A highly visual presentation of competitive photography principles, with many examples - covering composition, backgrounds, photos of flowers and of landscapes, etc. with many prize winning photo examples. Liberal use of humor.

1. Expo –Expose: Winning Techniques
Dave Shafer

2. I. General principles
II. Flower and Landscape examples
III. Questions

3. Make yourself comfortable while
we go over some general principles
of competitive photography.

4. We all have
our dreams
Some
dream of a
home run at
the annual
Y’s Men
EXPO
competition

5. Let’s take a close up look at some techniques that can
help you enter winning photos. There is no need to take
notes since this talk has been posted to the internet.

6. This talk is also available as a full body tattoo.

7. First we have to pop some illusions you
may have. The quality of your photos is
important, of course, but even more so are
the EXPO competition judges you get.

8. Who are the judges for our EXPO competitions?
They are a
diverse lot
and it helps to
know what
they like and
don’t like.

9. We have the same 3 judges every year.
No names will be given.

10. One of our judges is a purist and does
not like any hint of digital manipulation

11. That judge would not like this image of mine.

12. One of our
judges prob-
ably most
appreciates
creativity
and would
like this
match and
knot-hole
photo.
Also this
“rainy day”
image made
with brooms

13. Another of our judges likes us to show him the familiar from
a different perspective or slant. To see something new.

14. Finding a new way to look at the familiar
is hard to do, but is much appreciated by
this judge.

15. He also might like an image that surprises

16. Many judges do not like to see print in a
photo, so it is best to avoid that.

17. Print is really considered by many to be a
different genre of image than photography.
Best not to mix the two.

18. It is hard to combine all the preferences
of the judges in one single picture, so it is
best to enter several different types and
hope that something clicks with them.
You can’t please everyone all of the time.

19. It is probably best not to load up a pic-
ture with too much excess ambition -
one simple idea executed perfectly is bet-
ter than several ideas together in one
photo that are not done as well. This
will be shown later with flowers and
landscapes.

20. You want to expose your ideas to the
judges but not all crammed into a single
image. Usually in photos, less is more.
With men, less is less.

21. This lily looks
like a hooded co-
bra. It might be
too simple an
image to win a
prize but it
shows my think-
ing, of aiming
for simplicity.

22. Extreme closeup of African violet cen-
ter. You don’t have to show the whole
flower and fine detail like this presents a
new way of looking at flowers.

23. This photo is brilliant! It captures an abstract
idea in a profound way and yet it could not be
any simpler. A work of genius!

24. You need to
take an ax to
all extraneous
elements in
your composi-
tion and sim-
plify.
Try to look
at your photos
as if you were
a judge who had never seen them before.
What would your impressions be?

25. The judges will not necessarily see
what you saw when you took the photo.
Try to imagine a perspective that is
different from your own and then look
at your photos again with new eyes.

26. I think that this is a cute photo, but I can’t
see it objectively, because 2 of my grandsons
are in it. If I try to imagine that they are some-
one else’s then I see that it is probably not
something that I would enter in a contest.

27. Humor in photos is risky. The judges
might not get the joke, or appreciate it.
Squirrels,
flamingo
cat and
bee

28. Humorous photos are usually suspected
these days of having been digitally ma-
nipulated. I did this one of squirrels af-
ter my bird feeder. One of the EXPO
judges would probably not like this.

29. I did no digital trickery with this one -
just a set up in my back yard. This com-
bines humor with a mini-story, which is
hard to do. But the photo is not that in-
teresting just on its own terms. Not a
good EXPO candidate.

30. Some judges do not like the use in a photo
of commercial objects, like these toy ducks,
so this humorous photo, “Bundled Up”,
that I set up would probably be a bad EXPO
choice. In general, humor is risky in com-
petitive photography.

31. The effective use of color can be very
important in creating a photo with impact,
but color alone is not enough. This com-
position here is just not that interesting,
with its repetitive horizontal lines. Gener-
ally speaking, horizontals are dull.

32. Diagonal lines in print and images are dynamic

33. Here I combined color and sinuous shapes to
create a photo with high impact value.

34. In my nighttime photo of Munich I also have col-
ors and interesting shapes, making a good image.

35. “Concept” photos
Illustrating an idea

36. This car is a non-starter and is not going
anywhere, and neither are most “concept”
photos. It is hard to have the photo title do
all of the work in explaining the “concept”
you are trying to show.
Next I show a flower example of a
“concept” photo.

37. I entered this in the recent EXPO and did not
win with it. It is a pretty picture but lacks any
center of interest. I knew that so I gave it a ti-
tle—”Bud’s Evolution” to indicate that it shows
the progression of the buds from unopened to
their full glory. That makes it a “concept” photo
and it fell flat with that. The photo has to be
strong enough without the concept and it wasn’t.

38. It takes too long, in my “A Long Marriage” photo, for people
to realize that the reflections are switched. A bad choice.

39. This picture of mine—”Dancing Orchid
Ladies” is a concept photo but it is strong
enough on its own to do well even without
the title and the concept.

40. Here is a “concept” photo - ”The Critic”
which is pretty strong without a title. I
took this in Nuremberg and like photos that
have a mini-story to them.

41. This “concept” photo - “The Gossips” has a
nice composition, with the diagonal lines, and
the open “mouth” of the flower stamen on the
right looks like it is talking, but the photo by it-
self may be too simple and the title of the photo
has to carry too much. Probably a risky EXPO
choice.

42. Here my title of “Punk Flowers” gives the concept
but the photo is pretty strong even without it.

43. This “concept” photo - ”Bug Sex”, which
I found on the internet, is interesting even
without a title or the sexual interpretation of
the photo.

44. Backgrounds

45. You and the judges will probably not
see eye to eye about the merits of your
photos. But you may have some will-
ful blindness to some of your image’s
defects. Try, especially, to notice
weaknesses in your photo’s back-
grounds.

46. Homeland Security
A simple background highlights the main subject

47. The sky silhouettes the man and the nose

48. A bad photo—very confusing
background.
You can ignore this advice but
your EXPO results will suffer.

49. This photo of two cats has a very
distracting background to them -
just what you want to avoid.

50. The use of black or a single color for the
background brings attention to the main subject,
reduces clutter and gives the photo more impact

51. A solid color background allows you to con-
centrate on these seed pods without distraction.

52. A very simple background highlights the
main subject, in “Orchid Man”, a past EXPO
1st place.

53. Black felt makes a good background for flowers

54. Flowers are all about color and shapes, so
you don’t need anything else in the back-
ground. Black makes an excellent back-
ground that sets off the flowers very well.

55. The black shadow gives extra emphasis
to the snowy white swan.

56. 1881 painting by Manet shows dramatic
use of black in an image.

57. In this Swiss night scene the black sets off
what we want the viewer to focus on. That,
the big ring of tiny lights, and the woman
studying the window display all direct our
attention towards the glowing scene inside

58. Hasta leaves, set off by black background.
The liberal use of black in a photo allows
for more color contrasts, simplifies the
composition, and focuses more attention on
the main subject. Some examples follow

59. Morning glory, vine and single leaf

60. Very simple composition—three colors
and three shapes.

61. Calla lilies

62. More Calla lilies, with sinuous
shapes and an interesting composition

63. “This Bud’s For You” - a very simple
composition and an unobtrusive background.

64. The back of a daffodil is interesting as
well as the front.

65. Iris and leaves

67. “Flower Fireworks” - an EXPO 1st place

68. Too symmetrical Too flattened down
Just right, and an
EXPO 1st place.

69. Every spring skunk cabbages explode into amazing shapes. It
is hard to get the best combination of shapes and background.
Some examples here are followed by an EXPO prize winner.

72. “Skunk Cabbage Ballet” - an EXPO 1st place

73. A dark background is useful with people
photos too, to concentrate our attention on
the main subject of interest.

74. Composition

75. Usually it is not good to have the main center of in-
terest be exactly in the middle of the photo, but some-
times it works well, like here. Every “rule” has ex-
ceptions.

76. A good composition—the bull leads us into
the picture and the man leads us out. Ouch!

77. You know that the judges will be critical of
your efforts, so try to be critical yourself first.

78. The judges will
be casting a
critical eye on
your photos.
What you may
find fascinating
(Clinton’s cat
Socks here)
may be just a
cat to them.

79. I like this photo and think that it is interest-
ing, with the different shapes and textures.
But two objects do not usually do as well as
three. A better composition would have been
to have a 3rd pinecone added or something
else in the background.

80. A good rule is that three of anything is
more pleasing to look at and makes a better
composition than two of the same thing. I
wonder what they are smoking.

81. A single blossom, or three of them, is a good
composition but two or four don’t work as well.
The Japanese, with their rock gardens, and Zen
Buddhists figured this all out many ages ago.
Who are we to dispute this?

82. If you do go with just two blossoms at least do not
have them on the same horizontal line

83. Two blossoms don’t work as well as three (the next slide) and
here they are on the same horizontal line—which is boring.

84. An EXPO winner

85. Three blossoms in a vase—much better than two

86. Three Calla lilies. When I took this
photo I could see that the bright light-
green shoot in the background definitely
distracts from the main subject. It needs
to be toned down quite a lot to be less
obtrusive.

87. Original
Improved
back-
ground

88. I took this photo in Edinburgh, Scotland, and
it is marred by the trash can, the distant build-
ings, and the near foreground—all detract from
the natural beauty of the scene. It is quite a lot
of work to alter the photo to remove these ele-
ments. A better taking position might improve
the shot. The curves and diagonals make a nice
composition.

89. Are you still with me?

90. Landscapes

91. Landscapes that also feature people or
evidence of people, like this photo I took
in the Czech Republic, are more interest-
ing to look at and do better in contests.

92. The people can be in the far distance but it still
makes for a better landscape photo to have them.
A landscape with-
out people tends to
make a static picture,
even with dynamic
shapes like here.

93. In some cases, however, a landscape
would be improved by removing people
from it.

94. These Swiss
landscapes are
more interesting
because of the
trails that can be
seen, showing a
human presence

95. Human
presence
makes
for a
more in-
teresting
land-
scape.
Gondola
(top) and
distant
barns
(bottom)

96. An interesting landscape, evidence of people,
and water make a nice composition in this color-
ful Swiss photo I took from Lake Luzern.

97. The intense greens in these Swiss photos are almost not credible,
but they are pretty accurate. The bottom image did well in EXPO.

98. Original photo above. Below is cropped version plus brightened up

99. I liked this Swiss photo but wanted to focus more on the church.

100. This “Swiss Church on the Edge” did well in the
EXPO contest, with its combination of dramatic
landscape and the human element. The tiny white
dots on the right middle edge are sheep. I wanted
to show more of the steep drop, as in the previous
photo, but by backing off more there would be a
smaller church.

101. A vertical landscape, like this Luzern quarry, will set
you apart from most other EXPO landscape entries.

102. Too cluttered a scene—Heidelberg house plus
landscape. There is just too much going on here
The house on the lower right is distracting
and should be cropped out.

103. Simpler Heidelberg scene—house plus landscape

104. Landscapes can be semi-abstract, like these autumn pond reflections

105. These principles of competitive photography are not
that difficult to learn. The result may be photos that will
appeal to the judges in the next contest that you enter.