Competitions

This is your chance to win! See below for competitions with great prizes.

Some of these competitions are sponsored or run by PhotoComment, while others are not. PhotoComment accepts no responsibility for correctness of information relating to competitions listed here that are not sponsored or run by PhotoComment.

Please be sure to check the closing date of the competitions before entering as the competition may have already come to a close.

  • 2012 Photo Decathlon Competition


    It has arrived: the PhotoComment 2012 Photo Decathlon. Those of you who have picked up the February issue of PhotoComment Magazine (or have been very attentive on the site) will know a little about it, but here is the official statement…

    Over the years we have enjoyed seeing your images and have tried different types of competitions to urge you to share more of your photographs with us. Some have worked better than others. We took a break for the last few months in order to work on an initiative that would be more challenging and inspiring, but one that would challenge your creativity, while also being more rewarding.

    From March through to December 2012 we will be issuing a monthly theme around which you can submit your images for judging. Some themes will carry prizes. Other themes will just be for the thrill of the fight (play nice though… this is more about improving your personal skills). Each of the top 20 photographers in each theme will be awarded points for their image and for their placement within that particular theme. In January 2013 – with the final theme’s judging completed – we will tally the points. The overall winner will then be the photographer who has accumulated the highest score.

    Are you wondering what the prizes are? We will be announcing more and more prizes as the competition progresses. As we now kick off with the March theme, the two sponsors on board are Vega and Graham Robertson Photographic. There are more brands coming on board and we will be finalising their prizes in the coming weeks. In the mean time, get shooting! We will announce each theme in the month prior; in order to give you two months in which to enter your images.

    Charge your batteries, pop in an empty card (or a new roll of film) and kick that lens cap off!


  • Win in our Reader Survey

    As 2011 draws to a close we want to ask you for you feedback on PhotoComment and to get to know you a little better. If you head on over to this page here, you will find our reader survey (it is also printed in the December issue of PhotoComment Magazine). If you participate and share your name and contact details your stand the chance to win a Vanguard Heralder 38 bag. So what you waiting for, fill in the survey here now. For more about the bag read on after the break.

    (Please note that delivery of the prize outside of South Africa will be for the recipients own expense)

    The Heralder Series is a fast-action messenger bag for on-the-move photographers, such as photojournalists and event photographers. With The Heralder’s Quick Top Access, photographers will never miss a beat of the action, or be scooped by the competition, because it eliminates fumbling with gear. With just one quick zip, you’ll be shooting in a split second! One of The Heralder’s greatest features is a convenient tripod holder, perfect for today’s video-driven photojournalist. A tripod can be easily secured to The Heralder’s built-in tripod sling. VANGUARD’s designers know that a great bag is one you want to carry even when you’re off the clock. The Heralder’s detachable inner pouch lets you remove, and reload, gear in one easy step, giving you a seamless transition from comfortable camera bag to an everyday messenger bag, and back! Other features include an extremely comfortable, padded anti-slip shoulder strap that distributes weight evenly on your shoulders, a padded laptop compartment, numerous accessory pockets to store loose gear and compatibility with other VANGUARD accessories, such as padded lens protectors.

    • Extremely comfortable, padded anti-slip shoulder strap that distributes weight evenly on your shoulder

  • Win A Lowepro Pro Runner 350AW

    In our July edition one lucky reader – Candice Peetz – who submitted their portfolio and was picked to be the published as our PhotoComment and Outdoorphoto Readers Portfolio won a Wacom Bamboo Touch graphics tablet. For the August issue the published portfolio will get a Lowepro Pro Runner 350AW from Outdoorphoto. We will be picking the best portfolio submission on Monday 11 July 2011 (thats next week) so be sure to submit your portfolio online ASAP.


  • Potchefstroom Studio Workshop


    Back in May Graham Robertson Photographic and Emil Wessels held a full day studio workshop at the old Snowflake Mills in Potchefstroom. The video above will give those who did not make it to the first one, a taste of what the next one will be like on 30 July 2011.

    Also remember that you have until 30 June - that’s the end of this month – to vote for the best image submitted from that day to be on the August cover of PhotoComment Magazine. To vote for your best head over to the gallery here.


  • ODP Photographer of the Year

    A while ago we announced the launch of the ODP (Outdoorphoto) Photographer of the Year Competition. You can keep up to date of where the competition is at by checking out the competition page here. There are 18 days left to enter the next category which is Panorama. The winner of the overall Photographer Of  The Year will get a R10,000.00 voucher plus there are different prizes in some of the individual categories up for grabs as well.


  • Photo Friday Winner - Lonely by Joggie van Staden

    jvs_3081-2316701f102b9aa2811b4963e3d8d72894fd2e77

    First, congrats Joggie for taking the Photo Friday Prize for Feb-Apr 2011. Please send us your contact and address details so we can arrange to get your prize of the Fuji FinePix camera and Scott Kelby Photoshop CS5 book. You image was the one that had the judges coming back time and time again.

    Apologies for having taken so long to announce the winner, we have had some unexpected issues.

    Reminder that moving forward till the end of July we are wanting great pictures to print as part of Photos For Hope so we will be looking for the Photo Friday images from there.

    One more thing. We have yet to get in touch with the last Photo Friday winner. Please contact us ASAP to claim your prize or we will have to pass it on to someone else.


  • Potch Studio Workshop - Cover Competition

    It was great to see such a big turn out for the Potch Studio Workshop organised by Emil Wessels and Graham Robertson Photographic. A great time was had by all who attended and many many photographs were taken. It sometimes felt like we were at a rave with the amount of flashes firing at the same time.

    PhotoComment is running a competition for the attendees of this workshop. Below you will find a link to download the PhotoShop template for the cover of PhotoComment Magazine. You can use this template to create your own limited edition cover of PhotoComment. Use the guidelines provided to create your cover and submit it to the Photo Gallery which will be open from Tuesday 10 May. Check this post again for the link once the gallery is open.

    We look forward to seeing how you did!

    The gallery will be open for entries until 31 May 2011 and voting will be open until 30 June 2011.

    Guidelines to remember for creating a cover for PhotoComment:

    • The main title should not be changed in any way or moved from it’s position
    • You may place a cover image over the main title as long as it does not cover more than 15% of the title and the title is still easily readable
    • The banner at the bottom of the page can be moved up or down to accommodate the cover image but the bottom edge of the banner should always be within 15mm of the bottom of the page.
    • The banner at the bottom of the page’s text should not be changed
    • You can however change the opacity and colour of the backgorund of the banner
    • The article title ‘Potchefstroom Studio Workshop’ can be changed in any way and placed anywhere on the page you feel appropriate.
    • There are 2 sets of guidelines in PhotoShop file you will download.
    • The first shows the edge of the page. You will not however that the canvas is bigger than the area that is indicated for the page, this is because the you need to leave a minimum of a 3mm bleed area around the page. Your image should be sized to fill the page and the bleed area, remembering that the bleed area will be cropped off during the printing process. why do we have a bleed area? It is to allow for slight movement of the printing plates during the printing process, if the edge of the image was right on the edge of the page and the printing plate moves by 0.1mm you will have a 0.1mm white edge on you final printed page.
    • The second guideline is referred to as the ‘Copy Safe Area.’ All important elements including all text and titles should be included inside this area.

     

    You can download the template here.(Right Click and “Save As’)

     


  • Child Welfare Competition with Vega

    Vega Pretoria is joining forces with Child Welfare Tshwane (CWT) in running a photography competition to raise awareness of the plight of the most vulnerable in our communities.

    In brief, the competition is aimed at raising awareness through the photographic medium, of child welfare issues in and around the City of Tshwane, although I am certain you will agree that these are fairly universal.

    The competition is open in two categories:

    Pupils and students: R100 per entry
    Adults: R250 per entry

    An entry is limited to 3 three images.

    Entries will open from 12 April and will close on 21 May.

    2nd year students at Vega Pretoria will be the judges of the competition (as part of a formal critiquing project).

    The images will go on display at the Brooklyn Mall during the Child Protection Week (30 May-4 June), with the competition winners being announced on Saturday 4 June at the exhibition.

    Go to http://www.childwelfare.co.za for more information


  • WIN A FREE PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP!

    Professional photographer Andi Lowicki (www.arternative.co.za), featured in photocomment April 2011 is offering 10 lucky readers a free 2 hour workshop focussing on portrait photography.

    Two groups of five winners each will meet with Andi on Saturday the 23rd and 30th of April at Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens, JHB.

    To enter just email your details and the preferred date to andi.lowicki.sa@gmail.com – Good luck!

    Competition ends Sunday 17/4/2011, winners will be notified the next day. Entry fee to Botanical Gardens (R25 p/p) not included. Winners to supply own model and photographic equipment.


  • Our First 'Photo Friday' Winner - Flag Store Front

    flagstorefrontfb2

    After a great deal of deliberating by the judges we have finally come to the point where we can announce our winner of the Photo Friday Competition for the period ending January 2011. The image ‘Flag Store Front’ seems to have within it a mystery that held many of us spell bound. I personally keep asking myself questions like “What is it trying to tell us? What could be hiding behind the door?” and out of a great selection of images this one kept attracting my gaze time and time again.

    The next round of Photo Friday kicks off this week and will run from Feb 2011 till the last Friday in April being the 29th April 2011. The first prize in the pot is a FujiFilm FinePix AX200 which boasts a 12MP sensor and 5x Optical Zoom. We will be looking to add more prizes to this as the weeks go by so keep the entries coming.

    We are going to make things a little more interesting this time round as well.

    When we launched this competition it was done mainly as a way to get one image each week that we felt was inspirational and to share it with everyone as a featured post on a Friday. As the competition has increased in the number of entries we have found that some weeks it became really hard to pic one image. Many times there were images in one week that missed that top spot but that were stronger contenders than the winning image in the next week. To try correct this we are making the following change.

    1. Should the judges find on a Friday during judging that there is more than one image deserving of the making it to the next round – meaning that the judges cannot decide on a single image unanimously – then those images in question will be advanced to the next round for final judging at the end of the quarter.

    We will also look at the end of this quarter of the Photo Friday Competition to run a people choice award where readers can vote on their favourite image though we will confirm details of this closer to the time.

    So with new enthusiasm and zeal why not grab your camera and start shooting.


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