The annual Focus Awards competition kicks off in just a few weeks time, on Sunday 1st September.
While you consider which of your recent images to enter, we thought we’d remind you of some of the reasons to be part of it.
First of all, we will celebrate the abundance of talent in the Focus community by offering a fantastic prize pool across both the Amateur and Open competitions. This year, to be more inclusive, we will also be featuring prizes for 4th and 5th place winners in the Amateur Awards. Details are still being finalised and will be announced in just a few weeks, but thanks to the generosity of our Sponsors we can already promise an amazing line up of prizes.
However, the Focus Awards are not just about the winners. The competition is designed to encourage photographers at all levels of experience to improve their skills and confidence. That’s why every image receives a score, and a judge’s feedback comment offering encouragement on how their image might be improved.
Images that achieve the requisite score also receive a Bronze, Silver or Gold Certificate, to give Members some measure of their progress and also a neat way to share success with their peers.
The Focus Awards is also a great value competition. As a not-for-profit body, we are not looking to make a big financial surplus from running the competition, and any we do achieve is re-invested in initiatives that benefit Focus Members. That’s why the entry fee remains unchanged at $12 per image in the Amateur Awards, and why we have a five-for-the-price-of-four discount to encourage Members to submit multiple entries.
Capture dates for images submitted into the Focus Awards are also an important feature, to encourage Members to submit their best recent work, and to keep shooting regularly to develop their skills. Entries must have been captured within the 13-month window : 01 September 2018 until 30 September 2019.
By entering the Focus Awards, your images will be judged by some of the best professional landscape photographers in the business. This year Peter Eastway, our Head Judge, will be joined by Ignacio Palacios and Mieke Boynton. Their involvement ensures that the Focus Awards reflect the same high standards as any major landscape photography competition in the world.
That’s important because it gives our entrants the confidence that this is a bona fide test of their ability, in a supportive community that respects every photographer’s journey, from beginner through to professional. https://comp.focusphotographers.org/enter/home.php
We hope that you will be a part of it.
Good luck, and regards,
The Focus Committee