Day of Judgement…
Just a day or so ago, there appeared on my Facebook Newsfeed comments about judging in photo competitions. The comments were positive and quite humorous (for a change!) but it did get me thinking – again!
Thinking about what? Well, thinking about whether we photograph for our own pleasure, to please ourselves and/or those around us or to please competition judges.
My sixpenn’orth is that I ALWAYS photograph to please myself. Fantastic if it does please others too, but whilst positive comments (or negative, if constructive) will always be a part of our moving forward, the picture I take must make ME happy.
Judges? Well, they get both ends of the sh**ty stick very often. They are paid little, offer their advice freely and then get all sorts of flack. This post isn’t so much about judges, however, but more about do we shoot to please them, or us?
In my opinion it HAS to be us, but that should never be to the exclusion of helpful comments, suggestions and ideas. We are all learning and anyone who claims otherwise is just a bit of a fibber!
🙂
Astrid
Wholeheartedly agree. But we all crave love and if somebody important has something nice to say about an image that is dear to us, then that makes us very happy. That is why we enter competitions. For me it comes back to this: I photograph something, trying to encapsulate my emotions etc in the image in the process. If the image pleases me, that means I can recognise the feelings of the moment from when I took the image. But as we are social animals, we want to convey those things to others and for that to be successful we need somebody to understand that message within our image. So whether it’s a prospective buyer or a competition judge, with their actions they let us know wether they understand that message. So in trying to please a competition judge we are trying to communicate. The image will always have to please yourself of course, as one that doesn’t won’t impress anybody else I would think.
Alan Coles
It’s a good point Nick and I would say that most people when starting in photography shoot images for their own pleasure. The only times I can think of you wouldn’t are
A) A member of the family or friend asks a favour to take some pics.
B) As a professional you get a commission to shoot.
C) You start entering competitions that have a certain criteria that is out of the norm from your normal image taking.
…C is a kop out or short answer of the subject that made you write this blog as its a question that needs a longer laborious answer. Its a good question none the less and one that I think links well to your own running of workshops.
gwenda
I make pictures of things I like, and hope others do too. If at first something doesn’t inspire me, I move around until inspiration comes.
As for judges, it helps if you know their likes and dislikes.
now move over I want to be under that cool, dark rock
LeighJW
Take photographs to please yourself. If anyone else likes them too, then that’s a pleasing bonus.
However, if you choose to enter competitions, don’t necessarily expect a judge to see exactly what you see in a photo! You have far more knowledge of your photos than any judge. You were there!
The judge only sees what is on the screen/paper in front on them. They can’t read your mind so the photo MUST speak on it’s own!
NB. If you feel the need to direct a judge by giving a very specific title, then the image may well be failing to provide the message for itself. Harsh but (often) true.
‘Beauty is in the eye of the beholder’. Everyone sees different things.
Alec Stewart
Come on Nick the answer is easy, you take photographs for yourself end of story. However if you have a brief from a client or competition then you have to work to that brief. People I think over think this and worry. Just keep taking pictures and perhaps if you are lucky someone else might like an image and all will be well with the world.
Daisy
Hi Nick,
Personally, I shoot to please ME! I want my hobby to be fun. 🙂 If other’s like my images then that’s a bonus and makes me really happy. I also understand that not everybody will like some of my work but that’s ok too! For example, not everybody likes landscapes or natural history etc… and favour other things like portraits or sport photography. I appreciate all genres of photography even if don’t shoot them myself. My only ‘gripe’ with judges is, if you could call it that, is when a quality image isn’t appreciated enough because it isn’t ‘their thing’. I also think it’s great to have constructive criticism on your work but believe a judge should always have (or find) a way of having something positive to say too! When entering competitions we are all at different levels of learning and positive comments will always help you to move forward enabling you to enjoy your hobby even more! Judges take note!!
So basically, enjoy what you do, whether it be for work or pleasure and have fun!!!
Judi L
Of course it has to be to please yourself and hopefully to convey something of what you saw/felt at the time to others.
Although I have learnt a lot from both positive and negative comments made by judges, on both my own work and that of other members of the camera club, at the end of the day I still photograph for my own pleasure. If the judge happens to like it as much as I do, then that is a real bonus.
Sometimes we have a fun evening when we act as judges and it really makes us appreciate what a really difficult task they have. There are of course good judges and bad ones, the latter in the minority at our club these days; a good judge doesn’t have to give me the 20 points (although I can always hope), he/she is the one who never makes disparaging comments and can always find something positive to make you want to carry on with your photography and strive to improve.
Helen
I shoot for myself, if I please myself I am then likely to share the results. It is such a subjective matter that pleasing others should not come into the equation unless a fee is being paid for the work.
Mike Warburton
I read with interest the post on which you wrote about on your Blog Nick and it brought back some of my times on the Club scene and some of the reasons why I got out of it.As all the above have mentioned I shoot to please myself and no-one else (unless its a commision of course).When in Club discussing the next Battle entries the emphasis was always on what genre that particular Judge preferred.Unless a judge can pass accurate judgement on all genres then he/she has no business judging IMO.If say the judge was into Portraiture or Architecture then I certainly wouldnt go out to shoot that genre specifically because I wouldnt enjoy it.Wildlife/Landscape is what I prefer doing whether other folk like my stuff or not,I am not in it for anyone else.One of the things I used to do is to check out some of the Judges work on their respective websites and quite frankly how some of them had the gall to judge obviously far superior work really is beyond me…..even having the cheek to mark it down LOL.Some of the comments on the post in question were from disgruntled entrants to a particular comp,some of which are mates of mine.I just wish they wouldnt take `The Spirit of Competition`so seriously.Because a judge gives top marks to a shot doesnt make it a `great` shot………and likewise if a judge marks a shot down it doesnt make it a `crap` shot either.I know some of the work entered by some of my friends and I know that they wouldnt have entered them had they not thought they were perfect.Just be happy with that!Who cares that `Joe Bloggs` who was chosen to judge the comp didnt like it,you like it,thats why you took it in the first place!Another thing that I have noticed is the increase in heavily manipulated images in `PHOTOGRAPHY` competitions,some of which do not resemble a photograph at all.Dont get me wrong,the artwork and resulting pictures by some are superb but this is Digital Art not Photography.You cannot compare a superb Wildlife image that has taken days to get to something created from 12 different images in a Computer Programme.For me basic Photography is about capturing the scene in front of you as accurately as possible.My dream shot is a Man with a Horses head riding a large Egg with wings along with his rollerskating Koala Bear companion to a far distant land that has 12 Moons and where the King is a chocolate McVities Hobnob.If I do ever manage that pic and enter it in a comp then I dare say it will be marked down somehow so I will stick to Wildlife and Landscapes My point is are Competitions and Judges opinions really that important to folk that they are willing to change what got them into Photography in the first place?
30 minutes ago
Anon
As someone who dabbles a bit in judging I would like to make one hopeful helpful comment. While it is great people do take photographs for themselves and I wish those people have a long and happy time together in there bedroom admiring their handy. But when it comes to competitions (whether it is photography at any level, Strictly come dancing, X-Factor, or village fete fairy cakes) the point of entering is to win and to win you have to satisfy your audience/judges. For me personally as a judge it is photographs that invoke an emotional response in their audience that are going to win time and time again. Irrespective of subject matter or technical competence. If you make me feel what you were feeling when you took the photography you are succeeding and keep at it. If you are feeling indifference to my emotional response then invariably my response will also be indifference to the image.
Yes technique and composition are important but as a means to an end not the end in itself. Bad technique will spoil a great image but good technique will never improve a lack lustre image.
For a time I subscribed to an social network with regular photography challenges which I left after several months because not one of images challenged me. Which leads me next point rise to challenge. When you see the list of subjects shoot to the subject, invent create inspire!!! Don’t dive into your library and dig out something that will do as it will lose. Again if you want to enter a competition shoot for the competition not yourself.
One of the most valued lessons I learnt many years ago from Mr Jenkins here was “before you press the shuttle release ask yourself why” and I still do. Because if you have no emotional attachment to the image you can not expect anyone else will.
“Shoot for myself” no it is not for me. I shoot the things that move me and I hope through my art (and it is an art) I can move others. That for me is the gift of photography and that is why I love to look and even judge other peoples images because I want t to be moved and share in their emotion.
Lynn Barfield
I belong to the group who asked you to judge 🙂
Thank you for agreeing.
Just wondered what your favourite drink is ha! ha!
Nick Jenkins
A hogshead of the finest ale – to be sent to my house and clearly labelled before I get the pics – ha ha to you too.
🙂