Photography As A Competitive Sport

I love taking photos. Hopefully, my skills have been increasing over time. Now with the new camera, I feel like I have the tools to be a better photographer, maybe even a good photographer.

I go around the web reading as much as I can, trying to learn technique from others. Some of what I’ve read has been helpful, though there have been head scratching moments as well. I especially like Digital Photography Review and its camera specific forums.

More than anything else, it is interesting to see when others post their best shots. How did they do it? Do people really have that much forethought before clicking away? I can do better. I have done worse.

Last night, after leaving DPReview I went to a site I hadn’t visited in a long time, DPChallenge This is a site that runs photography contests. There’s always something being judged, another open for entries to be judged next week.

When I saw the open topic, Team Sports, I smiled. I had some shots from Steffie’s field hockey game taken within the time frame the challenge provides. I entered one.

Now a day later I can see how my shot ranks – about 6.3 of 10. That number will change a bit as more people like or dislike my shot.

Originally, I though 6.3 was pretty awful – and then I looked back at some previous weeks. These people are really tough judges. A 6.3 won’t win the challenge for me, but it’s a reasonably good grade.

The next topic for entries is “Touch.” I haven’t come up with anything yet, but I’m thinking. Shooting specifically to fit a topic really is a challenge. I think I’m up to it.