you have this one outstanding image where you happened to do the right thing at the right time and place, then participating in these contests will be much less meaningful to you in the long run. Take a look at the rules for each contest. Some allow images that you took several years ago, others want just more recent images. Review as many images as you can from previous contestants, not just the winners. First and foremost, shoot for yourself and not the contest. 

Will I enter again? I don’t know. I don’t like throwing money away, but I am motivated to go out and take some images that might just impress more than myself and my Facebook following. If I don’t see those images, I won’t enter again.

Like me, you may just feel you won when you lost.

Addition after original publication of this blog. An excellent article by Sarah Marino that may help if you participate in photo contests is here.

RS