Portrait Photography Competition May 2020

Hi Everyone! Hope you are all well.

I was thinking a lot of what could be a good subject for the next competition, in these hard and challenging times…

Coronavirus forced us all to stay at home, so my first ideas were closely related to domestic items we all have… or our pets, or nature, but not everyone has a dog or a cat, or access to a garden… the Government strict social distancing measures mean that we can only leave our homes to buy food or to exercise once a day.

So I asked myself what do I do now, what is my main subject, what do I photograph?

And the answer was – my family – our life in self-isolation, portraits of my girls.

Despite the hard reality and the problems we are all facing, I think this is actually a perfect time for practising portraits, photographing our loved ones, capturing these fleeting moments …

My all-time inspiration are the words of Karl Lagerfeld –

“What I like about photographs is that they capture a moment that’s gone forever, impossible to reproduce.”

As always we’ve created a Pinterest board to inspire you all a bit. Especially if you live on your own, please do take a part in this competition and capture a self-portrait.

A few tips:

– if you would like to “blur” the background but you don’t have a lens with a wide aperture like f/2.8 or f/1.8, please try that little trick I showed you with the small figures – come closer to your subject, zoom in, and this will force your camera to produce more blur;

– aperture – yes the wider the more blur you can get, but remember if you get too close, this may result in too much blur and one eye can be out of focus, and it may not look good;

– with 50mm you will have to get close, and this can help you create that feel as you are having a conversation with someone;

– if you are shy – long zoom will help you keep the distance;

– remember about the shutter speed: 1/60sec to avoid camera shake, but if you are photographing kids use something faster like 1/250sec to avoid the motion blur caused by subject movement.

Remember that the winner will receive £50 in course vouchers. Please submit maximum three of your best pictures. We’ll choose the winner and publish a selection of our favourite images.

We are looking forward to seeing your entries!!!

It is easy to enter, and the competition is open to everyone. Entry closes on 31st May 2020.

Your pictures should be saved as jpg files and not bigger than 3MB. Remember to name your files e.g. katesmith1.jpg

Please email your best pictures (3 max) to [email protected]

We will notify the winners by 15th June 2020.

Terms and Conditions

1. All images submitted must be the work of the individual submitting them and not in breach of any copyright.
2. Copyright in all images submitted for this competition remains with the respective entrants. However, you give permission to DSLR Photography Courses to feature your images in any of their publications, their websites and/or in any promotional material connected to this competition.
3. Only 3 images per person are allowed.
4. The images should be in JPEG format and not bigger than 3MB, with the resolution not smaller than 150dpi. Entries must be labelled with the entrant’s name.
5. Images should be emailed to [email protected]
6. The judges’ decision is final.
7. The winner will be notified within seven days of the closing date of the competition via email and announced on DSLR Photography Courses website and social media.
8. The prize vouchers will be valid for 12 months, and there are no cash alternatives. The voucher can be used for half a day courses and workshops to the value of the voucher, as well as a part payment for any other full day or specialised courses we offer of a higher value.
9. Only three images per person will be accepted per month, and each image can be entered only once and not be used for the future competitions.
10. DSLR Photography Courses reserves the right to disqualify any entry which breaches any of the competition rules.
11. Any personal details of the competitors will be used only for the administering purposes and not published or provided to third parties. DSLR Photography Courses reserves the right to publish the winner’s name on their website and media sites and publications.
12. Any late or corrupted files won’t be accepted.
13. Promoter: DSLR Photography Courses, Wimbledon Art Studios, 10 Riverside Road, London SW17 0BB.