Images are scored by a panel of three judges selected by the competition committee from a pool of judges approved by the Photo Section Executive Board
Judges should take into account the following criteria when scoring an image:
- Impact
- Composition
- Exposure
- Creativity
- Appropriate Depth of Field
- Center of Interest
Each judge will score an image from one to nine points:
- Not normally used if the image is visible at all
- A very poor image without any redeeming good points
- Image shows serious photographic flaws
- Slightly below the quality of an average competition image
- A good, average competition-quality image
- An above average competition image
- A well above average competition image that could earn an honor
- An excellent image in every way and worthy of an honor
- A highly superior image and a candidate for “Image of the Year”
Judging on Competition Nights
If a judge has an image in the competition he or she will vote zero and the score assigned will be the average of the other two scores multiplied by three
Judges will not know which images are Group A or Group B since the images will be intermixed when shown
Judges will know which print images are color and which are non-color because they will be shown separately
After a print image is scored, the score, the image title and the maker’s name are announced by the competition committee
After a projected digital image is scored, the score, the image title, and the maker’s name are projected on the screen for the members to view
After the judging and while the competition committee determines the awardees, comments on selected images are made by a critique leader, judges, club members, and the image maker as part of a learning process