This time last year I posted a thinly veiled brag about being a first-time New Zealand Geographic Photographer of the Year finalist. This year I was delighted to become a second-time New Zealand Geographic Photographer of the Year finalist. So please find Thinly Veiled Brag 2.0 below.
Last year was the realisation of a long-held goal to reach this level. My next goal was, and still is, to do it consistently. So far so good!
I’ve noticed a few people complaining on social media that it’s the same people getting selected year after year. There are lots of familiar names amongst the finalists – many of whom have racked up many more finalist appearances than I have. Still, I can’t help but feel like I have in some way joined that club and I’m not going to lie – it feels satisfying.
Because I too have felt that frustration of trying to break into what from the outside looks like an elite club that’s impossible to join. But, for now, touch wood, it appears as though I have joined it. How? By analysing my work, being honest with myself about what separated my images from those at the standard I want to reach, and figuring out how I need to improve. But it took a lot of years of entering, missing out, soul searching, and trying again before I eventually broke through. That’s the bit that people on the outside might not see. It hasn’t come easy.
I have also observed people making the mistake of treating New Zealand Geographic like it’s any other competition run by the likes of NZIPP or PSNZ. What they are looking for seems to be quite different. For example, they don’t seem to care if there’s a distracting element in your background or you haven’t done your “border patrol”. They definitely don’t care if your horizon isn’t straight – I know this because I submitted a straightened version of this image but when they re-cropped it for their website and the exhibition they chose not to straighten it…
It’s also telling that this picture got “merit” (a low score) when I showed it at my local camera club. You’ve got to forget all those “rules” you’ve been told to follow and look for different vibes.
I have also reflected on the fact that both of my selected images, last year and this, are of common, unglamorous species taken within 300 metres of each other at the same public park that has no access restrictions.
In my opinion there is no need to travel to exotic locations, hunt for rare species or gain access to restricted areas. On the contrary, there’s a serious advantage to knowing your location inside out, back to front and sideways – all the nooks and crannies, all the animal behaviour, and where the light falls in all conditions and all seasons. You can’t buy that knowledge – only earn it from hundreds of visits.
My take-home message is this – if there’s a level you want to reach badly enough, don’t assume the people already there possess some advantage you don’t have. Study their work. Study your own. Work out what the gap is. Keep shooting, keep failing, keep learning and keep trying to close it.
Lower image by Amy Baker
