PAGB APM Awards in Croydon

[Paul Heester]

Saturday saw the PAGB visit Croydon for the APM Awards with myself, Tom, Bill & Graham attending with myself and Graham submitting images.

There were approx 150 attendees and the day was split into prints in the morning (around 500 I was told) with PDIs after lunch (around 250). There are 6 judges who each score between 1 - 5. From memory I believe the highest score was 28 with a few getting 27. The lowest I think was 12 but there were plenty in the low teens. Overall I would say the scoring was consistent but my view was that PDIs were given a far lower score than the prints. I mentioned this to to another attendee who confirmed that in the past prints have always scored better.

From a subject point of view I found that landscapes were scored brutally! Some images I would have been proud of scored very badly. I would also say to never submit any sunrise/sunset shots, I suspect the judges are bored of them after seeing so many. Sports photography did well like rugby, football and cricket. Bird photography was popular and scored well. Wildlife was also popular but if the animals are doing something it certainly helps. One print had 2 cheetahs chasing which scored highly but another showed a cheetah just sitting which didnt fair well. Composite images scored well i.e. a person in certain clothing with an appropriate background.

Sadly I didnt pass (I soon realised this after seeing the quality of the prints/scores) but it was a learning experience and if I were to resubmit in future I would certainly submit prints.

[Rose]

Thanks for posting Paul - I've been wondering if any CCC members entered. I also just saw a photo of Tom and Graham on a Facebook post about the awards so I knew they had attended ! Sorry you were unsuccessful this time but it sounds like the experience was valuable. How did Graham get on ?

[Mike Farley]

Hi Paul

Thanks for the update, Paul. I was wondering if anyone from the club had gone. Sorry to hear that you were not successful this time, but no doubt the lessons learned will put you in good stead.

I was thnking about this event yesterday. I had gone to Wokingham for the Thames Valley Digital Imaging Group presentation. One of my reasons for going is that I had some prints to collect, but it turned out that the person who has them was in Croydon trying for a distinction. (A bit of miscommunication there!) For the morning session, the presenter (Andrew Mills) showed us a variety of images by different well known photographers. He made the comment that a lot of the photos would not score well in club competitions. And that is one of the things which troubles me about judging. In general, it is only certain types of photographs which do well. Anything which tries to be different, or the judges do not understand, invariably is marked down.

So it was with interest that I read your comments about what did and did not do well. All the usual suspects were there, including composites. While I feel that there is a place for such heavily manipulated images, I do find it frustrating that often they are preferred to images which have been created by more conventional means. Yes, they have impact, which is what doing well at a PAGB APM event is all about as the judges do not look at any image for long.

If circumstances had been different, I would probably have elected to go to the APM awards yesterday instead of a 100+ mile return trip to Wokingham. Do I regret my choice? Had I gone to the PAGB event, I would have seen a lot of work, but much of it in in a similar vein. I suspect that by the end of it I would have been bored. Instead, I was able to see images from a much broader spectrum covering all types of photography. Did I like everything I saw? Of course not. Did it keep my interest? Certainly.

[Iggy]

Hi Paul,
Thank you for sharing you experiences at the PAGB AMP Awards in Croydon which is very helpful and gives insight on what images not to enter.
Perhaps we should have a Members evening on the subject looking at images that gained a 3 or 4.

The PAGB does offer some advice on their website that we should take advantage off:
"Ask your Federation Awards Officer about any advisory workshops they may be organising. The PAGB now defray the cost of nominated advisors, well versed in the standard required, to make a presentation of the requirements and to give 1:1 advice. "

"Recorded Lectures - These DVDs contains a large selection of pictures, sufficient to fill a club evening. There is no commentary but the on screen notes provide a very clear picture of the standard required to achieve both the Credit and Distinction Awards. We regularly update the DVDs with more recent pictures."

Iggy

[toms]

Hi All,

Firstly thanks to Paul for his accurate review of the day. In all 6 members of the club were entered for assessment (4 for the DPAGB and 2 for the DPAGB). Alas as Paul pointed out none of us were successful this time but it was an excellent experience.

Given the costs involved (hindsight is a wonderful thing), for those considering entering for such an award it is well worthwhile paying the £5 to observe the proceeding prior to actually entering into an assessment.

Interestingly the duck got the highest mark.

Regards,

Tom

[Paul Heester]

I was told the next assessment is in October at Colchester, however this is already fully booked. The PAGB normally try to fit people into an APM day within a year of registering. However, if submitting prints you obviously have to bring them to the event and they do cover the whole of the UK so it could involve a lot of travelling.

@Iggy - Happy to share my images used with the club although you only get a total score for each image not what each judge scored.

@Tom - did Sunday differ much to Saturday? Did you notice the higher standard for DPAGB?

[Mike Farley]

Interestingly the duck got the highest mark.

Good grief.

[toms]

Hi Mike,

I thought you'd like that one.

Tom