My first time...

The photo club I joined last fall gets together every year with a few of the other local clubs for a friendly little photo competition.  I decided at the last minute to enter a few prints.  I completely missed the deadline for digital images, but I thought..."what the heck, let's see how these do!"

Now, let's get this straight from the get-go...this is a fun competition and you get to walk away with 'bragging' rights and a certificate.

Not only was this my first time entering a competition, this was my first time at any type of critique session outside of what my own club does.  As it was a competition, this was more formal than what we do...here's a bit of a rundown:

digital images were judged first, prints second

there were four judges (one from each club)

the score was on a scale of 10, with the lowest mark dropped, so total score is out of 30, and

each judge entered their score on a key pad that was all connected to a 'master computer'

So as the image was shown, the number of the entry with the title was announced.  Judges entered a score and the final score for that photo was announced. It was quite an interesting set-up, and I thought it was very efficient and well-done!

So the digital images were shown first.  The were amazing!!  The scored went from 19 through 25...there was a 2 way tie for first (the judges re-score for first and second) and a 4-way tie for third...after reviewing all and recasting their votes our club picked up a third place!  Yeah us!

All through the digital images, I was getting a little concerned about two of my prints.  Rules vary between competitions, and I was fairly certain this was an "open" competition.  So, I was hoping that they would be "open" to some of my processing experiments.  They were getting near the end of the digitals and I was thinking..."yikes...they're not liking overly saturated and/or heavy HDR effects"...they mostly scored around 19-21.  But I went into this as a learning experience, so if they didn't like them...that was OK.

We had a little break while they  set up the light-box for the prints ... then went right back at it!

The prints were assigned random numbers, basically so you didn't get all from one photographer or one club in a row.  The first print of mine that came up was one I call "Tulip Explosion", and I got a very respectable 23 (at that point tied for second). 

The second print ("Freedom") was scored at 24!  OMG!  Tied for first?! WTF??  PS - you may notice this is the photo that I turned into the background wall paper for this blog (at least for now!)

Finally, the third print ("King of the Coop"), which I thought was the strongest (IMHO) received a very respectable 22.

 So...how did it end???  "Freedom" ended up in an 8 or 9 way tie for third place.  But, as I indicated earlier, ties are not allowed and are re-judged, and I ultimately lost out to another fine photo from a rival club.  Bare in mind, however, that there were two prints that tied for first -- each receiving a score of 25...and they were fan-effing-tastic!  To give it some perspective...the photo that ended in SECOND place was a red-tailed hawk grabbing a snake in it's talons.  (For what it counts...that was my fav print!)

What did I learn...there are seriously good photographers that do amazing things (travel, processing, ideas etc).  I also learned that there is an appreciation for the 'spur of the moment' type image versus a 'snapshot'.  There was also a bit of appreciation for pictures with interesting perspective, lighting and subject.

So, while this was my 'first'...it certainly won't be my last.

Have a fun day...and if you're still lucky enough to have your dad around...say hi, I love you and Thanks for being you!  If you're in that group that is missing a dad...say hi, I love you and Thanks for being you!