What am I missing??

I take a look at what are supposed to be "amazing" photos.....some are...most I could do equally well or better with the right subject/location. Yet I feel as if somehow I am missing something.....I have received accolades from my professors for my creative ideas and my perspective when doing regionalist pictures. Many of those same pictures have gotten me finalist or honorable mention (only one second place so far)....I haven't yet submitted the new stuff to any local shows so I have no idea how well it will be received, but like I said, my profs like it. In some of these competitions, I know the judging is subjective, but I try and see what they see in some of these pieces, and seem to miss the point completely. Any insight into this would be appreciated, many of my watcher love my work, and that really helps to know that my vision is at least partly accepted and appreciated. Between you, my professors and the consistency in which I get those honorable mentions/finalist positions, I have managed to keep a clear head, free from the nasty ramblings of losing my confidence......however, it would be nice to break that barrier more than once

The Cost of Education...

I have been researching grants and scholarships.....and that has been something of a disappointment. I'm either too old, too far into my schooling or not from a particular high school or whatever....the field has been narrowed dramatically as to what I can even apply for. Add this to the fact that somewhere around 80% of any extra money for school I can get that isn't loans, involves entering one competition or another, which of course costs money to even try, with no guarantee that the juror will even have a clue as to what your artistic vision is...such is the subjective nature of art or photography competitions. So I have managed to squirrel away $10 for the WPGA (World Photography Gala Awards/3 pieces). Now the trick is saving $35-45 x3 or 4 for a few other shows out of a budget that already has us eating food that is horrible for us, because it's what we can afford and stave off hunger. Despite the fact that my wife could make cardboard taste good.....fatty foods and huge carbs is probably not so good for us when we want to lose weight...I suppose we could go without food completely for a month or so, or just eat white rice and ramen.....yea like that will happen. I suppose I will have to be judicious and set some money aside from the fall and next spring for the next round of shows.....the more I get in the better it looks for my committee when they review my work and effort. I am really enjoying the vortography aspect of my work and plan doing a series or two in the studio this fall with it, so I will have some awesome stuff to submit for some of these events I'm sure. I'm also going to speak with the Sculpture teacher who works in iron and aluminum and see whether we can come up with a device to house the mirrors properly, with handles and caps even to protect the mirrors from accidental damage. I hope there is something we can come up with between or after classes as I am not taking any sculpture classes. Also trying to decide if a Grad student counts as being a student or a professional....usually a BFA pushes you into that pro category, but I have yet to sell more than one or two pieces every couple of years. Still learning the ins and outs of Plug-In suite 5.1, but so far I think it has been worth the money.