I recently participated in a contest to submit a couple photos for a publishing opportunity through BetterBee, a beekeeping company in upstate New York. I took the better of two weeks culling through my favorite picks, thinking I’d submit the best bee photos I had. Until it hit me…

Your Second Best Can Be First!

You see, as an artist I’m always trying to “one up” myself. I take a good picture of a bumblebee one week, only to find myself trying to outdo myself for the next bee photo. This is an ongoing thing that keeps me on my toes.

If you’re like me, this confuses the process on which is your “best work.”

When reviewing my work, I often rate my personal favorites 4-5 stars, skip the photos with “not enough” and move on, sometimes not even rating them.

Photographers look for lots of things that viewers often don’t: sharpness, depth of field, lighting, editing, composition, and story.

You’d assume if you submit your 5 stars people’s heads will turn and they’ll bust out the wallet.

Can your audience tell the difference between a 4-star you rated and a 5?

Read the Rate

Which rating do you think I gave these photos?

On a scale of 1-5:
Photo A: ****
Photo B: *****

Photo A was a 4 star because its good but not the best. The angle doesn’t bring the bee to focus, the lighting doesn’t highlight as many features as Photo B, and being a fisheye you don’t get any kind of fisheye effect.

Photo B was a 5 star because it had what Photo A has, but separated itself better. The coneflower scales with the bee better, the bee’s features are displayed better, and the lighting showcases more of the setting with the better fisheye effect by rounding things out more.

Did you get it right?

My point is that my rating system can be so vastly different to how others perceive my work. What may be a 4 star to me can be someone’s 5 star, or adversely their 1 star to my 5 star. Art is subjective. Maybe they hate bees. If you don’t know why I love bees, check out this post.

Read the Fine Print

Often contests and submissions have terms and conditions or guidelines. The submission to BetterBee allowed them to use my print for further publication. When you really consider the terms and conditions you may alter your choices as well.

So what was my first pick?

I felt there was no way that I was going to allow someone else to make money on my favorite print, at least not under the terms.

So please, always read terms & conditions and guidelines to submissions and contests. You want to know what the intended purpose of the submission is, what that company intends to do, and compensation (if any).

I have plans to use that photo along with others in my future beekeeping endeavors. So, it stays with me.

Serve up Second Pick

By being careful and deliberate about my choices, I decided on some of my other 4 star picks. I chose these because I felt they were my most recent and I was okay with releasing 2 of them for public use.

My submissions:

The winners for the submission haven’t been announced, but I’m hoping my photos get selected by BetterBee. I could snag up to $100, which would be awesome to get a suit, extra frames, or delicious honey sticks.

Confident In The Pick

Most importantly, be confident in any print or photo you decide to sell. Whether it’s a 4 star or 5 star, consider ticking all dots of your taste and expertise. If you love what you sell, it shows.