From looking at the website am I correct in thinking that they are now keeping the competition open until Tuesday the 4th of August, because of the sheer number of entries that were trying to enter at the last moment online ????
If so, I think this is terrible, I put my entries in about 6 weeks ago. if a competition has a dead line, surely it must end on that dead line??? not go on for another 4 days, just so they can get the entrance fee I presume .
What are other peoples views on this???
Regards
Rob
Posted by John Robinson on August 2, 2009 at 9:22 PM
It was a money making job from the start in my opinion. Aren't they all though really ?
How nature photography has changed !
JohnR
Posted by Liam Pauling on August 3, 2009 at 4:05 AM
I think but not completely sure, WPY09 was also extended by a day or so because of the same reason.
Yes, i definately agree! I think this is unfair to those who have entered (like myself). All photographers have had since April to enter so extending it a few days is unfair and like John says, its just a money making scheme by the looks of it. At the end of the day a deadline is a deadline. If you miss it your photographs dont get seen!
Posted by David Sewell on August 3, 2009 at 5:34 AM
Extending the deadline is stupid, now we all know that next year we can safely leave it until beyond the last minute to enter.
I am very interested in this whole area of photo 'competitions' and the purpose behind them - theres a rash of them these days and some are simply thinly disguised rights grabs, whilst others have sound environmental motives that benefit both the organizers (and their cause) and entrants.
I think I am right in saying (?) that the BWPA T&C's appear to have changed somewhat from when I first scrutinized them, to clarify that they are not intending this to be seen as merely a way to misappropriate your images, and the copyright to them.
There's some strong opinions being expressed here, so would anyone care to give me some idea what you would consider would be more appropriate as an alternative? What would you be happy to enter your work in? What T&C's would be more conducive to you entering? Or is there some totally different alternative format that you'd like to see and would support?
...and to add, to save you faffing about if you're interested in this topic (and you ALL should be), theres a specific section deovoted to competition organizers who have been blacklisted for stripping people of their moral and intellectual rights through draconian terms and conditions in such rights-grabbing competitions, it makes interesting reading if you naaively thought this was a minor problem:
Personally I think nature photography competitions are a very mixed bag with one common theme linking them - they all generally miss the opportunity to be a catalyst for creativity, conservation and above all, awareness raising. I don't mean in a 'tree-hugging' conservation/awareness - there is real potential to produce an informative, imaginative and creative 'cross-over' portfolio that has 'mainstream' media appeal/benefits, that promotes nature in a 'subconscious' way to a much wider audience.
I have real hopes that one of these days a comp will offer a chance for photographers to enter experimental images - the bias favouring different approaches above the 'generalist' views of nature we see in most. In addition, I'd like to see a 'photo-story' category for environmental/conservation work, not merely a portfolio but a photo-journalistic essay that portrays the story in a crafted, imaginative, contemporary way.
As for rights issues, some might argue that being paid £X,000 for the winning image is 'good business', even if some rights are lost!! How many picture sales would that equate to in the current picture selling market? As long as copyright remains with the tog what's the problem? (I am, of course, playing devil's advocate here).
John, this thread is spinning away from the topic. The topic is not generic competition T&C's and and their perceived correctness, nor if competitions are for for profit or otherwise;
It is about the extension of the BWPA upload deadline because of Server issues.
My opinion, given explained server issues, is that as long as the T&C's were accepted and the money was paid before the 1st August 2009 then some photographers paid for a service that (through no fault of there own) was not availiabale to them within the allotted time period. The period should be extended for these photographers to upload their images and make good the original agreement.
Please, all, stick to the starting topic fear of tarnishing the BWPA with a 'sweeping brush'.
If its about server issues, then we know now, thank you for pointing that out. There was no indication of that fact previously. I did not raise the issue of what these competitions are about, other posters did, with quite strong feelings expressed, but I did in fact clarify to a degree what the BWPA comp is doing, which is not unreasonable.
I do however have very strong feelings about such issues, and this thread seemed a good opportunity, and well within the spirit of awareness-raising, to make people aware that THEIR work is valuable and there are unscrupulous comp organizers out there who will have it off them given half a chance. I think it would be fair to say that such readers/NPN memebrs are likely to be the ones attracted to such events, so should be aware of such matters.
I'm happy to refrain from further comment on this issue.
Posted by Mark Sisson on August 3, 2009 at 9:02 AM
For what it's worth the competition is now closed.
I also have strong feelings about this - which are the akin to yours .
The subject has been eluded to before in this thread but was not commented upon much ...
No probs Tom, wasn't offended! I saw it as an opportunity to clarify and alert folks to a serious issue, arguably of great importance to all of us who can take a decent image, post it on forums, and might be tempted to enter a competition. I did see the previous thread and refrained from posting to see what it elicited. Not much! So I thought this one might get more mileage. We practice our 'art' in interesting times!!
Discussion
13 repliesFrom looking at the website am I correct in thinking that they are now keeping the competition open until Tuesday the 4th of August, because of the sheer number of entries that were trying to enter at the last moment online ????
If so, I think this is terrible, I put my entries in about 6 weeks ago. if a competition has a dead line, surely it must end on that dead line??? not go on for another 4 days, just so they can get the entrance fee I presume
What are other peoples views on this???
Regards
Rob
How nature photography has changed !
JohnR
David
I think I am right in saying (?) that the BWPA T&C's appear to have changed somewhat from when I first scrutinized them, to clarify that they are not intending this to be seen as merely a way to misappropriate your images, and the copyright to them.
There's some strong opinions being expressed here, so would anyone care to give me some idea what you would consider would be more appropriate as an alternative? What would you be happy to enter your work in? What T&C's would be more conducive to you entering? Or is there some totally different alternative format that you'd like to see and would support?
Curious!
http://www.pro-imaging.org/content/category/19/61/153/
and this
http://copyrightaction.com/forums/copyright-alerts/photo-competitions
here
Personally I think nature photography competitions are a very mixed bag with one common theme linking them - they all generally miss the opportunity to be a catalyst for creativity, conservation and above all, awareness raising. I don't mean in a 'tree-hugging' conservation/awareness - there is real potential to produce an informative, imaginative and creative 'cross-over' portfolio that has 'mainstream' media appeal/benefits, that promotes nature in a 'subconscious' way to a much wider audience.
I have real hopes that one of these days a comp will offer a chance for photographers to enter experimental images - the bias favouring different approaches above the 'generalist' views of nature we see in most. In addition, I'd like to see a 'photo-story' category for environmental/conservation work, not merely a portfolio but a photo-journalistic essay that portrays the story in a crafted, imaginative, contemporary way.
As for rights issues, some might argue that being paid £X,000 for the winning image is 'good business', even if some rights are lost!! How many picture sales would that equate to in the current picture selling market? As long as copyright remains with the tog what's the problem? (I am, of course, playing devil's advocate here).
Cheers,
Chris
It is about the extension of the BWPA upload deadline because of Server issues.
My opinion, given explained server issues, is that as long as the T&C's were accepted and the money was paid before the 1st August 2009 then some photographers paid for a service that (through no fault of there own) was not availiabale to them within the allotted time period. The period should be extended for these photographers to upload their images and make good the original agreement.
Please, all, stick to the starting topic fear of tarnishing the BWPA with a 'sweeping brush'.
T
I do however have very strong feelings about such issues, and this thread seemed a good opportunity, and well within the spirit of awareness-raising, to make people aware that THEIR work is valuable and there are unscrupulous comp organizers out there who will have it off them given half a chance. I think it would be fair to say that such readers/NPN memebrs are likely to be the ones attracted to such events, so should be aware of such matters.
I'm happy to refrain from further comment on this issue.
Mark
Sorry if the above was seen as curt/abrupt.
I also have strong feelings about this - which are the akin to yours
The subject has been eluded to before in this thread but was not commented upon much ...
T