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Meet the Judges - Aug 15 - part 2 of 1 2 3 4 5

Published 01/08/2015

But how does judging qualification panels compare with judging the open print competitions? "When you look at a panel of images they sometimes jump out at you, straight off the board. You're looking at a definite pass when that happens. Looking at individual images - although it's hard to compare one competition with another - evaluating that is a completely different discipline and I find it much harder." However, despite it being harder, Paul does enjoy the challenges posed by judging the open print competitions: "It's always interesting to see other aspects of photography. It's also helpful to look at what other people are doing and what is the cutting edge in other genres because there's often things that you've never thought of before that you can apply to your own work. And of course we all like looking at great photographs!"

For many photographers it's a long-term goal to become a photographic judge and Paul has some advice on how to go about it: "You need to study a particular field of photography, find out what you love and home in on that. Learn your skills, learn from your mistakes. And if you're knocked down on your knees then you need to get up again and dust yourself off. You have to listen to what your peers have to say, address those issues, and get at it again." Sound advice for any photographer, not just those who wish to judge in the future.

"I started with amateur photography society competitions and will probably end my career judging competitions!" says Eileen Mason when I ask what her involvement in judging photography has been during her career. "I lived and breathed photography and joined a local photographic society shortly after starting an apprenticeship as a photographer. I entered their competitions and got some notable successes including photographs hung in the London Salon of Photography." Constantly shooting images for different disciplines was how Eileen really built up her portfolio which in turn allowed her to eventually go it alone in business.

"Being a judge is not a one-off experience for competitions, we judge clients' photographs every day of the week" Eileen tells me when I ask her what benefits judging brings to her business. "When we shoot, we ask ourselves is the light right? How is the expression and the pose? Does the frame let this piece of work down? Was it priced fairly? By asking these questions of photographers in my business I can see if a photographer needs extra training or if I should be putting them on more varied assignments!"

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1st Published 01/08/2015
last update 09/12/2022 14:56:39

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Meet the Judges - Aug 15 - part 2 of 1 2 3 4 5