Thanks for your help!

Here is Some Information on How We Judge Competitions

Thank you for agreeing to serve as our competition commentator and judge!

We receive questions on why we sponsor club competitions.  Many club members participate in Camera Club competitions to share their work and to receive comments from our judges on how to improve their images.  We hold competitions throughout the year for both projected images and prints.

The Goal of Our Competitions:  While it is nice to be a "winner", the real goal of our competitions is to improve our image making skills.  Every constructive suggestion made by you will further that goal.  A judge will probably provide one or two suggestions for each image in the competition.  Imagine the cumulative value to our members of one or two such comments made about 80 images!

The Competition Format:  Our members compete in three Levels: "B", "A" & "Salon", resulting in three separate competitions.  Class B entries are from members new to the Club but are not necessarily beginning photographers.  Class A and Salon entries are from members who have been successful in competitions over time and have advanced.

What is the First Step for a Judge?

A judge needs a St Louis Camera Club login name and password to login to the website.  If you have received one already, great!  If not, we need to get that setup.  Let us know if you have not received an ID and password and we will get that fixed.  Our website is St Louis Camera Club

Communications You Should Expect to Receive

A Competition Manager may have already reached out to you with preliminary information the week prior to the competition.

On Monday morning, after the closing of additional entries into the competition, the Competition Manager will send you a follow-up to let you know how many images have been entered and the number of awards that will be given (if no images are disqualified).

The Competition Manager will follow-up with you prior to Wednesday of competition week to make sure you do not have any issues with the judging process and to confirm the awards you have given.

We ask that the judging be completed by Tuesday night prior to the Wednesday competition.

How Do We Judge Our Competitions?

We receive questions on how our website judging process works.  Here is a video tutorial on how judges can judge using our website:

How to Judge using the Website

Here is a written description of the judging process  –

Our Judging Process

Some of our competitions have rules specific for judging –

Travel Competitions -- Travel Rules

Nature Competitions -- Nature Rules

Photojournalism - Photojournalism Rules

How are “panel” judged competitions different?  For some competitions, we have more than one judge.  This is called “panel” judging.  The judging process is different from the individual judging process because we combine the scores and rankings of all of the judges and then make the awards .  The above video describes how a panel judging works.  (See the above link to the video "How we judge on our website" and start at minute 4).

Here is a written description of the panel judging award giving process – How Panel Judging Awards are Given

How Does the Competition Actually Work?

We receive questions on how judge commentaries and judging works as part of a Zoom meeting.  As described above, the judge will complete the judging work and give all awards prior to our club meetings on Wednesday nights.  Currently, we are holding our meetings via Zoom.  During the meeting, our team will share images in the competition one at a time for each Level (B, A, Salon).  We ask the judge to provide comments on each image. 

Here is an example of a commentary session at a club meeting.  The commentary starts at minute 45.  Example of Club Zoom Meeting - Start at Minute 45 for Judging Example.  Our team will show the awards you have given after you provide comments on all images in each Level.

Here is the Address for the Zoom Meetings 

Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/92523514322?pwd=MzRpKzNwazdDL25MSUVDazVEOE5jQT09

Meeting ID: 925 2351 4322

Passcode: 670544

Can Judges Provide Written Commentary for Images?

Some judges like to provide written comments on images for our members.  This can be time consuming for the judge, but we have streamlined the process if the judge would like to provide comments.  See the video Easily provide written image comments  In addition, if a judge provides written comments we can provide a copy of the comments to be used as part of your Zoom meeting commentary.

How Many Awards Are Given at a Competition?

Each Level (B, A, Salon) are given awards.  Each Level will receive First, Second and Third places as well as Honorable Mentions which are based on the number of images entered.  Forty percent of the entrants will receive an award unless the number of entries in a Level is less than 8.  For more detail on the actual calculation, refer to Calculation of Awards in Competitions

Do You Want a Brief Zoom Tutorial?

Here is a good, basic tutorial for those who are unfamiliar with the Zoom platform. Please note that downloading the Zoom app to your computer does NOT cost you anything. The club has taken on the expense of the monthly fee. Links to each meeting will be available on the calendar and will be in the newsletter and sent via email until people are comfortable with it. It will be the same link, with the same password, for each regular meeting. Introduction to Using Zoom. 

Who Can You Contact if you have a problem or  question?

Each judge will be contacted prior to a competition by a Competition Manager to provide details on the Competition and to answer questions.

Feel free to contact that person to answer any questions.

If you are unsure who to contact, call Bob Rickert 314-302-1830.