Panel comments on photo – Lelie

We have received our first photo submitted by a 5 star member for comments on the photo.  The comments indicate that judging is subjective and different people look differently at a photo. I trust that you like this feed back and would make use of this opportunity to send us a similar request on one of the photos that you have entered.  You can click on the photos in this article to see the original photo.

The photo to the right is the photo as entered in the February competition.  Please add your comments to this article.

I always like to look at the work of an expert in the field and came across the work of Clive Nichols.  Select his web link or go straight to the flower pictures.

Ather web links that I personally like were 41 Delicious flower photos or How to photograph flowers.  Go and look on these web sites to get fresh ideas.

Panel member 1

Ek sou graag of meer van die wit blom of baie minder wou sien. Tans kompeteer die rooi en wit vir my aandag. In my opinie sou dit n baie sterker foto gewees het, indien die fotograaf op die stuifmeeldrade gekonsentreer het, sonder die wit blom

Panel member 2

I personally do not see anything wrong with this image, it is pin sharp right through, the post processing has been executed extremely well.   Where it should be sharp it is sharp, exposure is excellent, composition perhaps could have been slightly improved, perhaps just having part of the petals coming in from the left pulled the image down slightly..  It is not easy to to get an image like this pin sharp right through.  I could not have post processed it any better.

Panel Member 3

1. The author captured the flower well.
2. Technically there is nothing wrong with the picture.
3. I don’t think the subject matter in the photo is strong enough.I would have scored this a 3 if I was the judge.
4. It might help to look at other similar photos on the internet.  Click here

Panel Member 4

1. The simplicity of this photo is striking with the diagonal lines are a strong component of the photo.
2. The photo is balanced and your choice of crop is good.  The crop helps to frame the photo.
3. The dark background works well in this case and contributes to emphasize the focus point.
4. Technically you have unfortunately a number of challenges.
   1. Once the raw photo is cropped, you are already on or below the competition format size of 1080 high.
   2. As this is almost a macro photo, it is critical that it is pin sharp on your focus point.  You could try to vary the depth of field to find when the eye is drawn to the focus point.
   3. In your photo, there is some room for improvement in gaining sharpness and improving the contrast.  I have attached the same photo, processed slightly differently that shows a different emphasize on the photo and taking some of the suggestions into account.
5. Other ideas to try:
   1. By using a polarising filter one can possible reduce the shiny reflections.
   2. A reflector on the top or right hand side can be tried to see if you can balance the light with a fill light from the side
6. As flowers are regularly photographed and entered into competition, it is very difficult to compete on a 5* level in this topic and to make your photo stand out from the rest.  It must  therefore be a powerful photo that is technically exceptional on this level to get a high award.

Foto terugvoer en kommentaar geleentheid

As hierdie my foto was…

Ons wil graag probeer om lede meer geleenthede te gee om terugvoer op fotos te kry.  Die volume fotos op ‘n kompetisieaand maak dit baie moeilik om aan al die fotos aandag te gee wat hulle verdien.  Daar is die moontlikheid om hierdie Blog te gebruik om verder teruvoer te gee sodat meer lede daarby kan baat vind.

As ‘n toets wil ons die volgende probeer

Lede kan vra vir kommentaar van enige foto wat hy in die laaste kompetisie insgeskryf het.  Hierdie fotos is relevant want meeste van ons het dit in kompetisie verband gesien.

1. Stuur ook jou oorspronklike foto aangeheg soos voor jy met verwerking begin het om te help om beter kommentaar en alternatiewe voorstelle te kry.  Die foto wat jy ingeskryf het, het ons reeds en jy kan net die titel stuur.
2. Hierdie fotos sal dan na ‘n paneel gestuur word vir vrywillige kommentaar en voorstelle.
3. Fotos waarop daar genoeg en sinvolle kommentaar van die paneel terug gekry word sal hier bespreek word saam met voorbeelde van die oorspronklike en verwerkings voorstelle.

Die doel is die volgende:

1. Om almal te help met alternatiewe opsies of benaderings om fotos te verwerk of aan te bied, aangesien daar nie een regte manier is nie.
2. Praktiese voorbeelde te gee van die verwerkingsvoorstelle.
3. Dis nie bedoel om kommentaar te lewer op die resultaat of kommentaar wat in die kompetisie verkry is nie.
4. Om so veel as moontlik fotos te hanteer, maar waarskynlik sal ons nie almal wat ingestuur word kan hanteer nie.

Omdat die oorspronklike foto groot kan wees sal ek dit waardeer as jy die versoek kan epos na: ccc.webalbums@gmail.com en nie na ons normale klub epos adres nie.  Stuur sommer nou die oorspronklike foto asook die titel waaronder jy ingeskryf het.  Jy is welkom om ‘n spesifieke vraag in te sluit.

Groete

Bernard Richard

It hurts me more than it hurts you

Judging of photos is known to be subjective and we are quite often reminded of this fact when the judging topic is discussed. Remembering this is however a tall order to ask of any author with high expectations of a photo that he entered into a competition.

This month I was privileged to be on the other side of the fence. Yes, it is a privilege for me to be able to judge and comment on so many different entries where each author expects nothing less than Gold or better. I like the comment Evelyn made in a recent judging presentation: “…to judge as if you are friend of the author”. It remains a challenging task to judge with a huge responsibility and a lot of pressure.

 

It Hurts

This is what reminded me of the well-known phrase: “It hurts me more than it hurts you.” I must admit that I never believed it while I was on the receiving end. A judge's intention is not make authors feel discouraged or hard done by through the judging process.  When this is the result you did not judge his photo as a friend.

There are a number of factors that could lead to this despondent feeling. Some could definitely be improved upon by the judges and we must always work on that aspect of judging. Other contributing factors are created by a lack of understanding of the judging mechanism and its limitations or challenges as we say in South Africa.

 

Judging errors

Mistakes by the judges are possibly the most irritating aspect that is a major contributing factor to frustration of the authors. In reviewing the recent panel of photos where I assisted in the judging, I can see that we did make mistakes in the heat of the moment. We incorrectly disqualified some photos, but we have also accepted photos which should have been disqualified. These errors were mainly caused by technical information which is not available to the judge at the time of judging.

 

Putting it all together

A too high standard of judging is next on the agenda (or Facebook) after a difficult judging night. Not all authors are aware of the time and effort that the committee put into this aspect to try and avoid exactly this from happening. Alternative systems are investigated, the sliding scale is discussed to death, judges are briefed, statistics are kept, judges are blacklisted and so it goes on. This is all done to try and get the perfect system while we are using judges that will express their personal preferences. The history over the last 6 competitions showed we have statistically more problems with low standards than with high standards. In three out of the last six competitions we awarded Gold and COM to more than 70% of the entries. This does not demotivate authors and is therefore not so strongly debated or discussed, but is also a problem and makes me slightly uneasy when I get a COM award on such a night.

 

The target

What is the actual standard that we aim at? I think we all agree that we do not realistically expect all photos to be judged Gold or better. The rough guide line is that a Silver award means the photo is on the expected standard. Gold and COM awards are reserved for photos above standard. It is to be expected that there will be a distribution of photos that are judged to be above average on any given competition night. I do not think we should set a limit on awards. I am sure that most authors do not want a situation where photos will be awarded Gold by default. If we can only somehow manage to give a photo the award it deserves.

 

Finally: High Definition

We have changed over to HD format with a new projector and the picture is absolutely magic compared to the previous format. Unfortunately this magic projector now shows any error in the photo or post processing very clearly, for all to see. Working in the correct colour space is now more important than before. Attention to post processing detail will have to be improved on if we do not want to be disappointed with the presentation. There is a learning curve with this new technology for all involved. The projector was calibrated three times before the event to ensure we get the best possible result and this must be maintained to ensure the quality is the best that we can possibly achieve.

We will most likely keep on talking about the standard and criteria applied in judging and that is an integral part of our hobby. My wish is that we can avoid leaving authors despondent, through continues efforts to improve the judging for all and to make it as fair as is practically achievable.

 

For the record

Let me conclude by stating that I have never entered a photo in a competition, expecting to get anything less than Gold. Unfortunately I had a number of bad judges over the years and my below-Gold count keeps on increasing steadily. I am therefore making my contribution to keeping the stats down.

A personal opinion by: Bernard Richard.
X – Judge

Salon Prestasies buite Suid Afrika

Baie van ons lede presteer so in die stilligheid buite ons nasionale kompetisies en salonne.  Ons sal graag sulke prestasies hier vir die ander lede wil wys, so stuur gerus aan.

Andre Norris  het onlangs by die 2012 PSAChina daarin geslaag om twee uitsonderlike prestasies te behaal.  Die eerste was “Judges Choice Medal” met sy foto “I CANT STOP LOVING YOU”

Dan het Andre ook ‘n “PSA China Bronze Medal” toekenning gekry met sy foto ”THE GUARD”

Geluk Andre met hierdie toekennings, ek is seker ons sal die fotos weer iewers sien.  Kliek op die fotos om die PSAChina webblad oop te maak.

PSSA Northern Gauteng Newsletter - 1/2013

Newsletter 1/2013

28 January 2013

Dear Northern Gauteng Clubs

Welcome back after the 2012 holidays.  I visited quite a few clubs the past month and it is greatto see all the high-impact images created during the festive season. Keep up the good work!

1. National Salon

Please visit the PSSA website (www.pssa.co.za) and Photovault Online (www.photovaultonline.com) for all the upcoming national salons. The first two for 2013 are the 4th Bethlehem Digital Salon for Colour Photography (closing date 9 February 2013) and the 1st Midrand Camera Club Monochrome Salon (closing date 23 February 2013).

2. PSSA's New Definition for "Manipulation"

Please familiarise yourself with the new definition for "Manipulation" on the PSSA website:

MANIPULATION shall constitute any or all of the following modifications to the original image:

• Adding an element to the image that was not contained in the original capture;
• Removing an element from the image that was contained in the original capture; and
• Moving or re-positioning an element of the image that was contained in the original capture.

In the categories Nature and Photojournalism, manipulation is not allowed. In all other categories, there are no restrictions whatsoever in the way authors choose to post process an image.

3. New Creative Virtual Photo Club

We all know the master of creative photography, Hein Waschefort. During December 2012, the Visual Skills School (VSS) took it one step further by creating a VSS Creative Virtual Photo Club. Please visit their website www.visualskillsschool.com for more information.

4. Training Opportunities

Advanced Bird Photography Workshops


On my workshops you will practically learn the techniques to take images like these. From camera settings, Lightroom to Photoshop techniques.


Workshops consists of a morning and afternoon shoot, followed by some editing in Lightroom and Photoshop.

Equipment needed:

• Any DSLR;
• Shutter release;
• Tripod and Beanbag;
• Lenses: afternoon shoot 150mm to 200mm, morning shoot 400mm and upwards;
• The use of a 500mm f/4.5 and 300mm f/2.8 as well as a 70-200mm f/4 is available for Canon users at no extra charge.

Contact Francois Loubser 

082 928 4940

francois@sportsphoto.co.za

4. PSSA Club Winning Image

Congratulations to all the club winners over the past 2 months. We hope to see more of the Northern Gauteng Clubs' winning images amongst the monthly winners this year.

Magalies FotoFun Club - Valmai le Grange - "Down Under"

PPS - Reg Caldecott - "Venus"

PPS - Christo Serfontein - "Helicopter Jettison"

Rustenburg Photographic Society - Donita Visser - "Elephant"

Rustenburg Photographic Society - Mike Ward - "Fly Fisherman"

Boveld Fotografieklub - Pieter Lotter - "Visvang Tannies"

AFO - Jaco Peacock - "Okavango Fisherman"

AFO - Johan Louw - "Dagbreek"

VSS - Hein Lass - "Wildlife Photography"

PCCC - Hein Waschefort - "Mad Hatter"

4. Photographic Competitions

Please visit the PSSA website (www.pssa.co.za) for details about:

• AIDA Photo Competition ; and
• Lifestyle Photographic Challenge

Please remember to send me news from the region should you wish to have it published in the newsletter. Till next time. 

Kind regards,

Anton la Grange APPSA

antonlagrange@gmail.com

PSSA Club Winning Image January 2013

Message from the Public Relations Officer of the PSSA 
Petro Bosman


We start our new year the same way we ended it! Once again Ettienne van Niekerk from Boksburg Camera Club is our winner! Ettienne's image "Barn Owl" was by far the favourite with our judges: Koot Marais, Francois Loubser and Evelyn Gibson.

"Barn Owl" by Ettienne van Niekerk - Boksburg Camera Club

Ettienne is no newcomer to this competition. He won in September 2012 as well as in November 2012. His September winner "Bearded Vultures" was voted "Best Club Winning Picture of the Year 2012".

Club Winning Images - 2012

We have decided to divide this competition into a Junior and Senior Category. The majority of the clubs have a senior and junior category and in the past it was usually the senior winning image that was entered. Photovault has been changed to accommodate a junior and senior winner and my spreadsheet has been altered accordingly.

Anne d'Oliveira and her Central Gauteng Region came up with a great suggestion. They asked if it will be possible that the scores that each image received can be published (in total - not per individual judge) so that each club can see how they fared. From next month on the spreadsheet will make provision for a junior and senior winner per club as well as the scores out of 45. If your club does not have a junior category it does not matter. At the end of 2013 there will be a Club Senior Winner as well as a Junior Winner.

Since the PSSA website has become 100% functional, I want to make use of it in every way. All new information and news has to go onto the website. That is why this letter and stats will also be published on the web under Galleries. The other great news is that all the January entries are already uploaded. There were 37 in total - all worthy of a place on our website! (Click here)

Website Picture of the Month (January 2013) was won by Dyan Ford from Alberton Camera Club with her image "Drip". Laetitia Kenny was the judge. The 15 entries for this competition are also under Galleries.

"Drip" by Dyan Ford - Alberton Camera Club

Go the Gallaries menu tab at the top of the PSSA homepage. Click fro the drop down menu and you will find both the Club Winning Image and the Website Winning Picture articles and all the images that were entered.

The 2 winning pictures of these two competitions are (as usual) on the home page of the PSSA website.