What Judges Say Deciding on what judges say

What Judges Say? Deciding on what judges say, is it relevant or not. Not being offended by their comments. What the ‘experts’ do right and are praised for. Moving on from those comments.

Feeling Offended or Impressed? First of all, it is important that you understand the circumstances so, I should explain that the judge: 1. Cannot see any image prior to the judging 2. Does not know who any of the images belong to 3. Cannot identify a photographer from any image 4. Only judges the physical print 5. Cannot see the electronic version of a print 6. Does not receive copies of the electronic images 7. All information is hidden from the judge including tags etc. 8. Members do not know who a judge is until they come on the night.

Feeling Offended or Impressed? We are all impressed when a judge likes our image and gives it an award. So, are you justified in feeling offended when you receive not so good comments about your image? No, not at all. We have to accept the comments of a judge because we have invited them to ‘judge’ our image and give us feedback to help us improve in the future. To get offended is pointless because it won’t change anything and the judge is only giving you their thoughts and you can take it or leave it as you see fit. The idea is to take the comments on board and take the appropriate action to improve or not. Well, maybe. Occasionally, a judge might make a derogatory comment about an image regardless of it being intentional or not. I was sitting in the audience one night and I was EDI Steward at the time so I knew which image belonged to which member. An image of a pet dog came up and the judge made a witty comment regarding something about its orientation which made the room burst into laughter. I immediately looked at the member whose image it was and they were horrified and really thought the whole room was laughing at them. The offhand comment stopped that person from ever entering another competition and ultimately they stopped coming to the club. I think that the person was a little precious about the situation and over-reacted to the comments. However, I had sympathy for them because the comment should never have been made in the first place. On occasion, yes. I have experienced a situation myself where a judges comments were inappropriate and in my opinion I could have been really offended and felt let down by what was said. I had a wildlife picture of a bird which I was very pleased with and expected it to do well, the picture appeared on the screen and the comment was “sorry, I know nothing about wildlife, NEXT”. My immediate reaction (in my head) was that I had been dudded and I felt offended. But, after I thought about it for a while I realised that it was not really the judges fault because we were using professional judges at the time and he was a wedding and portrait photographer, why on earth would he even know what a wildlife shot was. Upon further reflection, I thought he could have made and effort to discuss the technical aspects of the image but he chose not to.

Are Their Comments Relevant or Not? • No Birdies Here This image was submitted in 2012 to an ‘Open’ competition by a current club member and it received the following approximate comment: This image is far too dark and is underexposed, the golfer is not the main subject, blends into the background and it isn’t really very dynamic for a sports photograph. I cannot really see the point of this image. Clearly, the judge is spot on with their comments because the image is exactly as described. However, the judge was concentrating on the technical parts of the image and completely missed the point which is in the title, ‘No Birdies Here’. He failed to notice that all of the branches have been cut off the trees and being behind the golf green, the word ‘Birdie’ links them together. Clearly, the point of this image is ‘Humour’. This is the problem with using a title to convey what an image is about. The judge clearly wasn’t a golfer so they missed the point completely. An image MUST tell the story without the use of the title so, be warned.

What about this one? • Sewer Fishing This image was submitted to the 2012 Open EDI competition and received a Highly Commended award. Judges comments were: Fantastic concept, well posed, good lighting on model, well done perhaps a bit less DOF as background is busy, distracting in darker areas. Good comments and result but why, what is different about this image? The image tells a story….

This One is Mine? • Choir Boy This image was submitted to the 2010 Open EDI competition. Judges comments were: A great capture, well composed but too over-sharpened. So, were the judges comments fair and correct? The judge made a technical error in judging this, he stated that it was over -sharpened but the image isn’t oversharpened and he mistook the Mandrill's wiry hair as being oversharpened. So what is my point with these three images?

Judges are Human • They try to be impartial. • Yes, they make mistakes, just like we do. • They have their favourite subjects, same as we do. • They don’t like some subjects, just as we do. • They are often in demand don’t have much time, as we don’t. • At times, they say stupid things, I know I sometimes have. • They often all use the same terminology at presentations.

Judge’s Terminology Often they say things because they cannot think of anything to say and they use a lot of clichés which helps to standardise their comments. It is human nature and we all like to use similar phrases and sayings in every walk of life and these are often tailored to where they are being used. For e. g. “property” is a word often heard in the real estate industry and “what will you bring to the table” is heard in every board room across Australia. Photography is no different especially in the world of judging and there a lot of similar terminology or phrases that are often heard at judging nights. But, what do judges mean by these? Judges often call a photographer “The Maker” which grammatically is correct however, “Photographer” or “Artist” would be a much better description. “I love this image and if I had to say anything it would be ******” When the judge likes an image but cannot really think of much to say but feel they have to say something for the crowd they usually begin with this or something similar. “This subject is well seen” This comment is often used to appease the photographer before going into an explanation of why the image isn’t very good, or they don’t like it. It usually means ‘Duck’ there’s some negativity coming your way.

Judge’s Terminology “If it were my shot then I would ******” Used to describe the way in which the judge would have taken an image or the way in which they would have edited an image in post production. “If only the maker had taken a step to the left/right” Usually used to state that in the judges opinion the image was taken from the wrong place or angle etc. This phrase often upsets people when they hear it. It is often preceded by “we weren’t there so we don’t know but”. “We weren’t there so we don’t know but, ******” Often used before making a statement like “If only the maker had taken a step to the left/right”. “Not sure what the makers intention was” Usually means that they don’t really know why you took what you did or they can’t see the point of the shot.

Judge’s Terminology “Not sure what the maker wanted me to look at” Usually used when there is no obvious point of focus or main subject in the image. “This is a busy image” Used when there is a lot of distracting elements in an image and the subject doesn’t stand out. “This is a record shot” This comment is usually reserved for birds sitting on branches or flowers etc. and usually refers to the lack of a story or action in an image where the image is too static. “A holiday snap or snapshot” Usually used to describe a shot that is exactly that, a snapshot that hasn’t really had much thought put into it.

So, What do Judges do Right? Before we discuss what they do right, you have to understand that: • Judges are all volunteers who selflessly give up a lot of their time to judge images, sometimes giving up their entire weekends. • Judges get NO recompense for their efforts. • Judges do sometimes get small recompense for costs of travel etc. (WCC gives $50, this is high it is usually $20) • Judges get heckled and members of clubs often verbally challenge them during their presentation. • Judges are just people and don’t get everything right. • There a lot of different personalities, no two judges are the same.

So, What do Judges do Right? Well, judges do get it right the majority of the time, their comments are usually fair and constructive enabling the photographer to learn from their critique, regardless of whether you, the photographer agree or not. Judges are usually impartial and try to be all of the time, it is not fair to accuse a judge of favouritism because that doesn’t happen. Judges turn up on time and give up their evening to give feedback to an audience often travelling long distances. Our last judges travelled from Sunbury. They are normally spot on with their winning images.

Moving on From the Judges Comments Your image has been judged and you’ve received your feedback so, what happens next? Well that is entirely up to you, IT IS YOUR IMAGE but, it really depends on whether you agree with their comments or not. If you don’t agree then it is just a matter of keeping going along the same path. If you want a second opinion then you could post it to the WCC Flickr Group for comment, ask at the Mentoring Group or ask one of our three registered judges, Tuck Leong, Vicki Moritz or myself for our feedback. If you do agree then you will need to decide on how you are going to go about following the comments whether it be retaking the picture, re-editing the image or just trying a different technique on a new subject. Help is available regardless of what action you take and depending on what help you need at the following: Workshop Nights, Mentoring Group, Beginners Classes or asking any member for assistance.

Thank You for Listening I hope that you got some information from this presentation however, if there is still a pressing point then now is your turn to: Ask questions