Seriously? Are you freaking kidding me? I haven’t even sent in my 2013 case and you’re already blathering on about next year’s competition? Let me put my feet up and have a margarita or three while I wait for IPC 2013 results. Freaking crazy woman.
*Smile*
As I was perusing my Facebook Groups over the last week, I noticed something that gave me chuckle. There were comments here and there from folks still trying to pick out images on the day of the deadline. Comments about re-shooting an image the day before the deadline. Completely brain-dead of ideas three days prior to the deadline.
I chuckled because that is SO me. I’m constantly pushing competition stuff to the back burner. You would think for something that I am so passionate (hee hee, there’s that word) about, that I would have a better organizational system in place. Well, I don’t. Or didn’t. But now I do.
I have put together a sample timeline/schedule. This timeline is only going to work exactly for someone else who lives in Ohio. Adjust the dates to suit your own state and district and it should work out fairly well for you, too.
So, simply…. there are THREE major competitions within the PPA system that most competitors work around; their state competition, their district competition and IPC.
For most folks, and for me (in the past) this is what my competition schedule looked like:
Simple enough, until you add in two weeks of absolute frenzy just prior to each competition… digging through old files, calling up people who can “model” for a shoot, photoshopping until the wee hours of the morning, wondering if you can get a comp shot out of every single shoot you do for an entire week before the deadline… then add to that the fact that your state is hosting the districts and you are losing a step in your competition plan… yeah, it’s fun, isn’t it?
So, with all fervor due a wonderful new idea that I’m really excited about, hope will stick, but doubt it, I present to you, my 2014 IPC timeline goals…
1. Each month I will create, in full, one competition print in digital format, ready for printing. They will be held in digital format for entry into VIPs (see below) and after input and retouching, will be printed at my lab to competition specs. This builds up a nice portfolio of competition prints to pull from when deadlines come looming. My goal is to never be facing down a competition deadline with nothing prepared. Ever. Again.
2. I will explore VIPs and add them to my schedule. Very Important Preliminaries. These are image competitions conducted along PPA guidelines that may be sponsored by groups other than my state. These are generally digital in nature and a bit more affordable than the main three competitions. I will use these competitions to cull and refine my digital files and prep them for final printing.
I have already added two VIPs to my schedule:
- July 2013: Pro Photo Network Summer Shoot Out Image Critique & Competition LINK
- November 2013: Professional Photographers of Ohio Fall Image Competition LINK
VIPs are important competitions in that they offer the same style of judging/scoring as the larger competitions I enter. They are a good place to try out your images and cull down your preliminary competition images to a solid case. That’s the plan, anyway.
Here’s the schedule as it sits right now. I hope to add more VIPs as time passes, and when I do, I will make sure to announce them here, so that you may avail yourself of them, too.
Hopefully, by following the below schedule, I will constantly have a small assortment of finished competition prints to choose from whenever a deadline approaches.
*snort*
