2022 Results!

Congratulations to Svetlin Yosifov, our 2022 Better Photography Magazine Photographer of the Year!

This year, we changed the rules a little so that the overall winner had to provide more than one good shot, he or she had to submit four outstanding images. Based on the original scores, the top five portfolios were separately assessed by our judging panel to determine the overall winner. The other four finalists were: Graeme Gordon, Pedro Jarque Krebs, Robin Moon and Suzanne Nelson. Congratulations to them as well - it was a difficult decision.

Svetlin Yosifov, from Bulgaria, wins a cash prize of AUS $2000 and will also be featured in the December issue of Better Photography magazine.

We still have our four categories and each winner takes a cash prize of AUS $750. Congratulations to the following category winners:

• 2022 Classic Landscape Category Winner: Graeme Gordon
• 2022 Emotive Portrait Category Winner: Hardijanto Budiman
• 2022 Exotic Travel Category Winner: Muhammad Amdad Hossain
• 2022 Revealing Nature Category Winner: Robin Moon

Unlike some competitions, the Better Photography Magazine Photo of the Year attracts a high calibre of photographer – as shown by the results.

There were 772 entries and the vast majority scored an award. If an entry shows strengths in one or more areas, the judges are encouraged to recognise this with a Bronze award. However, to get a Silver award you really have to show them something remarkable, and with 45% of entries achieving Silver this year (similar to last year), that’s fantastic! Silvers are only given to very strong images, so if you earned a Silver, you deserved it!

And the strongest images of all, the photos the judges wished they’d taken themselves? There were just 14 Gold awards this year – and a special congratulations to them.

You can see the Top 20 (or so) entries in each category on the website (www.betterphotographyphotocomp.com) and they are definitely worth a look. Congratulations to all these photographers.

And if you’re an entrant, you should already have received an email with your results. If not, you can log into your account (click the login button above) to see your results. You will also be able to download a PDF of your Bronze, Silver or Gold awards and see your scores and comments.

When you look at your scores, you’ll see the individual scores from all three judges. Often the scores are very similar, but sometimes they can be really different. This is quite normal in the world of photography judging, but don’t blame the judge who gave you the lowest score! To get a Gold, for instance, generally requires all three judges to be in agreement, not just one. The score you end up with is an average – and a considered opinion.

The idea behind the judges’ comments is to give entrants an idea of where they might improve. Many of the Silver and Gold award winners simply receive a congratulatory note because sometimes there’s no need to provide feedback on what is already a very successful entry. However, for the Bronzes and many of the Silvers, we tried to isolate one main area in which the entry could be improved. Of course, there could be several areas entrants could investigate, so our comments are provided to encourage further research and advancement. We know there is always a let-down when you first get your results if they are lower than anticipated, but take a deep breath and read the comments again in a few days, trying to take on board what you could potentially improve next year. The judges have all gone through this process themselves – and they reckon it worked for them!

And before we forget, thanks to our esteemed judges David Oliver, Tony Hewitt and Peter Eastway, AIPP Grand Masters of Photography.

Stay tuned for the 2023 awards and another chance to be the Better Photography Magazine Photographer of the Year winner.