A great print can make all the difference at photography competitions. It’s certainly not the only difference, but it can provide that little extra boost that makes judges take notice. Take, for instance, Duncan MacNab’s entry, End of the Line, which won a LexJet Sunset Award for Excellence in Image Quality at the 2011 PPA Western District Competition.

Actually, the title of John Gladman’s LexJet Sunset Award and best Electronic Imaging prize at the PPA North Central District photography competition is Morning Rounds. While quite appropriate for the image, it evokes a simpler and more rustic time in the past, though the main landscape image was taken near Lawrence, Kansas quite recently. Gladman stitched together a panoramic shot of a spot near the river and just around the corner from his studio. He took out the modern distractions, power lines and whatnot, and added the horse and carriage. The result is a story, and “story” is a crucial element in an award-winning image. “I’m big on taking an image and trying to tell a story with it, so whatever I need to do to tell the story I’ll do it. I come at it from an artistic standpoint; I’m trying to create a piece of art from the things I find in life,” explains Gladman. “I’ve been entering competitions for 25 years and I’ve been a judge myself. I’ve learned that you have to create...