NZPhotographer Issue 12, October 2018

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE WE ARE
ONE COMPETITION?
Having had a strong involvement in the magazine
over the last year it is great to be involved in this
competition and help celebrate this 1-year milestone
since the relaunch. I get to judge a number of
competitions each year and it is always so exciting
to see the diversity of the entries, along with some
outstanding quality photographs that I would have
been proud to take myself.
WHAT WERE YOU LOOKING FOR WHEN GOING
THROUGH ALL OF THE PHOTOS?
I think with photography competitions to make
the first cut an image has to grab your attention in
some way, a bold image always helping in making
it stand out. It then it comes down to the three key
elements of any successful photograph: subject,
composition, and lighting. An image might be of a
great subject and shot in some beautiful light, but
if it lacks the 3rd element of a strong composition,
it will fail overall as an award-winning image. After
a first pick, I started to look deeper at the technical
quality of the photographs and slowly thin down the
selection. Picking an overall winner from the last few is
always hard and to win it needs something to make it
more than just a pretty looking and technically good
photograph.
WHAT WAS YOUR PROCESS FOR JUDGING,
HOW DID YOU GET IT DOWN TO JUST 1
WINNER?
Well… I had a little help! I am currently on the West
Coast running a workshop, so I decided to get my
group to help judge. I picked a final 12 photographs
and got them to offer their opinions on these before
I chose the winning image.
ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE TO ADD?
If you did not win and feel that you have an awardwinning
shot, enter it into another competition! I have
had photographs that have won a major competition
but not been selected in much smaller ones. Judging
any competition is very subjective and I am sure
another judge would pick a different winner to myself.
38 NZPhotographer