Judging seminar - on judging photographs

PSA Journal, Oct, 1995 by Albert Sadler

Over the past six years, the Southern California Association of Camera Clubs has conducted a series of judging seminars. The format consists of a moderator and a well-qualified lecturer. After the lecture, the moderator calls on the students, in turn, to critique the slide on the screen. These slides are brought in by the students, five each, preferably with some flaws, but there is no restriction on their choice. After the student has spoken, the lecturer comments, and then others may speak by way of discussion.

The purpose of the seminar is to increase the number of judges available for camera club monthly competition. We have a critical shortage of good judges, and need to replace older judges who have retired. I presented the following material at a recent seminar.

Photography is the art of seeing, by both photographer and judge. As a judge you must recognize what the photographer says and how well he says it. You must see the whole picture before you go into the details of what you see. First, the basics, which are LIGHTING and COMPOSITION. Without light there would be no picture; without composition there would be no organization of the parts into a meaningful whole. Both the lighting and the composition must suit the subject to the best advantage, and these factors will vary according to the different subjects which are great in number and variety.

Judging is a teaching process rather than a judge's popularity contest, e.g. by being too generous with acceptances. Recently, I have seen two judges who accepted over 80 percent of the entries. Teaching helps the contestant to improve his work. Accepting inferior work because it is technically good, but little else, is a disservice to club competition. The initial reaction of a judge to a slide or print is subjective, but he must make his critique objective. No two photographers, or even six, see the subject exactly the same way, and the judge must not put himself into the shoes of the photographer by saying what he would have done with the subject.

As previously stated, the lighting must suit the subject. Full flat light is usually not the most interesting. Side light is generally good. Back light can be quite effective. Good light produces form, texture, contour, depth, and perspective. The dictionary defines perspective as the representation of three-dimensional objects and depth relationship on a two- dimensional plane surface. Linear perspective renders depth by using lines that intersect in the background. The farther away the object is the smaller it appears. These lines are converging verticals. Aerial perspective renders depth by changes of form and color, with recession of objects. In other words, receding planes such as irregular horizontal lines and masses.

Composition may be defined as the arrangement of artistic parts to form a unified whole; that is the general description. Specifically, as previously stated, the composition must suit the subject. There is no set formula, so you must avoid the cliche type of so-called rules. Here are some examples: The main subject should not be centered. (But how about the interior of a church or a closeup of a single flower?) There must be catchlights in the eyes. (The Mona Lisa has none.) Catchlights should be small, no more than one per eye, and while most animals and young people need them, old people do not. But very dark eyes do.

Cliches to avoid also include the following. There should be an odd number of subjects, e.g. three or five, never two or four. (How about mother and child?) There must be a center of interest. (Abstracts and patterns do not have one; the entire picture is the center of interest.) Lines should flow from left to right because that's the way we read. (But Chinese, Hebrew and Japanese do not.) The main subject should be on the right. (Some should, some should not.) Everything should be sharp. (But how about zone focusing, selective focus, and a slow shutter speed to give the feeling of motion to running water?) A human figure should be included in a landscape for a center of interest. (This is an insult to nature, especially a figure in a red jacket. A figure may be included only for scale.)

The principles of pictorial composition differ from these so-called rules. The judge must know the fundamental principles underlying good arrangement of lines and masses. These are dominance, opposition, and balance to form a unified whole. Composition has three parts. They are line, mass and color. Lines should flow evenly to show perspective. Masses should be complementary to give balance. Colors must be harmonious and complementary also to give balance.

There are different factors that combine to form an image, which may be either good or bad. The judge should recognize this difference, but should not reject a superior image because of a minor flaw. This is nitpicking. An important factor is the background which can be positive or negative space. It is an important element of composition, in which all parts are working together. A bald sky is negative, a medium tone is positive. A busy background is negative space. Middle tones are usually positive and are better than pure black or white. Of course, there can be exceptions, which are very few.