Juror Rules

Judging Guidelines

Jurors may enter the competition but should not judge their entry. If you have judged a photograph in a previous competition, it is all right for you to judge it again if you do not know or suspect you know the entry’s maker. If you know or suspect you know the maker of any entry, you will disqualify yourself from the scoring by indicating to the moderator that an alternate juror is needed..

It is the responsibility of the maker to place his or her entry in the proper category. ONLY the competition manager has the authority to change an entry’s category.

Judges must view prints under the judging lights only. To more closely examine an entry, jurors must approach the display easel. If a moderator calls your attention to something on the print surface, you may go up and view the print. This action does not indicate favor or disfavor of the image and should not influence your judgment. There may be some detail not readily seen from the judges’ seats. You may ask that a print be tilted to eliminate glare.

There should be no extraneous comment or discussion implied or spoken, during the scoring. Discussions during judging should be limited to challenged photographs.

Circumstances may make it necessary to ask questions or give information. You should score first, and then make your challenge. The competition manager will answer any questions or resolve disputes.

Officially, the alternate juror does not score. He or she should, however, evaluate each image in the event an alternate vote is required. The alternate may also challenge a score, give an opinion and rebuttal. On all challenges, the alternate juror is treated as a member of the panel.
SCORING

Remember to select a grade level first, and then assess a score.

Exceptional 100-95
Superior 94-85
Excellent 84-80
Above Average 79-76
Average 75-74
Acceptable 73-70
Unacceptable 69-0

CHALLENGES
On all entries scoring 70 or above, any juror scoring 10 points or more away from the average score must challenge that score immediately. The challenging juror should state his/her score and explain the reason for being high or low. The moderator will enforce this rule and will announce the scores of each juror, if necessary. On challenges, each juror will give his score first and then explain his/her position. Try to be brief and concise. Each juror should be flexible enough to listen to a fellow juror’s opinion without interruption.

Jurors and the competition manager have the authority to challenge a score. If you wish to challenge a score, call out the word “challenge.” Entries should be challenged before the next image comes up for judging. If another print is brought forward for scoring, it will be judged first and then the panel will return to the challenged entry.

When there is a discrepancy between your score and the average score please assert yourself and challenge the score. You may see supportive factors in the photograph that were missed by the other jurors and these should be expressed. You must also have the honesty to reevaluate your own score when other jurors challenge you. If you feel you have misjudged an entry, you must be willing to alter your score.

When there is a high and a low challenge in the same photograph, the highest score will get the challenge and rebuttal. Moving to the right, each juror will have the opportunity to speak, finally returning to the challenger for his rebuttal. After the rebuttal, the moderator will call for the re-score.

If you challenge, you are expected not to change your vote in the re-scoring. The only exception to this being the rare instance where you honestly feel that in being completely objective you have improperly evaluated the photograph in your original score. If this is the case, you must state both your original score and your intended revised score.

The FINAL score will be the official score on all entries including challenged entries.

A juror has the privilege to recall for reconsideration any photograph previously judged, although he can only challenge a certain photograph on any panel once.