Unfortunately, a recent event has necessitated this post.
This post will not concern the vast majority of our members but I would appreciate it if everyone could take the time to read it.
After our last competition night our judge Roy Killen was sent an anonymous email via his website from one of our members who was not happy with comments made by Roy.
This is definitely not an appropriate way to express any dissatisfaction we may have with comments and awards given by a judge.
When discussing this with Roy he expressed that he does not mind anyone commenting on his judging or asking him to explain why he gave an award to one image and not another one.
However, he was annoyed that whoever sent him the email kept their criticism anonymous by not including their name. It also appeared that the person who sent the email had used a false email address as when Roy attempted to reply the emails bounced back as non-deliverable.
We do give our judges a set of guidelines when they judge for us, but please keep in mind that judging is very subjective. We have all experienced cases of one judge not giving an image of ours an award and then re-entering the image and getting a good award.
Most importantly, we, as members of a camera club must remember that actually the judge’s decision is at the discretion of the judge. It is not an easy task to get judges and it is important to respect their decisions even if we do not agree.
We are lucky that this judge was Roy.
Roy is not going to let this incident deter him from assisting our club in the future.
However, Roy has suggested that other judges might take such anonymous criticisms differently.
The correct way to get clarification on judging points would have been to discuss it with Roy on the night or if you really felt you must have clarification to email Roy with your details so that he can respond.
Roy has asked that I remind our members that if anyone has a query about comments or decisions of a judge that they should raise their concerns at a time and in a manner that will give the judge a chance to explain their decisions.
Hopefully this has cleared up any queries any of our members may have on how to approach a judge if they feel comments and/or awards need clarification.
