There is never a "right time" to enter your first photo competition – just do it!

photography competitions
(Image credit: Hannah Rooke)

Entering your first photography competition can be a daunting experience. I’ve spent hours deliberating over which competitions to enter and the right images to submit and have often found myself delaying it so much that I miss the deadline. I didn’t enter competitions for years and when I finally did I realized I was the one making it so difficult. 

I suffer from imposter syndrome massively. I always feel like the people around me are better at what they do and deserve recognition more. I’ve followed photography competitions such as Portrait of Britain, Sony World Photography Awards, and The International Photo Awards for years now and I am always blown away by the thought, dedication, and skill put into the winning photos. But for whatever reason, I find it very hard to imagine my images being selected and so I never bothered.

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Hannah Rooke
Staff Writer

Having studied Journalism and Public Relations at the University of the West of England Hannah developed a love for photography through a module on photojournalism. She specializes in Portrait, Fashion and lifestyle photography but has more recently branched out in the world of stylized product photography. For the last 3 years Hannah has worked at Wex Photo Video as a Senior Sales Assistant using her experience and knowledge of cameras to help people buy the equipment that is right for them. With 5 years experience working with studio lighting, Hannah has run many successful workshops teaching people how to use different lighting setups.