Should we remove scoring in club competitions?

[Mike Farley]

I'm not 100% sure if you are for or against now

I definitely am.

I don't think a lack of a mark precludes a judge saying what they really think.

It doesn't, but some might take the easy way out and not say anything negative in case they upset someone.

I also don't know why you think removing scores would make things less competitive?

No trophy, only a paper certificate. Less to play for.

[Mike Farley]

I should also add that making each competition a separate entity and not accu,mulating scores over a season does potentially remove end of season fatigue, when people either do not bother entering or submit lesser images if they are out of contention for the trophy.

I would also add my long held view that the club has far too many competitions with too many entries in each. Those entering both print and DPI competitions have to submit 30 images, which is far too many to maintain consistent quality. And that 30 is a minimum which does not necessarily take into account specific images for the Nature and Master trophies which cannot be readily reused. As someone who does both, I find that I have to prioritise and last season I concentrated on submitting my best work as prints.

[davidc]

I also don't know why you think removing scores would make things less competitive?

No trophy, only a paper certificate. Less to play for.

We still have trophies, it's just instead of counting up 5 weeks of absolutely bonkers, arbitrary marks out of 12, we use a different system. The better photographers will still trend to getting better results and winning the silverware.

[davidc]

I should also add that making each competition a separate entity and not accu,mulating scores over a season does potentially remove end of season fatigue, when people either do not bother entering or submit lesser images if they are out of contention for the trophy.

I would also add my long held view that the club has far too many competitions with too many entries in each. Those entering both print and DPI competitions have to submit 30 images, which is far too many to maintain consistent quality. And that 30 is a minimum which does not necessarily take into account specific images for the Nature and Master trophies which cannot be readily reused. As someone who does both, I find that I have to prioritise and last season I concentrated on submitting my best work as prints.

This is something I've been mulling over too. Do we need to enter three images? Why not just two? It means we are shooting less, getting less feedback and seeing fewer images - which beats the point of a camera club - but if it means the events are more sustainable and better attended then maybe it's a net benefit?

[Mike Farley]

We still have trophies, it's just instead of counting up 5 weeks of absolutely bonkers, arbitrary marks out of 12, we use a different system. The better photographers will still trend to getting better results and winning the silverware.

Do you really think that either of your proposed systems will make things less arbitrary? With the current system or either of your alternatives, the judge still ends up ranking the images. They might select the best images or they might not. With your alternatives, you are also fixing the number of awards. On a night with a lot of quality images, good work might miss out. On a slow night, poor work could be ranked higher than it deserves.

[Iggy]

Mike said

Do we need to enter three images? Why not just two?

Having three images gives one a chance to go experimental on the third image.

Having the open Bamber Competition later might result in the same outcome for newbies, but at least it would not be in the very first competition that they entered.

In spite of everything, I did learn a good amount from the judging at this year's Bamber Competition. Just have to remember to put some of it into practice now while composing and then spending a lot more time and effort to learn how to use Photoshop to make the massive changes that are called for!

This year, the competitions come thick and fast because the brief was to try and get them all done within the financial year ending in April.
With the CCC financial year now changed, the programme starting in September 2017 will be well spaced out which might go some way to alleviating competition fatigue.
Iggy

[Mike Farley]

:?: Mike said

Do we need to enter three images? Why not just two?

That's David's quote, not mine.

Sometimes I find that my "experimental" shot is not the one I thought it was. Sometimes they all turn out to be experimental.

[Rose]

I will certainly feed back my experiences as the season progresses at my new club. The biggest difference is that there is just one comp per month, either print or DPI. There is a minimum 2 week lead-in to each comp as I understand the judges actually view all the images before the night. The 5 best images go forward to annual trophies. Some comps are judged by members. There are also regular 'battles' with other clubs in the SW. The programme every month includes a mix of practical work, speakers, comps, battles, discussion and learning. You can take a peek at this season's programme here: http://www.midsomersetcameraclub.org.uk ... 7.html#Sep

[Iggy]

Thanks Rose for sharing.
Gosh, 4 sessions of photographic technique in the first 2 months.
I wonder how that might go down at the CCC. I could do with some of those! In this year's CCC programme new members are left to their devices.
How many members does your new club have?
Best wishes,
Iggy

[Rose]

Hi Iggy
Not sure how many members there are, there have been about 30 people at each of the last two meetings.