Pre-event thoughts
I thought I would throw a couple of images in for the second and final critique session of this new season.
I do find the critique evenings very informative and useful.
The judge gave a good introductory speech about judging and the subjective elements to judging and scoring.
We heard about the challenging of landscape images and that judges will see so many that they recognise common locations, and therefore ideally want to see something different or that stands out from the rest.
When it comes to impact, judges (particularly in inter-club or EAF-style competitions) only have a few seconds to judge an image in terms of rapidly answering the question: “Is this image mpactful enough to be shortlisted or not?”
Image One – Pound Sign Rocks
I chose this image as I’ve always liked the theme of it.
I think my main criticism is the untidy grasses at the bottom but there’s not much I can do about it.
Judge’s Critique
The judge said this image was about the detail in the rocks, and they liked the curving rocks.
They liked the long exposure to smooth out the water and they said that the image nice tones.
The final comment was about whether or not there was a feeling to the image and they said the image was “getting there”?
I take this last comment to mean it’s not good enough.
Image Two – Sunset at Snettisham
I wanted to throw this next one in to get feedback as I think the image has a lot of potential.
I think my main concern relates to whether or not the grasses and foreground is too dominant.
Judge’s Critique
The judge said this was a “nice scene”.
They said it was a different viewpoint and the amount of mud and water was about right.
They said it wasn’t as good as an earlier shot we had seen of the old pier straight on and didn’t have the impact that the other image had.
They said in a competition, they personally wouldn’t hold it back but it would score well.
Post-event thoughts
The evening went well as the judge was not just going to critique the images but also give us a sense of whether or not our images could make it to inter-club or external competitions.
The comments overall were fair and balanced and fellow members enjoyed the feedback.
One aspect which the judge referenced more than once was an image standing out or judging it compared to “others in the competition”. I can see where that fits in the shortlisted / held back images but not overall.
Post-critique thoughts
With regards to my two images…
Pound Sign Rocks was well received but the “getting there” comment really does poke my perfectionist traits such that I see this image as a fail. It’s OK but not good enough.
With regards to Sunset at Snettisham and the comment about not being held back – it’s harsh AF but I have to take it on the chin and just accept it’s not good enough!
My overriding feeling from the evening was that my images often score highly but generally aren’t good enough for consistent holding back, inter-club or external competitions, and I accept that (albeit through gritted teeth and rolling eyes of course)!
Consolatory words
With the judge’s comments relating to the challenges of trying to get high scores with landscape images, I don’t think any of my fellow landscape buddies are unaware of the immediate challenges we have when hoping our awesome captures are going to fare well in the grand scheme of external judging.
The main challenges with all of this are multi-faceted though… do we want to move to capturing images for the purpose of external recognition? Or do we want to continue to pursue the experience and enjoyment of shoots and every now and then hit lucky? Are those things mutually-exclusive?
Perhaps there is room to join up a good capture with continuing to learn what will take those images to the level needed for wider recognition.
There remains motivational differences between many of us and the club. We aren’t super-motivated for external competitions such that we’re going to bust a gut explicitly targeting that objective.
Club hierarchy want to push us more towards that in our thinking, and we can understand why they want it, to have more images in the club’s arsenal.
The issue is we like what we like and perhaps there needs to be a more joined up collaborative strategy without it feeling like it’s sapping the enjoyment out of us.
My personal view is that those of us that are shooting often and learning more will have a higher hit rate as time goes on. The challenge for the club is that they need the hit rate to be more than we’re delivering. Thankfully the club now has some new members who are very experienced and talented photographers and they will keep the competition-ready image library topped up.
Only time, learning more, practise, and our preferences will eventually lead to increased recognition.
Do we want it? Does it suit us?
I can’t help think about the saying from The Fast Show:
Suits You Sir, Do You Want It Sir? Do You Want It Sir? Suits You Sir!
Onwards and upwards…