PhotoCrowd

If you’re looking to make your mark as an online photographer, you should get acquainted with PhotoCrowd. One of the web’s most active online communities, PhotoCrowd offers many free photography contests. The site is also home to a prestigious award program. Here’s what you need to know to get started on PhotoCrowd.

5 Things to Know about PhotoCrowd Contests

1. What Types of Photo Contests Does PhotoCrowd Offer?
2. How Do I Enter PhotoCrowd Contests?
3. How Does Judging Work?
4. What Types of Contest Prizes Can I Win?
5. What Types of PhotoCrowd Awards Programs are Available?

When you join PhotoCrowd, you are stepping into an international community of photography lovers. The site attracts people of every skill level—from newbies to professional photographers. You’ll find many contests to enter, discover new sources of photography inspiration, and gain valuable insight to help you grow your skills. You could also win valuable PhotoCrowd prizes from top-name brands, along with recognition for your photographic talent.

1. What Types of Photo Contests Does PhotoCrowd Offer?

PhotoCrowd offers many free photography competitions that you can enter without paying a fee. At any time, you can go on the PhotoCrowd website and view the current list of open free contests. You’ll find everything from portfolio contests judged by photography experts to photography contests focused on specific subjects, like buildings, birds, or food.

In addition, PhotoCrowd offers premium digital photography competitions. Often, these contests are quite competitive and may be more focused. Although they can feature a broad topic, you may find them targeting a specific photography niche, including art photography competitions, macro photography competitions, or contests emphasizing fine art black and white portrait photography. Some of the premium photo contests may the number of limit entries or require entrants to use a specific camera model.

Members can also host PhotoCrowd community contests. The contest host sets the theme and may participate in judging. Community members votes help determine PhotoCrowd winners as well. Taking part in a community contest can be a great way to connect with other photographers who share similar interests.

2. How Do I Enter PhotoCrowd Contests?

If you want to participate in an online contest, you’ll first need to set up an account on PhotoCrowd.com. Creating your account is simple and takes just a moment to complete. You’ll also be able to set up a profile, which includes space for all of your public photos.

You should know that PhotoCrowd only accepts JPEG images up to 25 megabytes (MB) in size. But you don’t need to wonder “what camera should I buy?” to participate on the site. Images from any type of camera, including your smartphone or a basic point-and-shoot, can be shared easily on PhotoCrowd. Mobile photography is welcome in PhotoCrowd contests.

After you sign up, you can find a photography contest to join. The site’s “New Joiner” contests are perfect beginner photography competitions. You can select from “Animals,” “Landscape,” or “People”—and join one contest or all three. Through these amateur photography competitions, you can start to connect with the community and understand how PhotoCrowd works.

To find contests, just click on the “Contests” button. You’ll then see a drop-down menu that lists every photo competition that you can currently enter. And you’ll note a “Chosen for You” section that directs you to photo competitions that could be a perfect fit for you.

Read over the contest brief carefully. Note any special requirements or deadlines. When you’re ready to submit, click on the “Enter a Photo” button. You can upload a new image for the contest or share one you’ve already added to your profile. Since every PhotoCrowd contest is held online, you’ll never have to worry about photo printing to enter.

While it’s free to join PhotoCrowd, the site does offer subscription options. Membership offers many benefits—including the opportunity to enter multiple pictures in contests. A basic free account limits you to one photo submission per contest. With a subscription, you can submit more entries and have more chances to win.

3. How Does Judging Work?

Each contest has a designated submission period. During that time, PhotoCrowd members can enter their photos. After submissions close, the community has an opportunity to rate entries. The rating system uses three stars—the more stars each photograph earns, the better!

To find out how your image is doing in the contest, you must rate a minimum number of photos. After hitting the minimum, you can continue to rate photos or opt out of rating. It’s your choice. Also, you’ll be able to see all the photos entered into the contest along with their ratings.

The PhotoCrowd website uses an algorithm to determine each photo’s ranking in the competition. The proportion of one, two, and three-star votes plays a big role in ranking, but it is not the only factor. To ensure fair rankings, PhotoCrowd also accounts for member rating patterns to adjust users’ voting weights. Through this process, PhotoCrowd aims to ensure that each contest is fair and rankings reflect the true view of its community.

While the crowd helps select winning photos in many contests, the site draws expert judges as well. In fact, the esteemed panel of judges includes distinguished online photographers from around the globe. The judge or judging panel will choose top winning entries and may also supply educational reviews of images. Through this expert feedback, photographers can learn what stands out to seasoned pros.

Every image you enter can help boost your ranking. The site has a leaderboard that highlights high-performing photographers on the site.

4. What Types of Contest Prizes Can I Win?

PhotoCrowd has earned a reputation for hosting some of the best competitions and offering some of the most amazing prizes around. Each month, photo contest winners can gain thousands of dollars in cash prizes. And PhotoCrowd partners with world-renowned brands to give away quality photography equipment, editing software, gift cards, and more.

Many contests select a prize winner based on community votes and choices from the judging panel. That means you can gain an extra chance to win contest categories and earn an awesome reward just by entering a single photo competition.

How can you find out prizes for each contest? After opening the main contest page, you’ll see a tab labeled “Prize details” where you can learn about each prize for winning entries. You may receive photography tools, vouchers for your favorite online retailers where you can buy photography props, and many other valuable rewards.

5. What Types of PhotoCrowd Awards Programs are Available?

If you want to elevate your stature in the field of photography, you should participate in the PhotoCrowd photography awards program. Experts from around the world judge each competition and select award recipients. Previous winners have won cash, opportunities to present their photos in an exhibition, and valuable equipment.

If you’re an emerging photographer, you’ll want to check out PhotoCrowd’s Amateur Photographer of the Year awards. This amateur photo contest has eight rounds throughout the year. Each round has a different theme, such as portrait photography, black and white photography, or animal and wildlife photography. In each round, points for your best-judged photo counts towards your overall score in the competition. Previous winners of these international photography awards program have gained a huge career boost.

Another popular program is the Weather Photographer of the Year competition. This program seeks out dramatic and stunning images that tell the story of weather from around the world. Often, winning images look like they are straight out of the pages of National Geographic magazine. Plus, PhotoCrowd also hosts the Young Weather Photographer of the Year program. Since entrants must be under 17, this is one of the hottest teenage photography contests in the world.

When looking for a young photography competition, consider the PhotoCrowd Digital Photographer of the Year award. This program has one competition set aside for photographers who are under 25 years old. Another segment of the competition is open to older entrants. With multiple rounds and categories—including creative and conceptual photos, portrait photography, and wildlife photography—this contest is certain to stretch your boundaries.

PhotoCrowd has also hosted competitions celebrating the beauty of black and white photography. In those events, you’ll find everything from black and white photos of nature to black and white photography portraits—and more. The PhotoCrowd black and white photography awards celebrate the origins of the craft while highlighting innovative approaches to the study of light and dark.

Other recent PhotoCrowd competitions have focused on specific niches, including bird photography and architectural photography. Winning or earning an honorable mention in these competitions is a true badge of honor in the photography world.

PhotoCrowd: Connect with an International Photography Community

With members spanning the globe, PhotoCrowd is an active resource for anyone interested in photography. The site’s founders were photography teachers who sought innovative ways to inspire each student to learn how to shoot photographic assignments and create powerful visual art. Together, the founders devised a way to transform their classroom practice of group feedback and expert technique into an online photography contest phenomenon.

Today, PhotoCrowd has solidified its mission to help photographers grow and learn new skills. Its unique photography approach includes contests dedicated to amateur photographers along with professional photography competitions—and everything in between. Many photo contests are free to enter, although a few are subscriber-only contests.

One distinct aspect of the PhotoCrowd approach is its community photography contests. In these events, a community member sets the theme, creates a brief, and establishes a timeline for entries. This process gives members a new experience and is the source of many creative photo contests and subjects.

Speaking of photographic competition subjects, the possibilities are unlimited on the PhotoCrowd website. At any time, you’re likely to find contests for travel photography, nature photography, landscape photography, street photography, pet photography—and so much more.

Looking for something specific such as a Christmas photo contest, a free flower photo contest, or a competition where you can enter your best shot of the mountains at night? Check out PhotoCrowd. If you don’t find what you want, that’s never a problem. Remember that community members can always host their own contest.

Although Photo contest winners gain prestige and exposure, you can gain so much just from being a part of PhotoCrowd. You’ll get to observe stunning examples of photography composition and technique from world-class experts. Even if you’re brand new to photography, you can enter your images and see how the community responds to them. Most contests have no entry fee, so you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Every online photography competition you join can be an excellent learning experience that helps you progress towards your goals. You can use the insight you receive to launch your business and start to make money with photography or start you on the path for success in communications arts or photojournalism careers.

It takes just a few minutes to set up your PhotoCrowd login and start exploring the site. You’ll be excited to see many free photography competitions running all the time. You’ll soon discover why PhotoCrowd is one of the best contest sites in the world.