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Rules & FAQ

Why should you join PROWEDaward?

Are you a photographer looking to expand your reach? Here at PROWEDaward, our mission is to celebrate the quality and diversity of wedding photographers around the world. Our well-balanced and friendly platform embraces the techniques and personality of each photographer, no matter whether you’re a professional or an amateur just starting out.


Not sure if you should join? We’ve taken a closer look at why you should sign up today:
  • Discover a new audience
    One of the biggest benefits of joining PROWEDaward is that it helps you to maximize your reach. With visitors coming from across the globe, this is your chance to showcase your talents to potential clients; however, we focus on quality over content to ensure only the very best pictures are shown.
  • It’s free to try
    Joining PROWEDaward is completely free. When you sign up, you can upload 12 of your best pictures straight away and then one more each week until you reach 50 images in your portfolio. If you want to upload more and increase your chances of rating higher, then you can join as a paid member.
  • Get rewarded
    Not only will you be able to showcase your photos to new people, but our photographers are regularly rewarded. Whether it’s being spotlighted as our Photo of the Day, becoming our Photographer of the Week, or featuring in your country’s Top 10 Photographers of the Year, there aer plenty of chances for you to highlight your skills.
  • Win money
    Each year, we also host a unique competition to find the TOP 50 best wedding photographers in the world, with a total prize fund of €1700! If you want to find out more about our annual competition, head over to our dedicated page.
Want to find out more about PROWEDaward?
Still not sure if PROWEDaward is right for you? Head over to the FAQ section or get in touch with our friendly team today.

Who can join our community and how to do it?

Any photographer, professional or amateur, who deals with wedding photography can register. Click on sign up. Fill in your email and set your password. You will receive a verification code in the entered email, which you will enter in the next form. Then set your real name and surname, your country, professional status, gender, and social links. After that you must upload at least 12 wedding photos in the section MY PORTFOLIO, otherwise your account will not be verified and listed. Then your profile will be verified by our editor, who will also check your social links. It usually takes up to 48 hours. After your first login you need to upload your face picture and set you others specializations and bussiness information if you want.

You can also participate in a paid annual competition and win financial and material prizes, in which case upload photos to the annual paid contest in the section Contest Service (it is voluntary).

Can I register as an agency or studio?

Not! It is not allowed studio or agency name, one account is only for one photographer! Please use your real name and surname for the account. The button on the camera is pushed by a human and not a studio or avatar. We need to know who push the button. You can keep the studio logo as a profile picture if you want, but it is always better for the bride to see the photographer's face and real name. There’s no need to hide behind the studio name or alias. If there are more people in your studio, please have them each open their own account, be fair and collect points for only one person. The name and address of the studio can be used in the bussiness folder.

Is the sign up for free?

Yes, it's completely free. You can upload 12 photos at the start and then 1 photo per week and your total limit for the portfolio is 50 photos. If you would like to upload more photos per week and fight for a better rating, you can purchase a paid membership. More info at your Membership & Pricing

How many photos can I upload per week?

There is a maximal limit of 6 photos per week for SUPERIOR members, 3 photos per week for PREMIUM members and 1 photo per week for free accounts. So don't send all your photos for review, but choose only the best ones and as writen bellow it is not allowed to upload the same photos over and over again.

Freshly submitted photos are checked by the editors on a weekly basis (not daily).

How many photos can I have in my portfolio?

The maximum limit for SUPERIOR members is unlimited, for PREMIUM members it is 100 photos and for free accounts 50 photos. Because we care about our carbon footprint and we try to keep your portfolio fresh, unflagged photos (with no point value) that you uploaded more than 2 years ago will be automatically deleted from the hard drive. Of course, you can also delete flagged old photos in your interest, because a potential visitor to your portfolio will not check through 1000 photos, they will only see the first few pages in the queue (this applies mainly to SUPERIOR members).

Can I upload photos I took at the workshop or seminars?

Definitely Not! Photos taken at seminars or workshop are not allowed. Only photos taken at a real wedding or after wedding are allowed. Photos of couples from engagements and dates photo sessions are not longer allowed. If the editor finds that the photo was taken at the workshop or seminar, this photo will be deleted and the award will also be remowed (if was any).

Can I send the same photo more than once?

Definitely Not! You have to understand the building of your portfolio as a year-round competition and it is not allowed to send the same photos all the time! Please don't upload the same photos over and over again, if the editor recognizes the photo it will not be reviewed again, so unnecessarily you don't overload the editors. Your portfolio will be checked once in a while and if we find two identical photos, the less point duplicate will be deleted and the points for this duplicate will be deducted.

As for the annual paid contest, you can submit a photo that you already have in your portfolio, there is no restriction.

What is the rank system and how does it work?

Our rank system is used to determine the rank and quality of photographers based on the various awards they receive over a given period. The Global rank shows the ranking of the best photographers for all the time. The Annual rank shows the ranking of the best photographers for the current competition year. For each flag, you receive a certain number of points. After 12 months, the flags expire and gradually start to lose their point value more and more. This system ensures that TOP photographers, who have been with us for a long time, do not suddenly lose their position in the global ranking if they become inactive for a few months

All flags are awarded manually by the Editors according to their own feelings, flags are not awarded automatically based on received likes or seen elsewhere. The first flag you can get is a Picture of the DAY (Editor's choice). Best pictures from the previous week will be flagged as a Picture of the WEEK and the best pictures from the previous month will be flagged as a Picture of the MONTH, Picture of the YEAR will also be announced. Of course, the other badges is continuously received as a Photographer of the week, month and year.

The most active photographer in the current competition year will be awarded as the TOP 50 PHOTOGRAPHER of the YEAR or COUNTRY’s TOP 10 PHOTOGRAPHER of the YEAR. Only flags awarded for the current competition year will be counted in the WORLD'S BEST 50 WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS contest of the year. The annual ranking list show the ranking of photographers for the current competition year only.

The editors can guarantee regularly review of freshly submitted photos only for paid members, free accounts are checked for photos as often as possible in time. In addition, SUPERIOR accounts can checked repeatedly for freshly uploaded photos and their profiles can checked continuously.

How is the rating calculated?

The points are updated by the algorithm in the database every day at midnight (CET). Your rating and position you can see in section My Portfolio/Rating. If some photographers have the same rating, the position is decided by the number of loyalty coins (section Membership & Pricing) and the number of badges (photographer of the WEEK, MONTH etc.)

Why do I have a lower rank when I have more flags and medals than my colleague who is ranked higher?

This is because flags gradually lose point value and after a year their value gets lower and lower, so even if you have more flags, it is possible that your colleague has flags that are worth more and are newer than yours ones.

What kind of flags can I get and how many points will I receive for them?

You will receive the following points for the flags:
  • Picture of the DAY (Editor's choice): 2 points
  • Picture of the WEEK: 5 points
  • Picture of the MONTH: 10 points
  • Picture of the YEAR: 15 points
After 12 months, the flags expire and gradually start to lose their point value more and more. (The flags remain visible.)

What kind of medals can I win in the annual paid contest and how many points will I get for them?

You can get the following medals and points for them:
  • Honorable Mention: 10 points
  • BRONZE medal: 20 points
  • SILVER medal: 30 points
  • GOLD medal: 50 points
After 12 months, the medals expire and gradually start to lose their point value more and more. (The medals remain visible.)

How kind of badges receive the best wedding photographers of the given period?

Best photographers can get the following badges:
  • Photographer of the WEEK
  • Photographer of the MONTH
  • Honorable photographer of the YEAR
  • COUNTRY's TOP 10 photographer of the YEAR
  • WORLD's TOP 50 photographer of the YEAR
  • Jury member of the paid annual contest
These badges never expire. (There are no points for them.)

What do you consider cheating the points system?

Any agreements between photographers to artificially raise a rating are considered fraud in the evaluation. If you like photos just to get mutual likes, we also consider it a scam. Message like: 'I have given you several likes, comments, etc. and I will go back in to follow your work. We have to support each other, please give me some likes, thanks.' , we also consider it a scam. In short, if you do anything unfair to get more likes, don't do it! In fact, you don't even have a reason to do this, because currently the editors don't decide based on the number of likes ;)

Do you find it complicated?

Don't worry, our algorithm reliably recalculates and keeps the rating up to day. The points are not credited automatically but they are recalculated by algorithm every day at midnight (CET), so the rating will not increase immediately after you award get.

Recommendation

Our recommendation for better results:
  • If your photo has already won an award in another contest, add this information at the photo, then it will show a white flag.
  • Add your hashtags and location for your pictures, we can include this information to increase the interaction and impression of the post. It will help you market the social media content more successfully.
  • Fill in your instagram username in your account settings, if we post your photo on instagram, we can tag you in the post.
  • Use your referrer link to invite your friends to join us. You get 15 coins for each new Professional Photographer who will used your referrer link at registration. Loyalty coins can be spent on membership fees. More info at your Loyalty Program

Picture Upload Guidelines

  • Photos taken at seminars or workshop are not allowed. Only photos taken at a real wedding or after wedding newlyweds portraits session are allowed.
  • Photos of couples from engagements and dates photo sessions are not longer allowed. (does not apply in the annual paid contest)
  • Please upload photos with a resolution of at least 1400 pixels at the shorter side, smaller photos are not allowed.
  • Export images as JPEG at a setting of 10 (100%) with sRGB colour space.
  • Layouts, collage, watermark, copyright, logo, text, signature and too much photoshop or AI in the photo is not allowed.
  • Only bleed photographs without borders.
  • Photos that show images of pornography or have visual content of an offensive, slanderous or extremist nature are not allowed as well.
  • All photographs must be the original work of You and must not violate the rights of any other party and must have obtained permission of any people featured in the entries.
  • PROWEDaward may use all entries for marketing & promoting the PROWEDaward although there will not be any monetary compensation for the same.
  • The photographs must not have breached any laws.

Who has a chance to be recognized as the WORLD's TOP 50 or COUNTRY's TOP 10 WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER?

Every year you stand a chance to be recognized as the WORLD's TOP 50 WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS. This year we will also appreciate the TOP 10 photographers in each COUNTRY! The more points you earn during the year, the more chance you have to aspire to this award.

The first 50 photographers with the biggest annual rating will be announcement as the WORLD's TOP 50 WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS and the first 10 photographers with the biggest annual rating from each country will be announcement as the TOP 10 WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS in this COUNTRY.

The annual rating includes points for medals you win in the annual paid contest. If two photographers have the same annual rating, the number of the Badges (photographer of the week, month, year) and loyalty points collected at all will determine the final order. The announcement of the WORLD's TOP 50 WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS and the TOP 10 WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS in COUNTRY will be after judging the annual paid contest.

How we choose the TOP wedding photographers according to the annual rating?

  • WORLD's TOP 50 WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS - You only have the chance to get this award title if you will be in the TOP 50 in the WORLD by annual rating of your portfolio for the current competition year. You get a title and certificate as WORLD's TOP WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER, WORLD's TOP 10 WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS or WORLD's TOP 50 WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS. You can increase your chances by participating in the annual paid contest where you can earn extra points for the medals you win.

  • COUNTRY's TOP 10 WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS - You only have the chance to get this award title if you will be in the TOP 10 in your COUNTRY by annual rating of your portfolio for the current competition year. You get a title and certificate as TOP 10 PHOTOGRAPHERS in ITALY (for example). Minimum annual rating for getting this title is 50 points. You can increase your chances by participating in the annual paid contest where you can earn extra points for the medals you win.
  • Are all my flags and medals from the whole current competition year included in the annual rating?

    Yes, all your flags from the current competition year and medals you win in the annual paid contest are counted.



    More info about the annual paid contest at: prowedaward.com/competition/