Role of the Judge
The role of a camera club must be to educate and inspire photographers to develop their full potential. By careful critique of a maker’s work, the judge can offer suggestions for improvement and reinforce positive skills. The judge must be aware of the fact that comments made are not only for the benefit of the maker, but for all in attendance. It is this aspect that makes competition such a valuable experience. Also, a judge should offer encouragement so that participants will want to continue to improve their work.
Of course, a judge is also obligated to determine the best work presented and award ribbons and rankings as per the rules of the club. Since this involves eliminating many entries that are worthwhile, a judge must offer clear and specific reasons why an image is eliminated or retained for an award.
Criteria for Judging
First, I need to consider the rules of the camera club. For example, in a themed competition, does the image meet the definition provided. Then I would consider the following:
- Impact – Does the image stand out, is it one that I would like to hang on my wall.
- Lasting power – Will I want to look at the image over a long period of time
- Creativity – Has the maker presented the subject in a unique way? Has the maker made the ordinary extraordinary?
- Craftsmanship – Has the maker carefully created the image? Is the image sharp where it needs to be sharp? Has the maker used a suitable exposure? Has the image been cropped properly?
- Emotion – When appropriate, does the image express emotion to me? Can I see the soul of the maker in the image?
- Story Telling – When appropriate, does the image tell the story that the maker intended.
Since a perfect image is exceptionally rare, I need to determine how the image meets all of the criteria. For example, an image may have technical flaws, yet it can be extremely powerful, evoke strong emotion and have strong appeal.
Images selected should be those that overall do the best at meeting all of the criteria.
Biography
I have been photographing for over 30 years. I have many years of darkroom experience, both color and black & white, and I am also very comfortable in the “digital lightroom”. While I shoot mostly digital these days, I still shoot a fair amount of film, primarily slides.
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