I participated in the MPI ICC last year and truly value the experience this World Class forum offers. For me, the ICC is more than just a competition as I believe it is a tool or a steppingstone that facilitates development of my craft and assists with building a successful career. 

The adjudication offered inspired my confidence as an artist and promotes a mentality of continuously challenging my abilities and improvement in my work. With my success in the first year of the ICC, I look forward to using my performance this year as a metric to gauge my improvement. 

I appreciate the feedback and acknowledgment of what I have achieved, and I consider myself enriched through my participation in this event.

Having been a member for 2 years, during this period I took on the jump-start option and was successful in obtaining my Master’s in Portrait Degree, and submitted my first entry to the Image Challenge, what a journey when I reflect back!      

The image challenge was stressful in the beginning to review, collect, resize and rename images into categories. However, once submitted, for my first entries I wasn’t expecting too much.  

Honestly, not knowing the outcome, I was surprised and pleased with my overall results. Of course, as an individual I always seek to improve my skills and train my eye. I’m not striving for bragging rights, I want to ensure quality, my art keeps on improving. The IIC is one of these mechanisms to achieve success.

I have been entering IIC since the beginning & I cannot stress enough how it has helped me grow as a photographer.  It has challenged me to keep learning & evolving my craft.   I truly wouldn’t be where I am today with my photography had I not been entering consistently every year.  

The IIC takes competitions to a new level as I’m not aware of any others that also gives such feedback from the judges which is invaluable!!  You have nothing to lose & absolutely everything to gain by taking your first step & entering into MPI International Image Challenge!” 

We joined MPI when it first began and have participated in all the International Print Challenges.  As two semi-retired photographers, we enter the competition NOT to enhance our business, but to challenge ourselves to learn new skills and to keep our passion for photography alive.  Every year, when the Call For Entries comes out, we plan to do something entirely different that requires us to delve deeper into lighting skills and post-production knowledge.  Some of these new projects have paid off with praise from the judges, others have been dismal failures.  For us, the goals are to always continue learning and to enjoy the process.  (An added bonus, which was not our initial purpose, is that several of our competition images have proven to be highly salable.

 We place great value on the comments of the judges.  Although sometimes difficult to hear, we follow their advice when creating new images.  Our work has improved with each competition.  We highly recommend others entering the MPI Print Challenge.  There is no better way to grow as photographers than to have your work judged by these internationally acclaimed photographers.  Be prepared to sometimes read comments that might make you tense up, that you disagree with, that you despair over.  This is part of the process of taking our work to the next level.  We all have shed a few tears.  We believe that MPI has the finest judges, offers the most transparency, and gives its members the support we need to fulfill our highest goals.  This is an amazing organization that takes pride in offering an outstanding international competition.

ENGLISH TRANSLATION

I participated for the first time in the MPI ICC in 2018 and unlike other competitions, I had great support from this organization that helped me understand the rules following me during the loading process. I was welcomed as a member, as if I had joined a new family and I must admit that MPI in this is really unique in the landscape of photographic associations.              

An international showcase of great prestige where the level of competition is very high and I hope to see among others, many Italian colleagues participate in the next contest.  The constructive criticism offered by the judges of MPIO, have undoubtedly enriched me by stimulating me to grow more and more in my work as a photographer.                    
I can't wait to test myself this year, enthusiastically participating in this great event.

ITALIAN TRANSLATION

Ho partecipato per la prima volta all' MPI ICC nel 2018 e diversamente dalle altre competizioni, ho avuto un grande supporto da questa organizzazione che mi ha aiutato a comprendere le regole seguendomi durante il processo di caricamento.    Sono stata accolta in qualità di membro, come se fossi entrata a far parte di una nuova famiglia e devo ammettere che MPI in questo è davvero unica nel panorama delle associazioni fotografiche.       
Una vetrina internazionale di grande prestigio dove il livello della competizione è molto alto e mi auguro di vedere tra gli altri, tanti colleghi italiani partecipare al prossimo contest.      La critica costruttiva offerta dai giudici di MPIO, mi hanno indubbiamente arricchita stimolandomi a crescere sempre di più nel mio lavoro di fotografo.     Non vedo l'ora di mettermi alla prova quest'anno, partecipando con entusiasmo a questo grande evento. 

Every photographer sees their works as a perfect masterpiece. I have been a member since past 3 years. It has been a wonderful journey of learning and improving my skills. 

Taking part in MPI's competitions and getting my work judged by the experts has truly been beneficial in sharpening my skills. From prestige awards to being a wedding photographer of the year 2019, MPI has helped me abundantly with their judges feedback.

Judges comments helped tremendously in improving my work and this is reflected in the results of my participation.

This is a great platform for photographers to take their skills to the next level.

"I'm continuously impressed with the MPI organization. The level of professionalism, community support and quality throughout every aspect of the program is superb" ~ Alana Lee, Photographer & Digital Artist