Photography News 12

Opinion

SPEAKERS’ CORNER

Unbiased opinions or cutting remarks?

It’s not all about winning, or is it? This month PhilippaWheatcroft CPAGB tackles competing in club photography: who knows best, judge or competitor, or should we just take it all with a pinch of salt?

your masterpiece, but probably seven seconds longer than if it was being selected for exhibition! The judge is not emotionally attached to our picture. For it to ‘work’ for him it has to provoke an emotion, it has to in some way convey all the feelings that convinced us this was the time to press the shutter and this is how to present that image. All the more upsetting then when it ends up on the reject pile. How can we learn from this and how can we not be discouraged? Firstly we can accept that the judge is right, or at least suspend disbelief for a while. When we put the picture into competition we are asking for his opinion, it’s not right or wrong, it’s just what he thinks. On a different night with a different judge, opinions can vary completely. My rule of thumb is to try to second-guess what he’s going to say about everyone else’s pictures. If I find myself invariably agreeing or being able to predict the comments on all the other pictures and only disagreeing with the evaluation of my own images then I have to accept my emotional attachment is clouding the issue. I’ve come to know that I am not the best judge of my own pictures; I don’t think any of us are. I find it’s very difficult to disassociate myself enough frommy own work to make a clinical assessment. So I have to rely on instinct and then take on board the views of people whose opinions I trust. This is where yet more difficulties arise, because it’s much easier to praise an image than to give constructive criticism. One of the most helpful statements I’ve found is: ‘the comments and thoughts of the judge are made about the picture, not you personally.’ Humour also helps, and whilst we take our photography seriously for the main part, having your mate silently giggling at your side can lighten the experience. I particularly remember waiting 40 minutes for an old chap to move off a bench for a picture that I wanted and then the judge commented that the picture would have been better with someone on the bench. And having just spent £1500 on a lens that didn’t vignette, the judge suggested my image would be improved by adding a vignette… We feel we are wearing our hearts on our sleeve when we show our pictures. It’s lovely when they are appreciated and we have managed to communicate to the viewer some small part of the pleasure or pain we had taking the image. But digital photography allows us the luxury of trying again and records all the data we might need to improve our ‘hit rate’ under similar circumstances. We might also expect to receive comments about improving composition, cropping or the post- processing of an image and we’re expecting the judge tomake valid, original remarks on each picture, which should be tailored to the ability level of the

Words by Philippa Wheatcroft CPAGB

Criticise, critique, appraise, give feedback, assess, evaluate, review… judge. There, I said it! Why should we be so apprehensive about putting our images into a club competition? How can we change our thoughts to make the process less nerve-racking and more of an enjoyable learning experience? The stated object of my club, the Burton Photographic Society, is the encouragement and advancement of photography among its members. It doesn’t say our aim is to win competitions. I remember one of our speakers, Geoff Hicks, stating that ‘photography is this big’ with arms held wide and ‘competition photography is this big’ with thumb and forefinger held one inch apart. That really helped sum it up for me and I find being a photographer is one of the most rewarding things. Soweknowthere’s abig, oldworldof photography out there and we also know that competition nights at the club are probably the best attended of our meetings. Putting our pictures into a club competition is a good way of getting an unbiased opinion of them. It is unbiased because the judge on the night has no way of knowing how far we travelled to get the picture, how long we waited for the light to be right, how much the petrol cost, the difficulties we had printing, what our feelings were when we pressed the button or how we’ve strived to understand equipment, composition and colour management. He – and I use that term intentionally because there are very few female judges – has a quick look and decides whether to ‘hold’ it on a pile for another look or not. He’s probably made that decision within the first ten seconds of seeing it. A short time for

π To find out more, Philippa recommends An Analysis of Judging by Eddie Sethna at www.monolandscapes.talktalk.net/judging. WHATDOYOUTHINK? Do you appreciate criticism as well as praise from a judge? Or do you trust your own instinct when it comes to what works with your images? Whatever your stance, let us know your thoughts at opinion@photography- news.co.uk. section being judged. Quite a feat of concentration if we consider there may be 120 printed or projected images to review in one evening. As long as we are analysing and learning we cannot help but improve and if the thought of putting a picture in front of a judge sharpens those skills, then we have achieved our aim. After all, what’s the worst that can happen?

LEFT & ABOVE One of Philippa’s shots taken in Teesmouth and of her dog Sapphire.

We feel we arewearing our hearts on our sleevewhenwe showour pictures

Photography News | Issue 12