Pack your camera for a trip to a photo marathon
Published: September 13, 2012
Those who enjoy taking photos of new destinations and crave a creative way to share and develop their skills might want to consider entering one of several photo marathons taking place annually throughout Europe and worldwide.
Photo marathons are competitions in which photographers of all skill levels are asked to capture images reflecting given topics within a limited time frame.
The topics, typically broad, have included “City Life” to “Out of Place” to “In Balance,” and are only revealed on the day of the competition. Another interesting twist is that all images must be captured in the exact sequence they are presented to entrants. When the contest ends, the photographs -- digital nowadays -- are downloaded by the organizers, who choose a winner for each topic and an overall winner. Following the event, a photo exhibition of the images captured over the course of the day is usually organized.
Participants must register in advance and pay an entry fee. Since the number of participants is often limited, the more popular events can sell out within days of the opening of registration. Each city’s event has its own rules and organization.
Here is a sampling of photo marathons in Europe, and their dates, where available, or the months in which events have traditionally taken place.
Bratislava, Slovakia: www.fotomaraton.sk, September
Cardiff, Wales: www.photomarathon.co.uk, June
Copenhagen, Denmark: www.fotomarathon.dk; August. Events take place in other Danish cities including Aalborg, Aarhus, and Odense
Dresden, Germany: http://fotomarathon.bplaced.net/dresden/2013-2. Dresden’s next Fotomarathon will take place April 27.
Graz, Austria: www.fotomarathon.at/Graz , June
Hamburg, Germany: www.fotomarathon-hh.de, September
Kempten, Germany: www.fotorun-kempten.de/index.html, September
Munich, Germany: http://fotomarathonmuenchen.de, July
Nice, France: www.7off-marathon.org, June
Novi Sad, Serbia: http://fotomaraton.rs/eng.php, September
Oslo, Norway: http://blanko.no/fotomaraton/oslo-fotomaraton-2011, August
Trieste, Italy: www.maratonafotonordest.com, September
Vienna, Austria: www.fotomarathon.at, Vienna’s next fotomarathon will take place Sept. 29.