Half a day to submit works to competitions

Why does submitting photos to an Open Call take me so much time?

Submitting photos to an open call requires careful preparation.

It takes me half a day or even a full day to prepare all the necessary materials for just one open call. You might think that if the project and its description are already ready, it should be as simple as just sending them. However, each open call has specific requirements for the images themselves. For example, a specific file name, a description for each individual work, a defined size (pixel dimensions for each side, maximum file size, DPI, etc.)

So even if the photos are already prepared, each one needs to be adjusted to meet the requirements.

Usually, the images need to be resized, but it's rare that the same set of resized images fits multiple competitions. Most of the time, the same project has to be adjusted differently for each submission. Some open calls require uploading a folder to Google Drive, others ask for files to be sent via WeTransfer, while some request everything to be organized into a PDF file.

All the requirements need to be carefully reviewed, and of course, I have to decide which works to submit. A project usually contains more images than the competition allows, so first, I select the ones that, in my opinion, have the best chance of winning. This takes time. Then, I need to make sure that the project description fits the competition theme. Often, the text also needs to be adjusted. Luckily, I can now consult AI for help.

Even more details.

Next, each image file needs to be named correctly, especially if the submission requires JPEG files. Some competitions ask for individual descriptions for each photo. In reality, I rarely describe each image separately, even though every photo in my project is carefully thought out during its creation. But if such descriptions are required, that also takes time.

Unfortunately, I often struggle to come up with a meaningful description for each photo on the first attempt. For me, a project is a cohesive whole, where every image plays a single “instrument” in the composition.

Sometimes, I also need to prepare my CV and Bio. Of course, these are already written, but there can be specific requirements for these details as well. For example, a certain word count limit. So, I need to ensure that my description as an author includes only the most important and concise information. This requires some thought and refinement.

Even more details.

Generally, paid competitions cost around 30 euros on average. For free ones, I try to apply to almost all of them that I come across, but for paid ones, I don't apply to those that cost more than 40 euros.

In general, it's important to submit to as many competitions as possible, if they are worth it, of course, but it takes so much time! So, I apply, you could say, based on my mood, when I have the time.

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