How can the winners best take advantage of

[Spook]

How can the winners best take advantage of the exposure gained from the competition. Although I have been taking photographs for over 8 years I have never thought about, or been concerned with getting my name or photography out there, so to speak.

But with the exposure coming from getting 2nd place in the planet earth category Im lost as to what to do with the attention.
But what more can be done to take full advantage of this? Your ideas and suggestions would be greatly appreciated

A promotional newbie


Thanks
Peter

[karenoliver]

Congratulations, Peter Why don't you contact your local newspaper and have them run a story on your success?

[Gil Ritchie]

Hold that result Peter - there may be a "steward's enquiry" - re rules infringements

Hope your entry can stand up to scrutiny - I am sure it will - but there have been "accusations" made regarding certain "infringements" made by others. :

[andreasphotography]

TBH i dont think winning POTY is going to hold much clout, for a start landscape here in the UK, is Joe Cornish full stop
then if yu wanted to get into portrait or weddings being a winning in POTY just sound silly
ask anyone in the supermarket and they would presume POTY means just you want the loo

Having met many a photography that have won here and in worldwide comps none of them have ended up succeeding

It must be great to win but really thats where it ends, I cant see it making a photography carer any better, simple because Joe public dont know what POTY is

I have a GCCF supreme champion in my house means nothing to you if you dont know about cats
My cat was a better standard on the day then the other cats,but he is still a cat and still lives the same as other cats he is worth no more or no less then he was before he was supreme champion

I would contact your local paper and see if they will do a slot on you, maybe join a camera club, you could offer to shot a charity event,
Congratulations

[karenoliver]

Making it big in photography is very difficult. Not everyone is going to be the next Martin Parr, Cartier Bresson etc... Its nice to try though and it is exciting when you win something. I sort of agree with Andreas that winning this alone is not going to make you the next big thing but it will give you a great confidence boost. My ultimate aim in photography is to get exhibited and published, but I am such a long way off from that yet. If you have a big collection of photography and its one theme you could always try your local arts centre and ask them to exhibit you? You could mention you came 2nd and see if that has clout.

[ABERS]

Making it big in anything, even if you are talented, is very difficult. Most of all you need the will to succeed, but a close second comes luck. I can't imagine any agent or gallery will be knocking on the doors of any of the photographers that have been successful in this year's POTY, as good as some of their images are.

Remember the competition is based on one photograph, not a portfolio, and this is a drawback as far as exploiting the occasion, however one can always use the win to engender interest in the rest of your photographic expertise.

I'm sure there will be a couple of articles in DCM along the line of 'My take on photography' or a succession of winners' portfolios over the next months as is usually the case. Of course you would be limited to that one magazine, for two reasons. One, and I may be wrong in this instance, but if you enter you agree that your images can be used to promote the competition so perhaps no fee will accrue, and two, no other magazine will want to promote the winner of a rival magazine competition.

What you need is a carefully thought out PR/Publicity plan to broadcast your success, beyond the confines of your local paper. Using the success as an intro hawk your portfolio around the galleries then start saving up to put on an exhibition in the one that agrees to promote you and charges 30-40% commission on any sales that you make.

Good luck!

[Spook]

Abers, Karen, Andreas

You have valid points all of you, ad I totally agree that making your name off the back of one success sounds unrealistic. But I do want to use this opportunity to help move my photography forward.

Im preparing a press release for local media and letting all the people I know about my good frtune and im finding that people are very receptive and want to share my joy.

Peter

[ABERS]

Peter,

Spread your message to a much wider audience, as wide as possible in fact. There are literally 100's of publications that could be interested in not just your success but in the image that won the category. Since your web site seems mostly concerned with birds I'm sure all the magazines/publications around that sector would be imnterested in your news, along with animal, waterways, river, wildlife, nature, coastal, twitching etc. etc. publications.

A comprehensive list of all publications in the UK can be found in a directory called BRAD which lists them in categories much as I've listed above. The directory is published monthly and can only be obtained by subscription, but I'm sure it can be viewed in the reference section of any main library.

A couple of hours searching through the directory, compiling your own mailing list of those publications which you may think will fit the bill maybe worthwhile and emailing your release should provide a few hits and direct readers to your web site and spread your fame/success over a much wider audience.

[karenoliver]

The local press is a great place to start. The only experience of publicity I have is when Martin Parr picked one of my photos during channel 4's picture this show. It was shown on tv, then next thing the press ran a story about me after my college contacted them. I never heard anything again although my husband wasnt too pleased as the shot in question was a nude of him lol.

[Dunkeld]

Peter, I'm afraid that the success of one picture might not do it for you. I've been selling pictures for 30 years, however in the past specialist magazines bought pictures and commissioned work. That was a long time ago though, and my photo interests have changed with age. I'm a better photographer now than I ever was before, however, there are simply thousands of better photographers out there who have the contacts as well as the skill factor requirements.

I started with newspapers, then on to magazines, but the reality is that with around 50 publications under my belt I still find it hard to sell much. Today, I have around 4000 images online in photo libraries. I live in China, where you might think my photography might interest UK or indeed Western publications. But again, reality kicks in, because I guess I don't live in more fanciful Beijing, Shanghai or Hong Kong, where most of the Chinese published images come from. It matters not that I have often got better images, I just don't have a foot in the door like I had in the past.

I have acquired an interest in fine art and photojournalism over the past few years and am just about to be involved in my first exhibition, which will have 150 images showing restoration work on ancient Ming houses. One hundred of the images will be mine, but I'm not holding my breath for frame and fortune.

As others have indicated, start with the local press. See how things go on from there. By the way, congrats on your 2nd place. Truly, a smashing image!