Pictorial | Nature | Experimental
Welcome to the Kingston Photographic Club online photo judging main page. This page contains information for Main Judges as well as JiTs, (Judges in Training). Please read before starting.
This is one of three general competitions for our club members. There are 3 categories: Pictorial, Nature & Experimental.
For this competition, each member submits up to 4 images with up to 4 in any one category. They may request a comment on any two of these.
All entries have been vetted and are considered in category.
The images can be sorted in any order in each category. We do not display the divisions for judging.
Category Rules/Guidelines
Pictorial: (Any Subject other than those defined as Nature) Minimal editing such as levels, curves, colour adjustment, cropping etc. No composites allowed in this category. Obvious sky replacement would be categorized as a composite.
Nature: This category is reserved for natural flora and fauna and does not allow cultivated plants or flowers or domesticated animals such as dogs, cats or farm animals. Hand-of-Man is not allowed for Nature Images.
Creative Experimental: This category was opened with the Photoshop crowd in mind. It allows for virtually anything to be done. From using unique angles and perspectives to full blown composites or anything in between.
Judges: please put some evaluation emphasis on how strong the image represents the category rule definition of the category, in addition to the normal scoring model
Main Judging Deadline
After all three judges complete the scoring, we will award placements in each of our three divisions and award placements to the highest scoring images, ties will need to be resolved (usually with a quick zoom meeting and judges discussing outcomes).
We ask that you complete your scoring no later than __ Midnight, Friday, January 6, 2023 __ in order to give us time to prepare the results presentation for our club meeting. After the presentation at the club meeting we will send each judge a full report of scores and comments by all three judges so that you can compare your results and comments with the other judges. We will send you a link to view all of the images at your convenience.
Viewing standards
It is recommended that when judging, you use a desktop monitor with a minimum resolution of 1920 pixels wide, 32 bit colour.
You have confirmed that your monitor meets these standards and that it has been recently calibrated using a colour calibrating device.
The very first time, you click on a thumbnail, the first image displayed will be the colour calibration screen. You can also access this image by clicking on “Display Test Image” at the bottom of the image preview window.
You should be able to see all of the greyscale boxes, from white to black, the white dress should not be blown out and the colours should look normal.
Judging Form
Please note the first time you access each category in the judging interface, it may take 2-3 minutes before you can use the interface as the images are cached on your computer. After the first time they will come up quickly.
In the left hand column of this scoring form, for each image there is a thumbnail and the title. If the maker has requested a comment we require you to offer a comment in the text area in the Comment column. The last column is a dropdown option box for your score. Not all judges will be asked to comment on each requested image. The comments have been spread around equally among judges. If you see no comment box beside an image, that means it has been assigned to a different judge.
When you click on an image thumbnail, it will open the image in a separate window and you should arrange the two windows so that you can view the entire image within the image window and the scoring form in the other window. The scoring window is flexible and may be narrowed substantially if necessary.
The images are sized at a maximum pixel dimension of 1400 pixels, long side. This is the maximum size that they will appear on your monitor.
Please do not zoom to enlarge them and ensure there are no scroll bars in the window in which the image appears otherwise you will not be viewing the entire image in that window.
Recommended viewing distance from the monitor is 24″.
Scoring and Comments
We support the O3C Scoring model and rating structure.
Images assessed for Impact, Composition and Technical Execution criteria.
Rating guideline with half point allowance:
5 or less = Image has significant flaws
6 = Image is a record shot but average in all criteria
7 = Shows signs that maker has made the image and excels in one of the criteria
8 = Image has impact, good story, no technical flaws
9 = Superior technically, high impact, strong story
10 = outstanding technical, impact, composition, plus real strong story, originality or creativity. Judge bonus points.
A Comment is required for images with a comment area and a heading Comment Requested.
Your comment should offer suggestions which would help the maker improve their image.
The OCC uses the full scoring scale in increments of half points and you are encouraged to use it.
After all scores have been received and compiled, you may may be asked to reevaluate and/or comment on images with a variance of 3 points or more.
Note: The Comments are divided among the 3 judges. So some will appear without a box. A comment is only necessary on fields indicated by “Comment Requested”. If the heading, says No Comment Requested, Do Not Comment. The new update will flag you with a pop-up for non-comment entries.
Sorting Columns
Before Sorting – Do a Save All to lock in scores/comments. (We’ve noticed this feature is still a bit buggy on some browsers and we’re working on resolving it). For reviewing your progress, you have the option to sort entries within the columns by clicking on the arrow in the heading. This can be useful to sort the given scores from highest to lowest. Clicking again will reverse the order form low to high.
Please note:
Each “Save All” button saves all unsaved items. A red outline appears around these boxes indicating which images you have changed but not yet saved. It is recommended that you save often (every few images) so that you don’t lose any unsaved entries.
A small box at the bottom left of your screen keeps track of how many items you have completed.
You may also sort the images by using any of the available sort buttons at the top of the columns
Reloading the page will revert it to the original alphabetical Title order
You must score all of the images before completing the judging
You are able to change your scores and edit your comments until you have completed your scoring form and press the “Finished” button
Please ensure that any entries marked with Comment Requested is filled in prior to finishing.
Each individual category requires that you press the “Finished” button to close it.
We will send you the final compiled results from all 3 judges for your reference. We also have a program to run analysis on the judging process and if you are interested we would be happy to send that to you upon request.
Additional for Judges in Training (JiTs):
JiT’s have until __ Midnight, Friday, November 13, 2020 __to complete this competition.
Each image has a field to write comments.
For JiTs, we would like you to make comments on at least 18 images in each of the 3 categories:
Select 6 entries where you gave a low score (5-6.5)
Select 6 entries for a medium score (7-8) and
Select 6 entries for high scores (8.5-10)
In a case where you do not have enough high or low score then pick any images where you feel you can make a quality comment that would help the maker improve the image.
For practice, you may comment on additional images if you want and these can be reviewed with your Mentor.
It’s also good practice to comment on genres /subject matter that you are not experienced in to get you comfortable assessing those types of images.
If you have any questions contact Ron Pettitt our competitions Director ron@rpimages.com
This is a new system that we have put in place for online judging and we would appreciate any comments or suggestions for future improvements.