Check your image before submission for competition

There are a few things that people fail to do before entering images into club competition, hopefully this will help you. Also remember that the judges are unpaid and do a lot of work preparing for each competition. For the first round of looking at images you probably only have a few seconds to make the second cut especially if they have a lot to look at. So, who is the judge? What do they like? We try to provide a link to their website on the programme page if they have one.

Judges have seen it all so are looking for something a bit different for you to stand out. You could have lighting conditions that makes your image special, it could be an image that is taken at a different angle, an animal showing some behaviour, or your editing can add that little extra.

Try to shoot for that competition. You can see what competitions the club has had in previous years so plan.

With Photography it is often all about the light so decide when it is the best time to take that image.

Have you read and understood the competition rules and how to submit them?	This will help the competition secretary who has a lot of images to look at.
Give yourself plenty of time	Have you looked at an image the next day and wondered why you edited it the way you have. Try to have the images ready in advance of a competition and spend some time away from them so you can look at them with fresh eyes before you submit them. If you do them quickly you will forget things and make mistakes.
Have you done a border patrol and kept the frame clean?	Are there any elements touching the edges of your image, Items that are distracting, rubbish that does not need to be there. Check competition rules before removal but try to keep the boarders as clean as possible
Have you any sensor spots?	If you use Lightroom go into the develop section, use the healing tool, or press Q on your keyboard. At the bottom just below your image you will find a box to click called visualize spot. This then lets you see the spots that you need to remove.
Has your image the following - a focal point, subject or mood?	Images need at least one dominant subject matter. What is the judge going to look at? Where do your eyes go when you look at the image? Do they have a clear path? If not the judge will be confused as to what he is meant to be looking at.
How do you want your image to look?	Really think about the cropping, do you want your image to look the same size as straight out of camera? Is it a landscape which might look better as a 16:9 Would a square crop help your image or a portrait alignment look better? What suits your subject best? Does your image have impact as that is what the judge is looking for?
Don't compete with yourself	If you submit similar images into a competition or in open competition on the same subject or theme? A judge will probably just pick the best.If you submit different styles of image or say with the landscape competition a seascape, mountain, and woodland theme then you will not be competing against yourself.
Have a look at previous entries	This should give you guidance to the competition and what is expected.
Really think about the title of your image	Judges want the title to say something about the image so really think about it. Some judges will deduct points for images that do not relate to the title. In the nature competition particular rules apply.

More technical aspects

Is your horizon straight?	This has been the stumbling point of a lot of great images. And is easily corrected in Lightroom or Photoshop.
Do you have any elements that cut the boarders of images?	Is this intentional? Don't cut the lower portion of a body or arms, branches of a tree, building etc. in an awkward position, make sure that where you do so looks intentional, not that it just did not fit.
Noise	Does your image have a lot of noise?Software such as Topaz can look at correcting this and also lightroom and photoshop can help.
Sharpening	Do you have Halos on your image because you have over sharpened it? Don't globally sharpen the image but make your focal point sharper.
Is your image under or over exposed?	This is a common theme amongst judges.Is your image too light or dark, is it intentional if not then it needs correcting.
Do you have clipped highlights or blacks?	Judges will check this, and it will lose you points if this is the case. In lightroom and Photoshop it is possible to show clipping in the histogram.
Do you have any strange artifacts appearing in your image?	This can result from poor processing.
Are any elements blurred?	If this is intentional great, if not does it enhance the image? Can you crop to remove it
Are you putting on a vignette?	Is it too strong? Can you see it? If so it probably is.
Don't over process	Heavy filters, bad HDR and other effects will distract from the original image. Adjust colours, shadows and highlights to make your image sparkle.
Do you have any overly bright areas?	This is commonly picked up by judges. These might need muting.
Did you use an ultra wide angled lens?	Do you have any distortions?
Are your colour tones correct?	Flowers like poppies are very difficult to get to a true red.

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