Printing for photography competitions

Fine art portrait photographer and Canon Ambassador Martina Wärenfeldt is passionate about printing. "I really care for that part of the photographic process," she says. "I really value the professionalism of a photographer that can handle the process all the way from conception to shoot to delivering not only a file but actual artwork to put on somebody's wall. I think that is the definition of a good photographer. 

"There's a lot of people that can create amazing stuff online and it looks good on Instagram, and they get to become instant Instagram stars, but then they go to print it and it fails because they don't know how to handle the file. 

Getting to grips with the art of printing will help take your photography to the next level, and to develop this skill set, Martina advocates entering print competitions. These were pivotal in her own career, she reveals, elevating her craft and pushing her onwards. She continues to achieve success, winning the Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers (SWPP) 16x20 Print Competition in both 2020 and 2022, and the Society of Photographers' Boudoir and Beauty Photographer of the Year 2023. 

Along the way, Martina began not only entering competitions but judging them too, starting with being invited to judge some national competitions in Norway and Finland as well as her native Sweden. She now judges several competitions, including the Icon Awards, the annual photography competition held by Wedding and Portrait Photographers International in Las Vegas. 

Drawing on her own experience as both a participant and a judge, here are her expert insights and tips on entering competitions and producing successful prints.

There's a vast choice of photography competitions to enter, ranging from local photo club contests to prestigious national and international awards. Some have substantial entry fees (and correspondingly valuable prizes), some are dedicated to particular genres or categories of photography, and some are open only to members of specific organisations and professional bodies. However, some are free to enter and open to anyone. 

So the first step is to do some research and decide what is practical for you. If you're new to competitions, something smaller, such as a local camera club contest, can familiarise you with how it all works. Do you have a special interest or expertise in a given genre? Have you captured an outstanding shot of a particularly rare animal or unusual phenomenon? The judges' criteria are often published for you to refer to, and many competitions have easily accessible online galleries of past winners for you to gauge what they're looking for. Choose your strongest image for the competition and category you want to enter. 

However, remember that it isn't all about winning: Martina emphasises that one of the biggest benefits of entering photo competitions is the opportunity to learn and develop. The feedback you can receive from the judges, often industry-leading professionals, is invaluable. 

Martina's fine art portraits have a distinctive painterly feel, helping them to stand out, and preparing your images for competitions will help you refine and evolve your own personal style. Producing prints is an opportunity to experiment, and even the prints that go wrong can be a useful learning experience.

What does Martina look for when judging a photography competition? "I'm not a technical photographer or a technical printer," she admits, "but oh, when it comes to judging I'm so technical. It can be a beautiful image, it can be very emotional, but if it is lacking in the technical qualities, I'm kind of tough on that." 

The key technical qualities that Martina looks for are colour fidelity, colour consistency, and print quality. Are skin tones in particular true-to-life? Are gradations of colour smooth and visually clean, without spots or blemishes? Is there a good level of detail in both shadow and highlight areas? 

"The way I shoot and the way I print," Martina explains, "I have areas of subdued tone, not deep black. I do a lot of muted dark portraits – not sharp lines or super-saturated colours. For me, what's most important is that I have detail in the shadows." 

If your images do include strong colours and hard edges, as for example in architectural photography, then these should be crisp and distinct, without haloing or colour fringing.

Martina says such technical qualities come down to the photographer's skill in editing images and preparing them for printing, but are also determined by choice of paper. Different papers suit different images and will bring out different qualities in them. If you require deep blacks and punchy colours, a premium gloss photo paper such as Canon Pro Platinum will be appropriate, but for fine art prints with subtle tones and hues, a rough textured paper such as Canon Premium Fine Art Rough will accentuate the impression of depth in the image and add a watercolour-like feel to the print.

For her work, Martina likes to try out different papers – particularly bamboo, rag and other papers with a lot of grain. It's fun to experiment, she says, and not difficult – not being technically-minded, she says she would have given up if it had been very hard. You just have to read up on the qualities of each paper and tweak your print settings a little bit, she explains.

"Before every competition I try to find a new paper that will inspire me in printing," she reveals. "My most favourite paper is a lustre Baryta satin from Hahnemühle, which has a soft sheen. But I don't do a lot of glossy. My portraits are not made to be glossy."

So choose a paper that will bring out the best in your image, and learn to use software such as Canon's free Professional Print & Layout (PPL) to optimise your output for best results on your chosen paper.

It's also worth investing in a quality printer. Martina emphasises that having your own printer gives you control over your printing, and will prove more cost-effective than having to keep ordering expensive reprints when your prints don't come back exactly as you want from the lab.

Looking for the best Canon photo printers for printing your images for competitions? Here are some to consider.

• A premium home printer such as the Canon PIXMA TS8750 Series is a sound choice for producing beautiful colour photo prints up to A4 size. It uses six individual inks – a black pigment ink plus five dye-based inks including a grey ink – for a wide colour gamut and excellent colour fidelity, it can give great results on a range of media types, and its large 10.8cm LCD touchscreen makes it easy to operate. 
• When you're ready to step up to a pro photo printer, the Canon PIXMA PRO-200S offers vibrant, high-quality colour and monochrome prints up to A3+ size, with borderless, fine art and panorama options so you can really showcase your images. With a superior eight-colour dye-based ink system, it promises richer colours and exceptional reproduction on a wide range of media. It supports Canon's free Professional Print & Layout (PPL) software, which gives you detailed control over print settings for refined results. 
• The Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-1100 is a professional A2 photo printer ideal for large format prints. Its 12-colour LUCIA PRO II pigment ink system delivers deeper blacks, richer blues, smoother gradation and impeccable detail particularly on fine art media, with Canon's unique Chroma Optimiser coating ensuring more uniform reflectivity and reduced bronzing. The LUCIA PRO II inks also offer industry-leading longevity, robustness and abrasion resistance – helping protect your prints against rough handling in an exhibition or competition context.

Martina believes print competitions are vitally important for the photography industry, individual careers and anyone trying to build a photography business. As in any field, entering competitions gives you exposure and can help you make a name for yourself. In terms of craft, they're also an opportunity for you to push your capabilities and experiment with new styles and approaches. To give yourself the best chance of success, take control of your printing with a Canon photo printer and produce prints that really showcase your unique talents and abilities.