Competition Review - So Far

Part of this module is to enter one Competition or more, or to produce a Live Brief, I needed to start looking at some possible Photography Competitions to enter.  I was looking for competitions that would suit my work and for competitions that have a category that would be relevant to my work. I also wanted the competitions to be well known and preferably free entry.  

The first competition I have found an would like to enter is 'The Sony World Photography Awards'.  This competition is free to enter and has three award options, I would choose the open competition option which has a number of different categories in it. This is good because I can enter a few images into different groups. The deadline for entries is 4th January 2013. I have looked at previous winners and seen how varied it can be.  This is a great first choice for competitions and I have a few ideas on which Images I would submit. 

The second competition I have found is called 'The Elements 2013 Photography Contest'.  I actually found this competition after I had come up with the idea of 'Elements' for my live brief, the idea was to produce the images for the brief and enter them into this competition. This competition stood out to me when I was researching, because 'Elements' as a theme has always interested me and it is something I have thought about doing so many times. My idea's are still open as I might not be able to do the element idea for my brief. the deadline is 16th January 2013. 

The third competition I have considered is the 'Prix de la Photographie Paris' competition.  This competition I have researched about and looked at the previous winners. I think it is a competition that I will enter in my own time, as it is a Self Portrait contest, so I would need the time to produce one, ontop of all my other work. But it is still one that I would like to consider. The deadline is 31st January 2013. I was recommended this competition by my Tutor's so I will remember this one for the future. 

The fourth competition, I have seen many times before, but not really ever considered it.  It's called the 'Nikon Photo Contest' and is a huge competition. One good reason for entering this competition is because the call for entries is further back than any other I have found recently.  The deadline date is the 28th February 2013, this will give me more time to get prepared and enter it.  There is no set theme therefore any image can be submitted. I personally think that categories can be better purely because then the category is fitted to my particular interest or style. 

And the last competition I have found that has interested me so far is 'the print space competition'. I found this competition on facebook because I like theprintspace's page and follow their updates. I saw this photo posted and it interested me. It is a self portrait competition and I have some that I could possibly enter. The deadline for this is the 22nd January 2013.  

These are jus a few of the competitions that I have found so far in my research. I will look at alot more photography competitions and maybe some online magazine competitions. It is always good to submit images to contests every month, as a chance of being seen by more possible clients or employers. I think that I need to build up a bigger image base before I enter every month but I definitely have images of mine that I would submit to competitions to date. 

I think that this part of Professional Practice is essential to me as a brand 'Suzi-Rae Photography' because competitions are a great way of connecting myself to other photographers in the same place. It is a great way of building up a professional contact list of possible working positions. This is something I am really looking into doing a lot more.  I still haven't decided if I will complete a live brief, but I am sure about entering at least one competition too.  

Angus Fraser: The Professional Practitioner

Angus Fraser has been one of my Tutor's in University for throughout the whole of second year and for some of third year.  He has always inspired us, to be able to get to the stage he is at as a photographer.  I had seen some of his work before when we first met him in class but for this lecture I saw the full range of the work he has produced throughout his photographic life.

This presentation to me was very useful as I knew that I would have to create my own presentation of my own photographic life very soon.  He started from the very beginning of his photography and then talked about how he entered competitions and got offered different jobs.  Here in this image below is a list of the main points in Angus Fraser's photographic life, I wrote this down in my notebook so I would remember what stages he has done, so it would be useful for me to look at in the future.

I find it interesting looking at a timeline of different successful photographers and how they reached where they are today because I believe that one day I can reach my goals and go far as a photographer. It proves that entering photography competitions is very essential to be seen and heard, which is one of the sections of this module, entering competitions can lead to call backs from potential employers, as shown above in Angus's life timeline, he received call back's and was offered jobs working with 'John Lewis', 'Voderphone', 'Lexus' and 'Virgin'.  He spoke a lot about making sure that your Portfolio is Stylised!! This is so there isn't too much variety and if a certain type of employer notice's that I have a particular style they like, it is then easier to be offered a job. This is something I need to check up on and make sure all of my images are to a similar style. Submitting images to Taylor Wessing and AOP awards are also things on my list to do. 

Introduction to the Year Ahead

The first lecture consisted of going through the whole year and everything that we were going to cover. The content about, expectations, assignment, time management and guide-notes. We discussed all the tasks that we would be completing and how all of it is relevant to my work.  On my two previous posts I wrote what is included within this module, here are my notes from class and what I wrote, that I need to do:

Competitions is one of the main sections, and I have a couple in mind already.  My notes consist, of me telling myself what I need to do for this module. The topics such as making a living and publication folder will be covered in separate blog posts where I can explain more about them.  I have already made the blog, and am writing it now, and deadline dates are something I need to keep in mind. Much of this will be explained and shown in the next couple of posts. 

Brighton Photo Biennial

I was able to go on a photography trip with my University to Brighton to see the 'Brighton Photo Biennial 2012'.  It was a really helpful trip and I was able to see a number of small exhibitions and look at some interesting work. This trip was helpful for all of my modules, and I was able to think about the subject matters and generate ideas for my projects but I also found it interesting for my Professional Practice.  Here are some of the leaflets, brochures and promotional material that I picked up on the trip:

I found a certain piece of work that was relevant to my Major Practical Project and helped a lot, but I was also looking at things that could help with Professional and community practice for me as a Brand. I was looking at the marketing methodologies and how each exhibitions had shown themselves in the Biennial and also acknowledged personalities exhibitors had towards me as a viewer. 

Having brought home these marketing material's has made me wonder if I should produce some more of my own.  When I get the chance (probably after university) to hold my own exhibition, I will produce leaflets and brochures for that particular exhibition to get seen and heard. But in the mean time I have been thinking about producing some postcards. Postcards are a great way of getting my brand out there into the public and are so easy to give out to people.

The great thing about promotional postcards is that if one viewer has a postcard and decides to actually send it to someone they know it will automatically send my images around, to be seen more. I can also give a postcard to everyone I meet who is interested in a photographer, and give one as well as my business card. So this is something to think about, especially for a Practitioners Package. 

So overall, this trip was to actually look at the work in exhibitions but I used it in link with a professional photographer side of view and how they use their promotional material to help so that I can use similar ideas for my self and my brand 'Suzi-Rae Photography'. 

Blogging for Professional Practice

Blogging is something that I had seen lots of in the photography world but never really thought about doing for myself.  We had to start one for one of my other projects but I thought that for this module I would create a blog and a sketchbook to view my ideas and work from both perspectives.

I have seen photographers blogs many times, and still do a lot throughout my research.  I always see how some just do a photo shoot and post the results in a blog and it is such an easy way to get your photographs seen.  I don't know why I have never considered it before.  I know that after graduation I will produce a new blog just for my professional side and show all my work and post anything related to my professional part of me as a brand 'Suzi-Rae Photography'.

Blogging for a professional practice side of things helps to show my skills and knowledge of a photographic business. It will also show how connected I am as a brand to media's and different social networking sites.  This shows how up-to-date the brand is and how it can travel so far throughout the industry.

Foundation for all my Social Media Activities
The simplicity of social media's is, that if someone likes my brand on Facebook or Twitter, which can sometimes be the way of meeting new people, a blog allows me to build a fuller picture of who I am.  If they like my other social networking, they'll read my blog to find out more about me.

Build Trust with my Audience
With a blog I am able to to show how my blog can break through a barrier of the worry people have with strangers on the internet, I can show trust through elements on my blog, ways to make viewers know its genuine. A clean and beautiful design, correct spelling and grammar, high-quality photo of myself, signs of social sharing, links to trustworthy sources, high-quality images, short - easy to read domain name, professional logo, solid detailed content updated frequently and a presence of community and conversation through comments.  All of these is which I have on all four of my blogs for my module's, but will make sure I have after graduation.

Exercise my Creativity
Creating content that stirs up conversation and communities that generate new ideas, this is something that will help get connections and get viewers interested in my brand. Blogging can reduce stress as you work, this is something that would be great for me, it also is a way of getting out ideas or problems that might be weighing in my mind. The process of blogging unlocks hidden ideas in my own mind, leading to insights and even newer ideas. But most of all, blogging helps to maintain a focus on what needs to get done.

Growing Stream of Search Traffic & Consistency
Active blogging drives more traffic to my site, and more traffic to my site leads to more leads. And if there is well reasoned useful content on my blog people will learn about me! The more content I have, the more I will have that the viewer wants to look at. Consistency is key, as many have given up on blogs for Facebook, keeping both and more will improve on monthly leads, so lots of posts will get me better known and seen.

Finally, the biggest reason why blogging is so important and great is because it's a Proven Business Model!! And if blogging is great for a business then I'm definitely going to have one  ( or four)
=)

About the Module

Professional Practice is something that I consider to be very important for a creative path. In photography the professional practice will help to make me as a brand, 'Suzi-Rae Photography' go further.  Community practice helps me to connect with the people around me and to help get myself as a brand heard and seen. And bringing both the community practice and professional practice together will give me the skills to make an up and coming business of photography.

Last year, (second year) I completed a module called 'Professional Practice' in which we created a Practitioners Package including, a website, CV, statement, cover letter, images, headed paper, business cards and postcards to help have as a package ready to show to clients. This year this module expands on this and adds to what I have, to make it even more professional and ready for the world after university.

Within this module I will use this blog as a Critical Journal along with a Sketchbook to show all evidential work relating to the tasks and photographers I look at.  I will also be showing tasks completed in class along with critical responses as to how they go, and many other topics that are extremely useful and relevant to professional practice and will help me to improve my knowledge for my brand. I will also be recording the process of entering photography competitions and producing a live brief that I will work on throughout this module and show all of the process and steps along the way. Accompanying my critical journal will be my portfolio with all my up-dated images and all other professional material, this will be what I would show to a client.  It will have all that was in my Practitioners Package and more added from this year's work. A detailed critical evaluation will end my module project.

The Aims of this module are to give myself the knowledge needed to examine the complicated realities of working towards a live brief, including the briefing process, development, time management, proofing, and delivery.  I will also examine areas of practice relevant to the professional photographer, including, assisting, starting a business, copyright, contract law, marketing, commissions, health and safety and portfolio design. All this will then show in a live brief that I will undertake.  The aim is to prepare my understanding to the management of contemporary photographic practice.

For me to be able to achieve a good grade for this assignment I have to consider the learning outcomes for the project that I will undertake.  These will have to be in my mind throughout each task that I do and then I can make sure I can tick them off when completed. Here are the learning objectives below:

Learning Objectives
1. Examine and critically reflect upon practice relevant to the professional photographer.
2. Identify and propose a live brief to undertake or a national competition to enter.
3. Develop visual research around an agreed brief / competition submission.
4. Self-manage, demonstrate and self reflect upon the delivery of the agreed brief / competition submission.

I have many ideas for a live brief and know of competitions to enter, and will research more that I can consider. But overall there is A LOT that can help me in preparation for entering the workplace on graduation.