To listen to the entire FroKnowsPhoto RAWtalk Episode #46 please click above.
This is an excerpt from RAWtalk 46 where I discuss a Photo Contest that is “legitimate” but does something that I find to be a little interesting. They try and sell you a book with your photo in it if you have been selected for the finalist group. That group though is 1400 photographers out of 10,000.
I take a straight up honest look at this topic since two Fro readers asked me my thoughts on it because they entered.
Again this is all my opinion, the photo contest and business they are running is legitimate. There are winners and they do nothing wrong or against the law. I am simply giving my opinion of the entire process.
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Funny, I was searching for Gurushots and this video came up… why can't I shake the feeling that Gurushots is a big old scam ?
I once participated a photo contest by Canon, which turned out to be a scam. When they announced the winners and published the galleries – none of the names matched up….
I was had by situation of simular nature. Not posting any pictures. But taking advantage of newbies. Eventually it was a free entry, but not so much. Thanks, you can be more direct. I think honest companys would woul s
Nikon did some mega shadies here lately. They allowed people to enter a contest despite the fact that judges had already picked the winners, and they still advertised the contest
Suprise, surprise, they get rights to use the image when you enter it.
I actually made top 100 and got an honorable mention…didn't buy the book..lol
gurushots photography game ?
The contestants have to purchase the book. You’re paying for your own image & the book. It’s only sold to the contestants. It’s a scam. 1400 photogs x $50 that’s 70k just for selling the book! Wake Up ppl
Thanks for the heads up!
I'm an amateur musician. When I sent a copy of my album to the Library of Congress to be copyrighted, I started getting letters from "Taxi" which was a service where I pay for them to funnel my music to producers and record labels. That sounded like a scam also.
so basically they are making money by selling other peoples photos, plain and simple. i think i will start downloading the best quality hi res photos created by other photographers i can find, and create my own website where i can sell them. isnt that similar to what they are doing. each photographer should get the book for free
Caveat Emptor
This sounds like those poem books. I was "technically" published (so they say) many times as a teenager… but I never bought any of the books, so… they could have been lying.
I participated to that contest (2017 edition I think), received that same letter and got a honorable mention. Did not buy the book though. I've always been contrary to having to pay that amount of money to buy a book which is being sold based on my and other work. It doesn't make sense.
hehe, you said doodoo 3:00
" In my opinion " ( I don't wanna get sued) There is a copyright law that allows you to use names and footage for commentary or critique.
Jared knows smooshe
Hmm, just an idea here: If your photo is in the top 14% then you get a notice saying they're publishing a book of the top 14% and they hope you'll buy it. But if your photo is in the top 13% then the notice says they'll publish a book of photos in the top 13%. The same for the top 12%, and so on. Anytime you'll pay for them to "publish" the book they'll do so. At $55 you're covering their costs anyway, so why should they care? And don't forget the money from advertisers! You are both the producer of free content and the customer! What a clever business idea! 🙂
I opine you might try "I opine all of what follows/all of the following:" either expression to save lots of "I opine"'s.
Not legit, they keep promising your photo will appear but you have to pre buy the book first, and at the last hurdle your photo gets cut. There selling books thats it.
A few years ago I entered a photo completion that was spear headed by the Sydney Botanical Gardens in conjunction with Kew Gardens in London. And part of the deal is they would critique the photos that were entered but at a cost. I worked by butt off for 8 months photographing mostly native flowers, wildlife etc. I entered 101 photos because I wanted to see how I would do with the competition and to see what I needed to improve. Well out of the 101 photos I entered, they only critiqued 8 photos and in almost every photo they said I used photo shop. And I've never used photo shop in my life and don't even have it in my computer. So here I spent all this money to have only 8 photos critiqued. What a scam!!! Now in retrospect, my photos never had a chance in hell of being accepted because in Australia they hate Americans with a passion. And there is no way any Australian Institution would allow an American to do well in one of their major competitions. It was a waste of time spending months going here and there trying to get good photos to enter. I will never enter an Australian national competition again. Since this experience, I've decided to do a photo story on the location of Sydney's second airport and it will also be a book based on 2 years of photographing. Now the area is closed but luckily many times I had the whole area to myself, it was a photographer's gold mine. I would like to see the Sydney Botanical Gardens and Kew Gardens try and stop me from publishing my book and plus having exhibitions in Australia and overseas. And I will make it known to people how my photos were discriminated against because they were taken by an American.
Seems as if you're all worked up about too much. They want the form postmarked by a date and they claim they'll let you know by the day BEFORE that date. So wait until you hear if you got in the top 104 and then walk to the post office and get your envelope postmarked. Have you never paid taxes? Post office postmark date is all that matters. Also, we know you're not a lawyer and this is all your opinion. But even if you said 'in my opinion' 40,000 more times, you could still slander someone if your comments painted them in a bad light/defamed them. Would have been a better video if it was 80% shorter, but I feel the same way about most of your stuff. It's good core info but could be shared in 1/4 the time. Oh, Todd is often funny. And Stephen (Steven?) rocks. Thanks for making these videos.
Thanks for sharing this info Jared, its super useful to be aware of such practices. Sounds like a money making contest more than anything else. I wonder if there are any mentions of how many copies of the photo-book will be issued and where they will be distributed…? If I won a photo contest to gain more visibility as a photographer I would for sure like to know where the book can be purchased!
they essentially you used a photo contest to get photos good enough to print a photo book, without paying for the images
I've seen some contest winners and just thought 'how the hell did that win'!!!!
I do have one of their books and it is a very nice book. There are only 7 ads in the whole book, all located in the front, and it is almost 400 pages. Each person that places gets a full page, honorable mentions are 3 a page, and finalists are 6-9 to a page. The pictures for the finalists are a good size. The ads are not overwhelming and they do not have ads on the pages where the images are, about 95% of the book is dedicated to the images. Now I can see what Jared is saying about the whole book thing. It would make sense to just give a copy of the book to every person whose image will appear in it.
Jared, I will participate of a photo contest at my work. According to the rules, I have to apply the original photos. It won't be allowed to use any software to modify the original files. So, which tips would you give in order to take great pictures? PS: no more than 100 people will participate. In addition, they won't make money using our photos. My camera is the Canon T3i, and I use the 18-135mm kit lens.
What MIC did you use for this?
BBO Poker Tables
who made your poker table?
I was really having trouble figuring out exactly whose opinion you were expressing, Jared. 😉
I agree sir and I feel that often I have perceived the same within music. These can feel pimp-esque to me. You can pay to have a credential. I have even just decided that, Jared: if you pay me $100, I will rate you are one of the top 25 youtube channels in the world. But this is limited-time offer.
Thanks Jared!!! Run away from any such contest. If price is right made you by a ticket just to get into the studio, that wouldnt even fly! think about it!
I was just about to post this. It was poetry.com Its a definite no-no. You are basically giving away your picture for free and then sell you back your photo with minimal advertising what you actually should be paid for.
They already have a great consumer base bacuse you entering in a photo contest means you are aspiring to be a photographer so you probably would like to be in a book and show it off to your friends. Now they give you that oppurtunity to do so. That's the clincher!!!
Only the people who agree to buy a book, will be published in the book (in my opinion)
~10000 x $5 for contest entering, 1400 x $55 for each book + a roughly $100k for their advertising – looks like a good ripoff to me 😉
Hey!! you won!!! now give me my $55 bucks!! lol
This is simple.
It's a scam.
They get pictures, make a book, and will probably sell the book to most people "selected". The book has no value. It's BS.
I had a friend that entered the photography forum beat of high school and college photography. They did the same thing such as not tell her of she got a place or not, and had her buy books. Of course she had hopes that she would get a first place so her entire family bought a book. She ended up being a finalist. The worst part is, now she writes on her website that she's internationally recognized and published. Lol.
Did he say.. do..do..?
Jared dances around what he really wants to say. This is a 100% f'in scam.
In Portugal, me and some colleges noticed that some companies create photo contests when they need new images for advertising or other purposes, one of the rules makes the photographer give away the legal rights of the images to the company and the prizes are damn cheap, such like, 1st prize – staying in a resort for the weekend (+-100€), 2nd prize – like a dinner for two in a fancy restaurant (+-50€) and 3rd prize – a 4gb flash drive (+-10€).
Thats the way for not paying a pro for the job 🙂
Cheeky competition! This competition looks like a trick business idea to get content for a book! So not only generally you have to pay to be part of a competition but, your work is going to be sold as part of a book … which is also going to contain adverts.
Bottle of water looks like it says "Deer Piss"
Why posting the same videos from few days ago? For second time already….