Category: Salon News

PAGB E-News are hoping to produce an e-news special, drawing on the advice and training that Federations offer their judges so that the best ideas can be shared by everyone.

As an example, they have provided this small extract from material from the comprehensive documentation used at judging workshops in the Northern Counties. We decided to share it and we hope you find it interesting.

General Advice
Don’t focus on what’s wrong with a picture.
Analyse – don’t criticise, suggest changes but never dictate.
Don’t merely describe to the audience what the picture contains. They can already see that it’s a tree with a sky and mountains or whatever. It is much better to evaluate on the basis of –

1. Communication of an idea/feeling 50 – 60% of the value.
2. Content 30 – 35% of the value.
3. Construction (technical) 10 – 15% of the value.

1. Communiation
Statement/story, interpretation. Appreciation of all art should not, primarily, be an intellectual exercise but rather an emotional one. It is the buzz or tingle we experience on seeing a good photograph which should be at the heart of judging.

A good photographer brings out the best of what he/she photographs, as a musician interprets a composer’s work. Even the ambiguity of a picture can be its greatest asset in that it provides a canvas on which the observer can place their own imagination and feelings.

2. Content
Lighting, background, sharpness, colour, timing, movement. composition, pattern/texture, format – portrait, landscape, letter box, square etc.

3. Construction (technical)
Handling of tonal range and colour rendition. Exposure, sharpness, printing quality, choice of paper, appropriateness of colour or monochrome, use of a technique to improve the picture rather than to purely demonstrate knowledge of it. Finally does the presentation add to or detract from the quality of the picture.

We look forward to seeing the E-News Special that covers the subject in more detail. If you wish to subscribe to PAGB E-News you can do so here.

Awards for Photographic Merit Online Advisory Workshop

Would you like to participate in an Online Workshop with your PDI and Prints being assessed and discussed by a group of PAGB Adjudicators? We have pencilled in a date in September which would require you to upload your image files to our Central Management System (CMS) and post prints to us in early August.

There will be quite a lot to manage and we would really appreciate an early expression of interest to determine if the idea is worthwhile. If you would like us to look at your work, please provide your name, e-mail and answers to the following questions.

Please e-mail to awards@thepagb.org.uk by early July, if possible, so that we can review the viability of running such a workshop.

• What level are you interested in? (BPAGB CPAGB DPAGB EPAGB or MPAGB)
• Do you hope to apply for Adjudication in 2025 or 2026?
• If you are intending to apply soon, do you want a full potential entry reviewed. Or do you want to submit just a few images to determine which level you might be at?
• Will you wish to be advised on a potential PDI or a Print entry?
• Are you prepared to pay £10 to be advised or £5 to observe?