How associate photographers should submit

The elopement photography awards are for everyone who shoots elopements – not just photogs who run their own businesses. Associate photographers, photo teams, and in-house photographers are all welcome to submit their elopement photos. Here’s the best way to submit if you are part of an associate team.

The rule of thumb is:

No person may submit a photo to a competition that they didn’t take.
Only the person who took the photo has the authority to submit it to our competition.
This is the standard for all other photo competitions as well.
Submitting photos that aren’t yours is grounds for disqualification.

How this works for associate photographers

All photographers are individuals who may work for themselves, another brand, or both! We welcome all business structures. However, each photographer needs to submit their own photos to our photo competition. Brand owners should encourage their team members to submit, and it is ok for brands to reimburse the submission fees of their associate photographers. However, photography company owners or assistants may not submit images on behalf of their hired associates. Each associate or team member photographer should register for their own Legend Awards account and use the website url of the brand they work for.

But why?

First and foremost, I want to award the skill of the photographer – not who they work for. Brands don’t take photos – photographers do. I also wouldn’t want an image to be submitted without the photographer’s express consent. Each photographer is only allowed to submit 5 images per round. The back end of the Legend Awards website includes a complicated tracking system that creates anonymity (so the images are judged blind) yet I can use the system in reverse to find out who submitted the winning images. I don’t want to see a mixed submission from a brand with 2 or more photographer’s work that would create a mismatch in this tracking system. For this reason, everyone has to follow the same format when submitting.

Married Couple Photo Teams

Married couple photo teams are welcome to both submit! Both partners should register an account on our legend awards site, but use the same brand’s website when they register. This is the url that will be given a backlink in the case of an award winning image. So it makes sense for both partners on the team to submit under the same website url. Make sure that each individual photographer is only submitting the photos they took.

Can I submit my spouse’s photos for my spouse?

No. Each photographer can only submit the photos they took. If you took 7 photos and your partner took 3, you may not enter this way. Only 5+5. This keeps it fair for every submitter.

Can I submit photos I took while working for another photographer?

Yes- so long as your agreement with the brand you were working for allows you to. Make sure to check in before submitting. These images will be treated the same as all other submissions.

What if I want to submit a mix of images from my own brand and associate shooting? Which website should I register with?

Say you want to submit 3 images that you took working for yourself, and 2 images you took while working under another photographer’s brand(s). That’s allowed! You can register for a Legend Awards account using either your own website url or the website url of the brand you primarily work for. If your image is awarded and the link isn’t correct, just email me and I’ll adjust the backlink on my end to reflect the correct brand. 

So what does it look like if an associate photographer wins?

A winning image taken by an associate photographer will be displayed in the same format as all the other winners. Like this:

Photographer’s Name – Brand they Work For

The backlink url will be the url of the brand they work for.

Ready, photographers?

 

A black and white photo of a tender moment between a bride and groom on their elopement day. The bride is wiping away a tear from the groom's face in this award winning photo by The Chaffins photography.

Micah Chaffin - The chaffins

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