WCPF MEMBERS' EXHIBITION

SELECTIONS WEEKEND AT BURNHAM ON SEA

7th and 8th April 2018

Selectors were -

(Left) Leo Rich ARPS, DPAGB, EFIAP/g, Hon PAGB (Middle) Christine Widdall, MPAGB, EFIAP, FBPE

(Right) Paul Keene, FRPS, MPAGB, MFIAP, FIAP/D2

All three selectors have extensive experience in all of the categories that they had been invited to judge, and all three judge at International and National Salons, where they are often required to appraise more than double the numbers of entries which they encountered over the weekend

Therefore, everyone’s work was carefully scrutinised. Entries were generally found to be of a high standard - so an acceptance in this company can be something to be proud of

Left: A lull in judging.

Right - carefully scrutinising images for an award.

Didn't gain an acceptance? Don't be downhearted. When your work is returned, see what mark you achieved. A mark over 12 or above gained an acceptance. If your work achieved, say, an 11 this was only a short step away from that magic 12!

Next year, make your challenge to gain that 12 - or more!

If you've never been able to watch a competition of this standard being judged - then you may not appreciate the level of concentration required to appraise and mark every single image be it a print or projected. Rest assured, every image is assessed expertly, and swiftly.

More deliberations by the judges.

But how can this be fair, you may wonder? Surely, a few seconds to scrutinise an image isn't long enough to fairly adjudge a piece of work? This may especially puzzle the average camera club contestant who is used to a judge on the local circuit virtually sniffing the ink, and commenting at length on each element in an image?

Well - please remember, this is at the level of a National Competition, where work is submitted by photographers who may be well versed in the standards of Salons and other National and International competitions. To achieve this sort of understanding, it is so important to look beyond the four walls of your camera club. Attend photographic exhibitions, enter Salons such as FIAP and BPEs, and try to gain PAGB or RPS photographic distinctions. Your work will improve. Promise you!

But to return to this year's Selections. On your behalf, I asked the judges for their collective thoughts on the standard of work from this Federation? Here are some of their reactions:

Monochrome. Choice of subject matter was generally good but a lot of work suffered from poor processing and/or printing, and the latter was often due to the choice of paper. This is a discipline in itself which needs to be learned and which takes time and experience to perfect. Fotospeed nearly always has a stand at WCPF events. This is where help and advice is freely available on all printing/paper choices ‘minefield’ - and it is freely available.

Colour Prints. This was a very strong section, making for hard decisions. It was good to see some different subject choices. Landscapes - often deemed to be really difficult to win with (and this can be true) were very good. For a landscape to stand out in competitions, the importance of mood and atmosphere in a print can't be stressed too much. Forget midday, bright sunny days. Dawn, dusk, rain and mist really make an impact!

Creative. A pleasingly high standard in the selected work. A tip is to have a clear line of thinking and a narrative helps creative images to succeed. Simply adding lots of effects is not what judges look for. Entrants do seem to be moving away from 'magic' buttons which add swirls and other odd artefacts to an image. Some very creative and amusing submissions were entered in the digitally projected section. However, when some photographers had an idea, they unfortunately lacked either the skills or the attention to detail which let their work down. Keep working - this is a genre which is getting more and more popular!

Nature. Overall, this was a category with an extremely high standard, both in prints and in the digitally projected section. In fact, WCPF entrants are to be congratulated, as the nature images were deemed to be one of the best collection of images seen lately - even at an International Salon!

Two days of hard work for all came to a conclusion at about 5.00pm on the Sunday. Everyone, judges and Executive helpers then had long journeys home. Now we are looking forward to seeing the pictures on the wall at Bovey Tracey Golf Club opening on Sunday 13th May through to Monday 28th May.

A great opportunity to view the Exhibition at leisure is to get your Club to help with stewarding at the Bovey Tracey Golf Club. Not only are you able to take your time to study the pictures - but it’s also a wonderful opportunity to meet other photographers from around the Federation - and discussions are always interesting - sometimes leading to ideas for new photographic locations! If you haven’t done so - contact Julie McGowan ( mpixstewards@wcpf.org.uk  ) to secure a day for your club.

Ensure your club books an evening to view the Travelling Exhibition. Top winning images are now included in the TE - and is another chance to “get your eye in” on Exhibition standard photography. When finalised, the Rota will be posted on the WCPF website at - http://www.wcpf.org.uk/pages/traveling-print-exhibition.php

By Ann Owens : Publicity Officer Grateful thanks to our judges for feedback, and proof-reading these words.

A Few Behind-the-Scenes Images from the Selection Day.

Mounted prints - stacked and ready to be judged. This image just shows the Colour Prints - the four stacks on the left,

with Nature Prints following, in the right stacks. An AES’s job when the entry closes is to label every image, which contestants have entered on

line. Labels are generated by the PhotoExhibition software the WCPF uses, and exactly corresponds with how you entered your work.

Ralph Snook prints all the labels, then posts them out to each AES. The task then is to stick the relevant label on the bottom right corner on the back of each print - ensuring photographer and print title are correct. (Which is why we request NONE OF YOUR

OWN LABELS STUCK ON THE BOTTOM RIGHT, PLEASE?) The next task is to assemble the prints in each category in the correct order for judging.

Check your labels: The details will show not only who your AES is, but also the category you entered your work in, and the order it will be judged in. This enables an AES to see which

judging order the work will be seen in. All Colour Prints, for instance, are then returned to one of the 4” Nova Portfolio boxes - in

correct judging order - with a divider separating each section. Next, the Monochrome Prints are similarly labelled and packed - and finally the Nature

category. When AES’s arrive at Burnham on Sea, the first task is to assemble the ENTIRE entry in the

correct judging order, but the PhotoExhibition software help here by creating a judging list for the entire entry. This greatly speeds up this process, leading to a smooth operation.

Well - that’s the theory!!

Returning Images. This image shows some of the AES Nova Print boxes, lined up in the correct order. As unsuccessful prints are received, it is a fairly quick and easy system to return

entries to the correct AES. If a large submission has been received, some AES’s like to collect all the Monochrome Prints in

one box - then the Colour ones, and finally the Nature ones. But this isn’t important, as when the work is back at the AES’s home, the boxes are all emptied, and each entrant’s prints are

collected, identified in some way - before the AES then emails each person with a request that they collect their work, notifying when it is convenient to do this.

Judging: This picture shows judging in progress.

The Exhibition Secretaries are seated in the front (Sandie Cox on the left - Ralph Snook on the right.) Each has the entry loaded onto two

computers. This is a double-checking system. Sandie is able to preview the next print to be judged - while Ralph sees the judges’ individual scoring - and the final mark,

which he announces. The three judges can be seen seated in front of the prints. If they wish, they can ask to

see an image at close quarters - or stand up and study it in more detail. Prints are put up on the display stand, which is lit top and bottom with daylight bulbs.

When Ralph announces the score, the print is removed and passed to the person on the extreme left, who writes the score on the label on the back of the print.