VTdude

Hey everyone. I have been enjoying your posts and gaining knowledge from those who've "been there". I have a question. I enter in a Vermont photo contest every year at our state's largest attended annual 10 day fair. This year was my 4th. The first year I got an honorable mention, I was so proud. Nothing since, which is fine. I do it for the love of my hobby and the experience of being involved. We're allowed three entries each among the several categories.

My question: Many photos that win are photos I personally think should not even be considered. They're often blurry, out of focus, immature looking shots (to me). I'm very curious to know, what is in the mind of judges? Do any of you judge at for your local contests? This year as we were picking up our entries post-fair we received a paper entitled, "12 Merits of an Image" which I'm sure they're saying are what judges look for in a contest image. There is nothing on the paper which says, "Should be sharp and clear but out of focus is okay too". The paper is all about sharp, infocus, great color, telling a story sort of thing. One judge even suggested that I should have used a different color matting. Isn't this supposed to be about the photo and not about the matting? I am confused.

Thank you so much for reading this and any thoughts you send my way.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Right! That's why I would never enter a photo contest. I know I should win, but the judges wouldn't realize that, and they would pick an inferior entry. Subjective voting is so - subjective.

fourg1b2006 Loc: Long Island New York

Do these judges know anything about photography.

VTdude

Jerry, yep. I say the same thing...very subjective.

VTdude

I'm assuming. The comments on our photos suggest they know their craft. That's why I'm so confused...lol.

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

In my film days and belonged to a camera club always ways told by judges that the mat should be white even when white did not compliment the image

VTdude

mborn,

interesting....white? Huh.

yssirk123 Loc: New Jersey

I believe "12 Merits of an Image" are the criteria developed and used by the PPA to judge and grade submitted competition images.

d3200prime

The judges give an authoritative opinion. Opinion is the operative word. Are the judges experienced enough in photography to follow the rules and give an authoritative opinion.............maybe. I was once asked to judge an auto show and I know nothing about antique cars. Go figure. Just saying.

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

Its all about the photo, and that includes the matting, it has to fit the image, or the whole thing could be judged poorly!

VTdude

Thank you all for the replies. Much appreciated.

VTdude

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

Hi, I have entered over the years a number of photography competitions. In several of them I have won various awards, from Best of Show to Honorable Mention and in-between. I have also worked as volunteer staff for a local photography competition, which was always interesting and informative! Winning awards in these competitions is sometimes akin to rolling dice, it depends on so many variables and a lot of them are not what you think they might be. I am familiar with the "12 Merits of an Image" piece but I'm pretty sure not a lot of judges are, saying that even though I do win awards. Sometimes judges are the kind of person who looks for something different, not necessarily a good image or print, but just something different. Sometimes they look for images that appeal to them personally, which could mean portraits if they are portrait photographers or landscapes if they are landscape photographers. Some of them do seek out prints with good composition and other widely accepted artistic merit, but that is not always the case. Just this year, at our local photography show, one of the judges, whose photography love-of the-moment was abstract, convinced the other two judges to pick a specific image that was just plain bad, I mean really, really bad according to a number of local photographers. But sometimes the judges are just tired and want to get it done so I assume that was part of what happened. But lots of us disagree on what does get picked. A few years ago I had a piece that won Best of Show, an image of a pomegranate that I had worked on, literally, for hours and it was rewarded with the award. I was working in the show as a volunteer that year and as a customer left the gallery I heard him say, "That's not Best of Show!" So, who knows what deserves what award or does not deserve an award. Judges are not logical, rational individuals, but are instead humans with emotions and, frankly, are not always qualified to be a judge. You kind of get-what-you-get with them and hope for the best. One show I always love, and I have had work entered in it but have never won anything, is the North Valley Art League: the judges always seem to actually pick the most outstanding work in the show and the show is usually filled with outstanding work anyway. You might check out their online photo show from 2016. Don't be dissuaded by the judges, do your best, enter your work, continue to get better and better, and don't take any rejection or criticism personally, use it as a way to continue on in the growth of your photography journey. This is just my take on the subject and I continue to put my work out there by entering competitions.

Bill_de Loc: US

I don't usually enter contests, but while waiting for my house to be finished the friend I was staying with talked me into it. It was conducted by the Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge. I won first in flowers and second in animals.

The first place in animals was a terrible picture, on the other hand there were a number of better flower pictures than what I won with. It's hard to say what people see in a photo.

--

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

Welcome to the troubled and confusing world of JUDGED competition. If possible as for a judges scoring sheet well before the competition, but, in most cases you will not get one. I recently entered a photo locally that had won first in a state wide competition, the local competition was a combined competition, ie, paintings and photo's judged together. They gave out 1st through 5th with two honorable mentions for a total of 7 places, my 1st place state entry did not win. But every prize went to paintings, not one photo won. Again, Welcome to the troubled and confusing world of JUDGED competition. I enter for the fun of it and to share my vision of the world. Sometimes I win, sometimes I do not. Winning or losing is just part of life, if it did not have it's ups and down's it would not be any fun. I shoot for me, and that is all that has ever counted.

foathog Loc: Greensboro, NC

more than likely what they are looking for is a photo from one of their relatives. LOL