PhotoShelter

We're proud to announce 2 recipients for July's Photoshelter Stimulus Plan Photography Grants. Congrats to the Bellingham Visual Journalism Conference and the Belarus Center of Photography's Summer Photopracticum in documentary photography. Both events are happening in July, and both advance photography in special ways that we're excited to help support.


Photo by Bill Crandall

The Bellingham Visual Journalism Conference will be held July 17 & 18, 2009 at Western Washington University. The annual event brings together many of the Pacific Northwest's leaders and students in the field of visual journalism, including video and still photographers, multimedia producers, agents, and online editors, to share their expertise in a comfortable setting that fosters professional growth.

This year, the BVJC event organizers have offered to waive the admission fee for any visual journalists who have been laid off in the past year. PhotoShelter's Stimulus Plan funding is helping make this possible.  PhotoShelter member and Sporting News photographer Jay Drowns applied for the grant to make this worthwhile event possible.

This year's guest speakers include Michel du Cille, three-time Pulitzer Prize winner and assistant managing editor for photography at The Washington Post, Seattle Times photojournalist Alan Berner, Getty Images photojournalist John Moore; Meredith Birkett, senior multimedia editor for special projects at MSNBC.com; Scott McKiernan, CEO/founder of ZUMA Press and publisher of DOUBLEtruck Magazine and zReportage.com; multimedia photojournalist Wes Pope, most recently at The Rocky Mountain News; Heidi de Laubenfels, deputy managing editor for strategy and product development at The Seattle Times; and Jim Seida, senior multimedia producer at msnbc.com.
 
Half way across the globe in Minsk, Belarus, the "Visual Documents" Photopracticum is happening July 1 - 8. The workshop will gather a team of outstanding documentary photographers for an exhaustive workshop designed to teach documentary technique.  According to PhotoShelter member Bill Crandall, who will serve as one of the event instructors, this is the first documentary workshop to be held at this new photo school, and much needed as documentary style has not yet taken hold among photographers in this region.  The Belarus Center of Photography will use the the PhotoShelter Stimulus Plan Grant to offset expenses associated with bringing in the team of internationally recognized instructors. We're really excited to see international participation in support of photography.

Amid the hubbub generated by Michael Jackson's death, Farrah Fawcett's passing got a little buried in the news. I personally remember sitting in my parent's bedroom watching Charlie's Angels as a kid and thinking, "This is the most amazing show ever." Of course, The Sopranos turned out to be the most amazing show, but Charlie's Angels is surely a close second.

You can't talk about Farrah's legacy without thinking about the poster. And I ran across a great little interview with the photographer who shot Farrah's iconic image, Bruce McBroom. We should all be so lucky.

A month ago, while it was still raining daily in New York, we reported how one of our favorite photographers, Jake Chessum, was set up in Union Square taking photos of passerbys for a new HSBC campaign.

Our dashing VP of Marketing, Andrew Fingerman, walked over to gather some info for the blog, but ended up getting his photo taken by Jake. Jake clearly could see the latent, sexy beast beneath the button down shirt and trench coat.

A few weeks later, Andrew received a phone call saying that his image had been selected for the campaign. He signed a model release, filled out his 1099, and then waited.

Yesterday, we started to see the ads start to trickle across the Internet. There are rumors that he might be a part of a large print advertisement in the New York Times or in the subway. Who would've guessed that a bald dude from Jersey would become the every day man for HSBC.



We've already started creating parodies of the banner ads for fun. And most all of them are too risque for public consumption. But boy, we're giggling like little girls around here.

Where does Andrew really bank? Mum's the word.

P.S. RIP Michael. Shamon!

by Cradoc Bagshaw

It's possible that you might have to battle with one client to get paid $150 for the use of a photograph yet you might get $15,000 from another client for the use of the same photo. What makes the difference?

The answer is image uniqueness, but this may not be what you think it is.

To some extent it has to do with whether an image is a "one of a kind" shot. But often the profitable shots are chosen by how uniquely the image fits the client's specific need. Often these shots can be the non-spectacular images that you are thankful you didn't throw away during an edit.

Agencies used to say that they only needed 10% of the images they had in their files, but they didn't know which 10%. Buyers see things in photographs that have always been difficult for the sellers to predict in advance.

It's understanding what the buyers are seeing, what is going on inside their head when they are looking at your photo, that will give you the edge when you negotiate with them. You need to understand what is going on from their point of view. You get this information by asking questions.

ADDING VALUE TO THE CLIENT'S PRODUCT
In stock photography the word unique does not describe your photograph as much as it describes the way your photography is being used in any given project.

Clients use your stock photographs to add value to their products. It's that simple. Your job in negotiating a price is to convince the buyer that your image will add enough value to their product to be worth what you are charging.

Learning to judge the uniqueness of your image is one of the most important and difficult skills that you must acquire to compete as a stock photographer. It is an important skill because the amount of money you make is tied directly to your ability to understand the client's needs. It is a difficult skill because the uniqueness of a single image can vary from sale to sale, depending on the value being added to a client's product.

by Brian Smith

EDITORIAL PHOTOGRAPHY ASSIGNMENT RATES have traditionally been lower than rates paid for commercial or corporate photography but with the caveat that you own the work and can re-license it after it appears in the magazine. The best photographs of any subject can get licensed again and again all over the world.

EDUCATE YOURSELF ABOUT THE BUSINESS OF PHOTOGRAPHY. Even though you chose to be an artiste - not an accountant - on career day, that doesn't mean you can skate through your career without any business skills. Don't expect to find a rep to handle all of this for you. Reps like to work with artists who understand your business. Editorial Photographers is a great source of information about the business of editorial photography. Educate yourself.

AIM FOR THE TOP - not the bottom - when licensing stock. There's plenty of money to be made in editorial stock licensing. Bear in mind that the best images get licensed again and again and again. Work hard to create the shot everyone wants - not just another interchangeable image. Don't get stuck in the $200 bargain basement bin: Create images that have value.

I DON'T UNDERSTAND MICROSTOCK or how it fits into the editorial market. It's almost like telling clients that the largely stagnant editorial rates that have largely stayed frozen in 1985 are somehow too high, which is clearly not the case. An editor I work with at TIME magazine told me they recently a royalty-free photo for their cover for three dollars. That's exactly 1/1000 of TIME's normal cover rate. That's like saying "I'm holding firm to my price no matter how much more you're willing to pay!"

SHOW THE WORK YOU LOVE TO SHOOT. This sounds really basic, but it's amazing how often photographers get this wrong by showing what they think clients want. Work that comes from your heart is always the strongest. When it's what you love to shoot, it doesn't even seem like work, does it?

By Paul Smith/Featureflash Photo Agency 

Professional photographers who routinely cover entertainment events are often annoyed when called "paparazzi."  I admit we're prone to extreme rushes of adrenalin when A-list celebrities walk by, and our cacophony of "Jennifer!" "Brad!" or "Miley!" is, well, just plain bizarre.  But the vast majority of these fully credentialed men and women photographers, who work regularly with the entertainment media and Hollywood publicists, do not race down Rodeo Drive in black SUVs chasing Britney Spears.


Photo by Featureflash

Pros at red carpet events could not do their job without keeping up on the latest equipment and imaging technology.  We also have to know what events are happening, maintain good relationships with the studios and publicists, acquire proper media badges, and play by the rules at movie premieres, awards ceremonies like the Oscars or Golden Globes, celebrity parties, film or TV sets or film festivals.  More photographers are also using services like PhotoShelter, which is an integral part of my web site and combines seamlessly with the other elements of my site.

Not just anyone can pick up a camera and start shooting at Hollywood events, as it is a controlled, restricted media environment with very tight security.   But I can give you some insight into what I do, the equipment and technology I use, my workflow, and the fast-changing market.
   
In 1991, I opened the Los Angeles office of Featureflash Photo Agency.   Thousands of my photos have been placed throughout the world in a wide variety of publications.  I've covered hundreds of film premieres, awards shows and other entertainment events, including a particular favorite of mine, the Cannes Film Festival, every year since 1979.  So far, there are about 120,000 celebrity images in my online archive, which are sold either directly or through photo agents to magazines and newspapers worldwide, web sites, as well as for download sales. 


Photo by Featureflash

I've always been fascinated by technology, so that interest dovetailed nicely into digital photography.  I was one of the first freelance photographers to digitally transmit Hollywood red carpet photos all over the world.  Featureflash received the Computerworld Smithsonian Award in Media, Arts & Entertainment in 1998.  
   
For the 10 years that I ran my photo agency on Fleet Street in London, selling pictures to British daily newspapers, I never dreamed how digital would rock the photography world.  What I do today would have been science fiction to me then.  In those days, we literally walked our prints over to the newspaper and put them on the photo desk.  Now photographers routinely transfer images all over the world at lightning speed. 

Equipment/Shooting Position/Shot Set-Up
When it comes to my equipment, I'm a little like Eric Clapton and his prize Stratocaster electric guitars.  At this time, I shoot with the Nikon D3 and Nikon D700 SLRs using Nikon 28-70mm and 70-300mm zoom lenses, and Quantum Q-Flash and Nikon SB900 flashes.  I use a Mac Pro desktop with dual monitors, MacBook Pro when I'm on the road and the iPhone for keeping abreast of emails and up-to-the-minute news of celebrity events. 

By Lou Manna with Erin Laverty

In food photography, you eat with your eyes first.  Colors, textures, contrasts and composition are key.  These elements are what go into creating mouth-watering images that jump off the page.  I've been a food photographer for over thirty years, and mastering the techniques to achieve these goals takes time and patience.  Here are some tips that I've learned over the years to help you along the way.  

Of utmost importance, enjoy what you do!  Your passion will shine through in your images.

Where to start
First of all, get to know your camera.  Some people are scared off by digital technology; make it your friend, but you don't need to get too caught up in all the bells and whistles.  Understand what your camera is capable of doing, and learn how to use it to your advantage to bring out the best in your subject.  Learn the foundations first, such as f-stops, shutter speeds, ISO's and metering.  Keep in mind though, that your eye is still the most important element in taking a good photo, and no amount of developing technology will ever replace this.  
Learn how to see in a new way.  Pre-visualize your shot - what do you want the outcome to be?   
   
Take a class or attend a seminar! 
Meet people, get involved, join professional organizations, go to conferences, workshops, etc.  Besides improving your skills, you'll make connections in the industry, which can lead to jobs.

As an artist and an entrepreneur, try to keep a balance between the creativity and the practical side of business.  Keep good records of your expenses.  Stay organized, in both your business and with your images.  Use metatags and keywords in all of your photos. 

The best way to make money, as my father told me early on, is to keep your overhead low.  Work from home when you can, and rent a space when you have a job.  Why didn't I listen to him?

What are the important elements of a photographer's website? What should each website contain, and what do your customers want? These are important questions to answer before you settle on any website design.

This article outlines the most important elements of what makes an individual photographer's website effective, much of which we heard straight from top photo buyers in our 2009 What Buyers Want survey. You should be sure that your website can accommodate as many of the items from the below list as possible.

An ideal photographer website possesses the following traits:

1. Contains HTML that search engines can index.

This may be the most important element of all. Search engines are such a significant traffic source that you can't really succeed without them. The foundation of HTML is text, and search engines love text. Give search engines what they love, and they'll return the love in the form of a nice steady stream of traffic.

Putting your entire website in Flash, or including captions and keywords in the image itself instead of as text below the image, is not advised if you expect search engine traffic.

2. Is simple and clean. It showcases the photography, not the design of the site.

When a visitor comes to your website, the first thing thought across his or her mind should be about your images, not about your website itself. If a visitor is distracted by the design, annoyed because it is busy or slow, or consumed with navigation that may seem cool but is confusing to newcomers --that's attention away from your images.

Your website should be as simple as possible. The reason art museums have simple white walls is to showcase the art.

3. Has contact information available on every page.

Contact information that is difficult to find is the single biggest pet peeve of photo editors. Make sure your website contains your contact information - or at least a link to it - on every single page. A good practice is to include your phone, and email address on the bottom of every single page of the site.

Yes, that's right... every single page. If you want your phone to ring, then don't make it difficult for people to find your contact information.

4. Provides a searchable database or archive of the available images.

Many photographers think that a searchable archive is only useful if they're selling stock images. This is not the case.

Our survey of photo buyers reveals that many photo editors prefer to search through a photographer's image archive instead of being restricted to looking through galleries that have been pre-edited and sequenced. They are the editors, and they want to be in control.

For example, art directors often browse through photographer websites when looking to book assignments. If a director is planning a shoot that uses sports and action, he or she may want to just search for "sports" or "action" to see whether you have any work that fits what they're looking for. This is a lot easier than clicking around to see whether you might have a gallery called "Sports".

You should consider search as another way to navigate through your site, in addition to galleries.

5. Is easy to update.

A website should be updated often, so your website should make that process quick and easy. The easier it is, the more you'll update it.

6. Has either a white or black background. Not colored, not textured, not gradient.

According to our survey of photo editors and buyers, your website background should be either black or white. All other shades of gray, colors, and patterns got a big thumbs-down.

White or black are neutral colors, and they don't take attention away from your images. Instead, the viewer's eye is trained to ignore these background colors entirely, which is exactly what you want. Colored or textured backgrounds call too much attention to themselves and divert a viewers focus away from the images. (See #2 from this list for more on this.)

7. If Flash, has an HTML mirror site that is search engine-friendly.

If you absolutely must have a website done entirely in Flash, be sure that there is an HTML mirror site in the background that search engines can see. If your website doesn't have this, then search engines will not be able to index the content of your site. Yes, it's true that Google is now learning to "see" Flash, but it's restricted to text only. This means it has no way of "seeing" an image and matching it to caption text located within the Flash file. Furthermore, Flash has no notion of the ALT attribute (specific to HTML), which provides descriptive text for images.

Turning off Javascript in your web browser's preference window (if you don't  know how to do this, a quick Google search should help you out) and reloading the page is one easy way to check and see if the site has an HTML version. If you don't see anything on the page after you reload, then chances are that there is no HTML version available.

If your website has already been indexed by Google, you can see what Google sees by viewing the "cached" version of the page instead of the actual site. This is the version of the page that Google has saved on the servers - essentially a snapshot of your website that was taken the last time they visited it. The link to the cached page is available next to the entry on Google's results page:

There is a link to see a "Text-only version" on that page. Click this and you'll see exactly what Google sees.

This is how Google sees the PhotoShelter Blog:

There should be useful keywords and text about you and your services.

If you only see a message that says "You need the Flash player to view this page", then there is no text-only version.

8. Navigation is obvious and clear, with easy-to-understand section names.

When a visitor arrives at your website, they should already know how to use it, and where everything is. Your navigation should be obvious and simple to understand. If your site's navigation is difficult to find or see, or if the labels you've chosen are vague and a challenge to decode, you will end up with frustrated users.

Just like the design of your site, the navigation shouldn't get in the way and become another element that draws attention away from your photographs. If someone has to stop and think about your navigation, it is taking away from your photography.

9. Provides a thumbnail option and doesn't require image-by-image viewing.

Our survey revealed that photo editors prefer websites where they feel some degree of control over the images they browse, as well as how they do their browsing. An overwhelming majority of them said they preferred to view images as thumbnails, with the option of viewing a larger size if they wanted.

Photo editors and art directors are often in a rush, so presenting them with many thumbnails on a page allows them to scan through images quickly - meaning they'll be able to see more of your images in a shorter period of time. This will increase the potential that they'll find the image they are looking for.

Similarly, these types of visitors don't like being forced to look through large single image one after the other. It takes too long and they have no control over the experience.

10. Ability to purchase prints, products, and/or digital downloads on site.

It's important to make the most of every visitor. Because you'll never know just what any given visitor is looking for, your website should be able to cover all the bases. Someone may be looking for a print to hang in their living room, another might be a person looking for a new mousepad with a soothing picture on it, and another might be looking for an image that they can use as their computer's desktop wallpaper.

If your website has the ecommerce capability to handle all of these opportunities, you'll increase the potential to generate revenue on your site.

Your website doesn't have to be just a portfolio of images. It can, and should, be more.

11. Allows for direct linking to images.

At some point, a viewer will want to share one of your images with another person, and they'll want to send a link to that person, usually via email. If your images are contained inside of a Flash file, or if you have a frames-based HTML website, this may be a problem.

If you are considering a Flash-based website, make sure it has support for "deep linking". Put simply - every image on your site should have its own dedicated URL (link).

12. Has the ability for someone to download an image for comping purposes.

Very often, a photo editor or art director will need to download a low-res image from your website so they can use it for proofing purposes. There are usually other images in consideration in addition to yours, so it is important that a photo editor can bring a copy of your image into a meeting. If you make it too difficult to get an image from your website, your pictures may be missing many of these meetings.

Make sure there is a way to download a low-resolution version of the image that's just big enough to make it look as good, if not better, than the other images you are competing with. (However, too big can take too long for the editor to download.)

Also make sure that your contact information is either on the image itself or saved within the metadata of the image file. Once you've beat out the competition, they'll want to connect with you (or your website) to get a high-resolution file. Make sure they know where to go when that time comes!

We talk a lot about Search Engine Optimization and how it can benefit photographer websites by bringing unsolicited visitors and expanding your marketing reach. There's not a photographer in the world who couldn't benefit by having more eyeballs on their work.

Many photographers have downloaded our SEO Cookbook, and made all the suggested on-page changes like unique page titles, meta descriptions, captions and keywords, etc, but still can't figure out why they aren't showing up on page 1 of a particular search.

According to most SEO experts, on-page factors only account for about 10-15% of your SEO juice. The real meat comes through building links to your photos and other content. But how the heck do you build links to your website?

Build it yourself
There are a number of easy ways to build links to your photos.

1. Blog: A blog is an SEO machine. You pick the topic, you pick the keywords, you build the links. Even if no one is reading your blog, you're still gaining some SEO benefit.
2. Join Trade Organizations: Many of the photo trade organizations maintain websites with member pages. And in many cases, these pages allow you to list website information. It's a perfect way to link back to yourself.
3. Social Networks and Online Communities: Been resisting the social networks? You might want to rethink that strategy. Having a public presence on Social Media sites like Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn can benefit your SEO juice. And of course, community sites like SportsShooter give you great ways to showcase your photography at the same time.
4. Google Local Business: Make sure to create an entry with Google Local Business. This not only provides you with some SEO juice, it also gives you the potential of showing up on Google maps when people search for photo services.

Create Compelling Content Regularly
I see a lot of photographers shooting the same old crap in the same style every day. You know what I'm talking about. A rose in a vase on white seamless. Raindrops on the window. More "street photography." And you wonder why people don't link to your content.

As an extreme example, think for a moment about the stupidest YouTube video you've ever seen. Was it David After Dentist? Chocolate Rain? Dog Dreaming? Star Wars Kid? Humiliating or not, these viral videos make for compelling content. And besides the millions of "views," they each have thousands of links to them (I just created four more).

What's compelling photographic content? Tomas van Houtryve posed as a Belgian chocolate maker to gain access and shoot phenomenal photos in North Korea. On Location News shot the first on-set photos of Iron Man 2 with Robert Downey Jr.


Photo by Tomas Van Houtryve

Ok, maybe you're not ready to risk life and limb to enter a country controlled by a brutal dictatorship, but you certainly are creative enough to shoot something compelling and distinct. Shawn Rocco's cellphone photos have been featured in numerous sites like PDN and the New York Times Lens blog.He didn't risk life and limb, he just followed a project which other people found interesting.

You need to understand that the average joe on the Internet doesn't build links. Links are built by a very small population of users who we call the "linkerati" (the linkerati aren't a mystical group of people, by the way. They are just people who take the time to link to content they like). They are the power users of the Internet, and they aren't interested in pictures of flowers. That isn't to say that there isn't a market or interest in flower pictures, but the linkerati are much more interested in things like these crazy underwater/overwater photos by Dustin Humphrey.


Photo by Dustin Humphrey

And while there are many cases of one-hit wonders on the Internet, you need a much more constant production of content for SEO purposes. Google will look more favorably upon you if content on your website is updated frequently (Google has a concept called Query Deserves Freshness (QDF) that is factored into their search algorithms). And think about it. Doesn't it suck when you go to your dentist and they have a copy of Women's Home Journal from 1997? Wait, George Clooney is the Sexiest Man Alive again? No, no, no, my friend. That's the November 2006 issue of People. Doesn't it make you think that your dentist is out of touch with the times?

Think about how a visitor to your website feels when your last update was two years ago. Maybe you have pictures of Borat, when you should really have pictures of Bruno. I think you get my drift.

So keep in mind that link building is the most important factor in your quest for SEO domination, and don't get frustrated if your on-page work hasn't yielded you the best results. Building links takes time and effort, but creating compelling content can dramatically help your linking strategy.

Photo contests and awards can bring exposure to a photographers work. However, many photo contests are nothing more than a mechanism for the host to collect entry fees while grabbing your rights. Many of the most prestigious awards have low or no entry fees.

The following is a growing list of reputable contests and/or awards that we believe are beneficial to serious photographers, and worth consideration.

Photojournalism/Documentary
Alexia Foundation Grants
The Alexia Foundation promotes the power of photojournalism to give voice to social injustice, to respect history lest we forget it and to understand cultural difference as our strength -- not our weakness. Through grants and scholarships, The Alexia Foundation supports photographers as agents for change.

Website: http://www.alexiafoundation.org
When: January
Eligibility: Pro: Any photographer may apply for this grant. Proposals that have received grants or awards exceeding $1,000 in the previous calendar year are not eligible. Student: Applicants must be duly enrolled full-time students in an accredited college or university in the U.S. or abroad in a degree program at the time of application.
Entry fee: none
Prizes: Professional Grant: $15,000; Student: Full tuition-scholarship (~$15,000)

Alicia Patterson Foundation Grants
The Alicia Patterson Foundation Program was established in 1965 in memory of Alicia Patterson, who was editor and publisher of Newsday for nearly 23 years before her death in 1963. One-year and six month grants are awarded to working journalists to pursue independent projects of significant interest and to write articles based on their investigations for The APF Reporter, a web published magazine by the Foundation and available on the web.

Website: http://www.aliciapatterson.org/
When: October 1
Eligibility: U.S. citizens who are fulltime print journalists, or to non-U.S. citizens who work fulltime for U.S. print publications, either in America or abroad.
Entry fee: none
Prizes: $40,000 full year grant; $20,000 six-month grant

Editorial Photographers Education Grants
Awards will be granted to each of seven outstanding full time photography students.

Website: http://www.editorialphoto.com/epedu/
When: Mid-May
Eligibility: Eligible contestants must be enrolled in an accredited, full time college photography program in the U.S. or Canada during the 2008-2009 year, and previous winners are not eligible to win again.
Entry fee: none
Prizes: $1000 cash prize, ThinkTank Urban Disguise 30 camera bag, Blinkbid Software, one year Livebooks:Edu subscription, one year PhotoShelter standard account, and other prizes


Eugene Smith Fund
The W. Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography is presented annually to a photographer whose past work and proposed project, as judged by a panel of experts, follows the tradition of W. Eugene Smith's concerned photography and dedicated compassion exhibited during his 45-year career as a photographic essayist.

Website: http://www.smithfund.org/apply/smith
When: End of May
Eligibility: Any visual journalist
Entry Fee: none
Prize: $30,000 grant

Ian Parry Scholarship
Ian Parry was a talented photojournalist at the beginning of his career, when he was tragically killed whilst on assignment for The Sunday Times in December 1989. Each year we hold a competition for photographers who are either attending a full-time photography course or are under the age of 24. Entrants must submit a portfolio of their work and a brief synopsis of a project they would undertake if they won the scholarship. The prize is £2,500 towards their assignment.

Website:http://www.ianparry.org
When: June 24, 2009 (and each year)
Eligibility: Students or pros under the age of 24
Entry Fee: none
Prize: £2500


Getty Images Grants for Editorial Photography & Grants for Good
Heavyweight Getty Images sponsors two major grants for photojournalists. "We believe that photojournalism is a powerful tool for telling compelling social, political and cultural stories. We also understand that creating and managing world-class photography assignments requires time, freedom, support and considerable resources." The Grants for Good support a photographer's work with a non-profit.

Website: http://imagery.gettyimages.com/getty_images_grants/overview.aspx
When: Editorial Grants: May 15; Grants for Good: April 15
Eligibility: Student or pros under the age of 30
Entry Fee:none
Prize: (5) $20,000 grants. (4) $5000 grants for student. (2) $15,000 Grants for Good


NPPA Monthly Clip Contest
The National Press Photographers Association hosts a monthly clip contest, and the winners are published in their News Photographer magazine. It is open to any NPPA members in good standing.

Website: http://nppa.org/competitions/monthly_news_clip_contest/
When: Monthly. Entries are typically due at the end of the first week.
Eligibility: Any NPPA member in good standing
Entry Fee: none
Prize: published

NPPA Best of Photojournalism
The National Press Photographers Association hosts a monthly clip contest, and the winners are published in their News Photographer magazine. It is open to any NPPA members in good standing.

Website: http://bop.nppa.org
When: End of April
Eligibility: Any visual journalist
Entry Fee: none
Prize: published

POYi
The Missouri School of Journalism has organized the Pictures of the Year International contest for the past 66 years. It is one of the oldest and most venerable of the photojournalism contests.

Website: http://www.poyi.org
When: Mid-January
Eligibility: Any visual journalist
Entry Fee: $50
Prize: $1000


World Press Photo
Amsterdam-based World Press Photo aims to support professional press photography on a wide international scale through contest, exhibitions and educational programs.

Website: http://www.worldpressphoto.org
When: Mid-January
Eligilibilty: Working photojournalists
Entry Fee: none
Prizes: €10,000 + camera equipment


Eddie Adams Workshop
The Eddie Adams Workshop is an intense four-day gathering of the top photography professionals, along with 100 carefully selected students. The photography workshop is tuition-free, and the 100 students are chosen based on the merit of their portfolios.

Website: http://www.eddieadamsworkshop.com
When: Late May each year
Eligibility: Students, Military photographers, or pros with less than 3 years of experience
Entry Fee: $45
Prize: 100 students will attend the tuition-free workshop each October


Sports Photography
SportsShooter Student Contest
Adorama Camera and SportsShooter.com present this rich learning environment, designed specifically for students. Start off by entring your best "One Week's Work", and you may end up having your portfolio reviewed by some of the most respected photographers in the business. As if that isn't enough, one dedicated and talented student is going to end up winning the title of SportsShooter.com Student Photographer of the Year, and take home the outrageously cool Grand Prize: "The Essentials", the tools to have when you're ready to start getting serious.

Website: http://www.sportsshooter.com/student_portfolio/index_new.html
When: On-going
Eligibility: Current photo student at accredited institution and SportsShooter member
Entry Fee: none
Prize: Nikon D300, MacBook Pro 15", Aperture 2.0, Nikon 18-200mm, Nikon SB800, Think Tank Airport Security, and more

Travel Photography
Magnum Expression Award
Established by Magnum Photos and HP with the goal of raising awareness and inspiring change through photography.

Website: http://expression.magnumphotos.com/
When: Deadline September 30, 2009
Eligibility: Anyone
Entry Fee: none
Prize: $10,000 + HP Z3200 Printer


Macro Photography
Nikon Small World Photography

Website: http://www.nikonsmallworld.com/info.php
When: End of April each year
Eligibility: Anyone over the age of 18. Photos must be taken with a light microscope
Entry Fee: none
Prize: $3000 top prize and other prizes available

General
PhotoShelter Local Grants
We're looking for local organizations (or individuals) that are helping keep the spirit of photography alive and vibrant in communities everywhere.  We have a small budget for event sponsorships - $500 every month - and can also provide speakers, prizes, discounts, judging platforms for contest, and temporary group accounts for displaying a group's collective work.  Depending on your event needs and how strong of a match it is for us, there are plenty of creative ways to get PhotoShelter involved.

Website: http://pa.photoshelter.com/mkt/stimulus-plan-photography-grants
When: monthly
Eligilibity: Anyone organizing a photo-related event that benefits a local community
Entry fee: none
Prize: $500