Judging Feedback 2020
Saturday 12th December 2020
I have a couple of weeks off my zoom travels now. Since June I've presented 18 lectures and I've done 24 judging sessions seeing 1596 lovely images.... Pretty busy for my first year as a judge and lecturer!...Next year is looking busy too, as a result I am unable to take any more bookings before 16th April........Thank you to everyone who has booked me this year, stay safe and have a Happy Christmas and I hope 2021 brings everyone a better time xxxxx
I have a couple of weeks off my zoom travels now. Since June I've presented 18 lectures and I've done 24 judging sessions seeing 1596 lovely images.... Pretty busy for my first year as a judge and lecturer!...Next year is looking busy too, as a result I am unable to take any more bookings before 16th April........Thank you to everyone who has booked me this year, stay safe and have a Happy Christmas and I hope 2021 brings everyone a better time xxxxx
Wednesday 25th November 2020
Knaresborough Camera Club
(had around 40 images to judge so they asked me to show some of my work to fill the evening which i happily did)
- feedback from Mike Morley - Competition Secretary
Knaresborough Camera Club
(had around 40 images to judge so they asked me to show some of my work to fill the evening which i happily did)
- feedback from Mike Morley - Competition Secretary
"Thanks very much, that was an excellent evening. You have a great talent for judging as well, they were really well analysed"
further feedback from Mike Morley via e-mail
"Kylie did an excellent job judging our club competition. We selected the theme 'the new normal' due to the pandemic and before closing date I was concerned that we only had a low number of entires so Kylie kindIy agreed to fill the evening with part of her talk about her own photography as I though there was only so much she could comment on photos of face masks. On the night, she was full on enthusiasm and useful comments on the photos and editing tips and that went down well. She also picked the exact winners that I would have done. After the judging she gave us 40 minutes or so of her presentation which was very enjoyable and she has some excellent photos of her own."
Wednesday 18th November 2020
Eastbourne Focus Digital Camera Club
(had around 40 images to judge so they asked me to show some of my work to fill the evening which i happily did)
- feedback from Jeanne Steer - Club Secretary
Eastbourne Focus Digital Camera Club
(had around 40 images to judge so they asked me to show some of my work to fill the evening which i happily did)
- feedback from Jeanne Steer - Club Secretary
" Hi Kylie
Just wanted to thank you for judging for us this evening and for giving us such an entertaining and informative meeting and showing us some of your own work. It was particularly refreshing to hear from a younger judge and surprisingly only the second female one in over 11 years! Although only a few members currently manage to attend our Zoom meetings, I am sure those who did thoroughly enjoyed the evening.
Hopefully, we can have a repeat performance at some future date.
In the meantime thanks again.
Best wishes
Jeanne Steer"
Tuesday 17th November 2020
Dublin Camera Club - Season Competition
- feedback from Tony Davis - President
Dublin Camera Club - Season Competition
- feedback from Tony Davis - President
"We had a fine judging performance from Kylie.
She provided detailed consideration and commentary for nearly 100 images in the competition with good humour. Her use of her highlighting function was quite useful in emphasising her commentary, particularly about image cropping. Kylie was clearly diligent in not allowing her personal photographic preferences cloud her impartiality." ....Tony Davis
Comment that Paul Stanley put onto the Facebook UK Club Photography Page
"The members of the Dublin Camera Club were treated to an excellent judging session last night - by Kylie-ann Martin. We had nearly 100 images - across 3 grades of members - it was one of the highest entries for some time. Many thanks to Kylie for her time, effort and entertaining comments - especially being photo-bombed by the cat."
Thursday 12th November 2020
Burton-Upon-Trent Photographic Society - Season Competition
- feedback from Stephen Albutt - Internal Competition Secretary.
I was deliberately more conscious of timings for this event as it has been brought up in my feedback by the last two clubs. I did tell Steve that if at any point I was running behind to give me a little nudge but nothing got mentioned. As part of our post event messages I did want to make sure that part of the evening had been controlled.
Burton-Upon-Trent Photographic Society - Season Competition
- feedback from Stephen Albutt - Internal Competition Secretary.
I was deliberately more conscious of timings for this event as it has been brought up in my feedback by the last two clubs. I did tell Steve that if at any point I was running behind to give me a little nudge but nothing got mentioned. As part of our post event messages I did want to make sure that part of the evening had been controlled.
'Hi Kylie
A hugh thank you for last night and no you did nt over run and we look forward to seeing you in the future, hopefully at the club.
As for your website:
We invited Kylie to judge our November 2020 internal competition, and although she was new to the 'judging circuit' for the Midlands Counties Photographic Federation (MCPF), it is always nice to receive new faces from the judging community. Kylie is knowledgeable when it comes to photography, and this was obvious to all concerned with her, constructive commentary, throughout the evening. She not only pointed out the good points, which of course we all enjoy to hear, but her comments on how to improve an image or offer advice about composition and / or techniques that might be employed in creating a better outcome were very much appreciated. Thank you Kylie and we look forward to seeing you again.
Internal Competitions Secretary , Burton Upon Trent Photographic Society
Best wishes Steve'
Monday 9th November 2020
Forest of Dean Camera Club - Season Competition
- feedback from Nick Stewart - Chairman
"Hi Kylie, Yes, a good job all round thank you. I've just left you some feedback. Kind regards"
Forest of Dean Camera Club - Season Competition
- feedback from Nick Stewart - Chairman
"Hi Kylie, Yes, a good job all round thank you. I've just left you some feedback. Kind regards"
"Kylie judged our second club competition of the season last night. She had clearly spent some considerable time on the images beforehand, and admitted she had "had a play" with some so she could give some context to her critique. Her critique was always balanced if sometimes a little long winded. She did say she had a tendency to overrun so we were warned! All in all I think she did a great job and I would recommend her to any clubs who may be looking for a judge.
Nick Stewart, Chair
Forest of Dean Camera Club"
On the rare occasion I may say 'I've had a play with an image', by this I mean I only trial a crop before I advise it. This is so I know whether it would suit the image and give the photographer another option. As a new judge on the circuit the last thing I want to do is advise something that doesn't help an image. As my confidence is growing I doubt I will feel the need to do this much longer.
Thursday 5th November 2020
Beeston Camera Club - Season Competition (Mono & Colour)
- feedback from Derek Martin - Programme Secretary
Beeston Camera Club - Season Competition (Mono & Colour)
- feedback from Derek Martin - Programme Secretary
"I thought your comments last night at Beeston were excellent and helpful and you found some encouraging words for every image which was very pleasing. I think the audience could tell you were passionate about photography but it did mean that you had time issues which I am sure you can sort out with practice, And of course not all clubs score every image. Overall I think you did very well and I would certainly ask you to judge again hopefully in person..
Many thanks and best wishes.
Derek Martin
Programme Secretary"
I overran by about 20 minutes, it is something I am generally conscious of and I think it will improve over time. i just like to try and be fair to the photographer and give more than the average 30 seconds to an image.
Monday 2nd November 2020
Rugeley And Armitage Camera Club - Season Competition (Mono)
- comments on my Photography Facebook page from some of the members
Rugeley And Armitage Camera Club - Season Competition (Mono)
- comments on my Photography Facebook page from some of the members
George Hodgson
"Was very nervous, first competition. But was very pleased with comments from Kylie. It’s nice when someone who judges regularly, says nice things about your photos. I am always walking the chase, as you probably gathered from my photos. Any time you come over the chase, let me know. I will point you towards a few nice areas. Thank you."
Mary-Jane Eaton
Thank you. Great comments and things we could all use to learn from. X
- from Glyn Heywood (Club Secretary)
Dear Kylie,
On behalf of the club can I thank you for yesterday. We readily recognise that judging is not an easy task and your comments and subsequent decisions
were much appreciated by the members.
We very much look forward to you visiting our club, hopefully in person, in the not too distant future.
Again many thanks for last night.
Best wishes,
Glyn
Thursday 29th October 2020
Cardiff Camera Club - Season Competition
- feedback from their Competition Secretary
Cardiff Camera Club - Season Competition
- feedback from their Competition Secretary
"Hi Kylie,
Thank you very much for taking the time and trouble to judge our competition last Thursday. Hopefully you enjoyed the photographs and were made to feel welcome. Your comments seem to have stimulated discussion between members with some sharing updated versions of their photographs based on your feedback.
Once again thanks for your energy & good humour"
Wednesday 28th October 2020
Bolton & District Camera Club Vs. Abingdon Camera Club
The first battle between these two clubs and my first inter-club judging. It was a fun night with some stunning images. Separating out the 18-20 point images was a challenge and small details became key. The scores were close in the end and there was only a few points in it.
- feedback from Programme Secretaries at Bolton & District CC
Bolton & District Camera Club Vs. Abingdon Camera Club
The first battle between these two clubs and my first inter-club judging. It was a fun night with some stunning images. Separating out the 18-20 point images was a challenge and small details became key. The scores were close in the end and there was only a few points in it.
- feedback from Programme Secretaries at Bolton & District CC
"Hi Kylie Just a quick follow up from our inter-club competition tonight. On behalf of Bolton & District Photographic Society and Abingdon Camera Club we would like to thank you so much for being our judge for this evening. You did a brilliant job and everyone enjoyed the evening...Angela & Allan Barlow"
- feedback from Bill Middleton - Club Secretary
"I thought the evening went well and it was clear from your comments that you’d spent considerable time in reviewing the images beforehand, which became apparent through your perceptive comments and feedback. It’s through such comments that we continue to learn – and try new ideas – so thank you for that. Hopefully we’ll see you again in the future.
Kind regards, Bill"
Wednesday 21st October 2020
Faversham & District Camera Club
- feedback from Mark Evans (Programme Secretary)
Faversham & District Camera Club
- feedback from Mark Evans (Programme Secretary)
"Kylie came highly recommended to us and throughout the evening, with a range of diverse images and genres, provided sound critique on our images and feedback on what we could do to improve. This was really helped by Kylie using the annotate tool to directly highlight her points too, which is something that Zoom offers us in these kinds of competitions. Kylie is good humoured and has a relaxed approach to judging.Mark"
Wednesday 14th October 2020
Littlehampton & District Camera Club - - feedback from Rob Mulford (Programme Secretary) - via Facebook Rob Mulford |
Wednesday 7th October 2020
Rolls Royce Derby
Rolls Royce Derby
"It was a pleasant surprise to have Kylie-Ann Martin judge our first competition of the season at Rolls-Royce Derby P.S., and I must admit to being slightly worried about having a new judge (to us) make their debut appearance at a club that can be a very daunting place to judge. I needn't have worried as she carried out the task really really well in all three sections. The nature section at RRPS can be particularly challenging, as we have held the GB cup for nature for the last two years and have a very high standard in that section, but she coped admirably, with a great eye for detail, seeing things that I'd missed.
She was also very good in articulating what she liked or didn't in an image, without going over the top either way, and coped extremely well with some very challenging images.
As a PAGB judge I would have no hesitation in recommending Kylie to move up and maybe be given the chance to judge at a higher level, after all we do need some new young blood in top level judging."
All the best,"
Bill Hall
AFIAP DPAGB FBPE
Monday 5th October 2020
The Isle Of Thanet Photographic Society
- feedback from John Sammonds (Programme Secretary)
The Isle Of Thanet Photographic Society
- feedback from John Sammonds (Programme Secretary)
"Dear Kylie
I want to thank you for your judging at the Isle of Thanet Photographic society. It was our first online competition and we were a bit nervous of how things would work out, two minuets in and we knew we were in good hands, your comments made everybody comfortable as well as informative and the points awarded I feel were complementary to the image. A big thank you from the club for judging for us if asked I would recommend you without hesitation.
Best wishes
John Sammonds
Program secretary IOTPS"
Monday 21st September 2020
Blythe Bridge Camera Club
- feedback from Alan Lovatt (Treasurer/Vice President)
Blythe Bridge Camera Club
- feedback from Alan Lovatt (Treasurer/Vice President)
"Just wanted to drop you a line to say thank you very much for your judging of the Blythe Bridge Camera Club “Open PDI” competition last Monday. A number of our members have contacted me to say how much they enjoyed your constructive comments on each of the images and the fact that you could use the tools within Zoom to annotate the images to show the areas which were under discussion.
Thank you very much – Alan Lovatt Blythe Bridge Camera Club"
It's always great to get a message of thanks from club members but this one I was very happy to receive especially as Les is someone I see regularly achieving awards for his images.
"Thanks 4 tonight, u made a good job of it well done, even better because i got 1st 2 lol"
....Les Beardmore DPAGB, BPE3
Friday 18th September 2020
Sutton Coldfield Photography Club
- feedback from Paul Stokes (Programme Secretary)
Sutton Coldfield Photography Club
- feedback from Paul Stokes (Programme Secretary)
"Hello Kylie,
I wanted to let you know that we thought that the Competition that you judged in September went really well. This was our 1st internal Zoom competition and your excellent contribution ensured everyone enjoyed themselves. We appreciated that you had prepared well by reviewing the images in advance. It was particularly useful that, being local, you were able to judge prints as well as digital images. All of your comments on the images were consistent and fair. We thought there was a good balance in your comments between what you found interesting and how images could be improved. So a big thank you from Sutton Coldfield Photography Club.
Best regards,
Paul Stokes
Programme Secretary
Sutton Coldfield Photography Club"
Thursday 17th September 2020
Uckfield Camera Club
- feedback from their Programme Secretary
Uckfield Camera Club
- feedback from their Programme Secretary
"Thank you SO much for stepping up to judging our competition last night. We really appreciated your detailed comments on the images and your fair scoring. We also appreciate the fact that you missed your own club night to help us out.
I was really impressed with your delivery considering that you haven't been judging very long! And the time you took to go through the images"
...Stella Bellem
Thursday 3rd September 2020
Maldon Camera Club
- comment from club member via Facebook
Maldon Camera Club
- comment from club member via Facebook
"Lovely to have you as a Zoom judge all the way into Essex"......Zoe Harris
- feedback from the club Chairman
"Kylie was a judge at our monthly PDI competition, run over Zoom. Her obvious enthusiasm and knowledge came through clearly during the evening.
All of the feedback from our members was very positive.
Highly recommended
Phil Watkins
Chairman - Maldon Camera Club"
Thursday 27th August 2020
Leicester Forest Photographic Society
- feedback from the President
Leicester Forest Photographic Society
- feedback from the President
"Hi Kylie, I hope you are well. I wanted to let you know that we thought that the Open Competition that you judged last week went really well. This was only our 2nd Zoom meeting and your excellent contribution ensured everyone enjoyed themselves. We really appreciated that you had prepared well by reviewing the images in advance. All of your comments on the images were consistent and fair. We thought there was a good balance in your comments between what you found interesting and how images could be improved. So a big thank you from Leicester Forest PS and let's hope it's not too long before you make a return.
Best wishes
Robb Doyle BPE2* - LFPS President"
Tuesday 25th August 2020
Aperture Woolwich Photographic Society
- feedback from the Vice Chair
Aperture Woolwich Photographic Society
- feedback from the Vice Chair
"Many thanks for your outstanding work judging our monster entry last night.We've had strong positive feedback and it has also triggered a conversation about when we instigate a "cull" within comp entries.
I rather suspect we should have culled last night but either way, you did a great job and we are very thankful to you for doing so."
...Paul Parkinson LRPS CPAGB BPE1*
- Comments left by Paul (Vice Chair) on the UK Club Photography Facebook Page
"NB going out of region like this worked brilliantly for our comp yesterday where we subjected the amazing Kylie-ann Martin to our highest ever entry. What a trouper. 82 entries dispatched with aplomb"
...Paul Parkinson LRPS CPAGB BPE1*
Thursday 13th August 2020
Keyworth Camera Club - Lockdown Competition No.4
- feedback from the club Treasurer
Keyworth Camera Club - Lockdown Competition No.4
- feedback from the club Treasurer
"Thank you for making last nights competition an enjoyable evening and a nice bonus for me that you chose my image as the Mono winner."
....Paul Burrows
- feedback from The Competition Secretary
"It was a great night I thought, as did the others who’s stayed on for a chat.You had clearly studied the images and there was some very detailed critique. Equally, and something i personally liked, was that it wasn’t as ‘regimented’ as some longer standing judges can be and looked at the images from an emotional rather than a purely ‘scientific’ approach viewpoint, which some judges can take. Thank-you very much again for your time and an excellent evening.
Many thanks
Adrian Ilott"
Wednesday 22nd July 2020
Stirling Camera Club - Summer Competition
I felt awful for these guys as it was their first ever zoom meeting and I ended up having some technical issues. Unfortunately the microphone within my laptop failed and I had to complete the judging via Zoom on my mobile phone, we over ran the meeting by almost an hour as there were also delays in image sync but we got there in the end and had an enjoyable night.
- feedback from the Chairman
Stirling Camera Club - Summer Competition
I felt awful for these guys as it was their first ever zoom meeting and I ended up having some technical issues. Unfortunately the microphone within my laptop failed and I had to complete the judging via Zoom on my mobile phone, we over ran the meeting by almost an hour as there were also delays in image sync but we got there in the end and had an enjoyable night.
- feedback from the Chairman
"Just a quick note of thanks for taking the time last night to comment on our club images.There were lots of tips for many to improve.
I hope you get your equipment all sorted quickly and have some good Zooming over the season."
...Tom Forrest
Wednesday 15th July 2020
Horsham Photographic Society - Recycled Themed Competition
Entry numbers were a little lower than expected for this night but we still went ahead and I'm glad we did. At the start the club had some Zoom technical issues that caused Dicentra to repeatedly hang. I suggested using Bridge but they didn't have that on their PC so I offered to run it from my end. Using Bridge and sharing my screen enabled me to use my cursor and show areas i was addressing within the images, this made it much easier than trying to describe areas.
As the entry numbers were less than normal I was able to spend more time talking about the novice/intermediate images and explaining how to make minor changes to improve the images using Lightroom, Photoshop CC or Elements or my moving yourself to change your perspective. By chatting at the end i found a lot of people didn't know that editing was even allowed in competitions, they thought it had to be straight from the camera. The chairman confirmed that the only images you cannot edit are nature under their club rules.
At the end of the judging one lady spoke up, i'd placed her 2nd in the novice/intermediate group. She thanked me for my attention to detail and the encouraging comments I had made about her image. She only considered herself a snapper and from how she spoke it sounded like she would be starting to give herself a bit more credit....to me this is what it's all about...being helpful and encouraging.
- feedback from Ian Nicol (Chairman)
Horsham Photographic Society - Recycled Themed Competition
Entry numbers were a little lower than expected for this night but we still went ahead and I'm glad we did. At the start the club had some Zoom technical issues that caused Dicentra to repeatedly hang. I suggested using Bridge but they didn't have that on their PC so I offered to run it from my end. Using Bridge and sharing my screen enabled me to use my cursor and show areas i was addressing within the images, this made it much easier than trying to describe areas.
As the entry numbers were less than normal I was able to spend more time talking about the novice/intermediate images and explaining how to make minor changes to improve the images using Lightroom, Photoshop CC or Elements or my moving yourself to change your perspective. By chatting at the end i found a lot of people didn't know that editing was even allowed in competitions, they thought it had to be straight from the camera. The chairman confirmed that the only images you cannot edit are nature under their club rules.
At the end of the judging one lady spoke up, i'd placed her 2nd in the novice/intermediate group. She thanked me for my attention to detail and the encouraging comments I had made about her image. She only considered herself a snapper and from how she spoke it sounded like she would be starting to give herself a bit more credit....to me this is what it's all about...being helpful and encouraging.
- feedback from Ian Nicol (Chairman)
"Kylie judged our set subject competition via zoom and despite technical difficulties did so with great humour. If it was not for Kylie coming up with the ingenious idea of viewing them through adobe bridge the evening would have been a complete washout.
The comments on the images were excellent and she took a great deal of time with our intermediate group to show where improvements could have been made. I would highly recommend using Kylie as a judge.
Ian Nicol ARPS (Chair Horsham Photographic Society)"
- feedback from Sue Surita (Programme Secretary)
"I just wanted to follow on from Ian's email, to echo his gratitude for finding a workable solution for us following the technical challenges we faced during last week's competition" ...Sue Surita LRPS
- Feedback from the YouTube feed
Stephen Lenaerts - "Great images and thoughtful judging"
pughproductions - "Well done Kylie on judging this amazing competition and well done on all clubs who took part, in particular to Rhondda and Momouth"
Cheryl Hewitt - "thank you ...very interesting images and excellent judging"
- Feedback via Facebook
Sue Gibson - "Thank you Gareth for organising. Well done to Kylie-ann Martin for judging which was very fair. Looking forward to next year in Port Talbot!!
Cheryl Hewitt - "Kylie-ann Martin Loved your modern take on judging .New ideas were not dismissed . You were thorough and kind !"
Jayne Thomas - "A great afternoon watching the broadcast. Great images and superb critiquing. Well done to all."
Mark Gameson - "Looking forward to seeing Kylie-Ann Martin to Kidderminster CC on Monday evening"
Some Feedback To the Organizers
Frank Farrell (Comp Sec for Gwent PS) - "Hi Gareth, just wanted to say what a great job you’ve done, the comp was very enjoyable, great judge and well presented ...Regards"
Guy Butler-Madden (Comp Sec for Vale PC) - "Hi Gareth, Thanks for running the competition and for finding a good judge. (I have no complaints about our marks.)"
Feedback From the Organizers
Gareth Martin - "Hi Kylie I've had nothing but good words said about you on your performance yesterday.
In my club Afan Nedd all the judges are booked up till Xmas 2021 other wise I would have booked you In going to recommend you to some club's in getting bookings from.
Gareth Martin (Founder, Chairman, Prog sec, bottle washer)
Cymru Monochrome"
Peter Thomas - "Excellent job Kylie, to judge 96 images (comp lasted over 3 hrs) normally would be difficult enough but, to do it over an internet stream where you can’t see the audience and basically the only voice is your own must be incredibly difficult. Well done."
Peter Young (President of the Welsh Photographic Federation) - "Thank you very much for all the hard work you did in judging our Mini Only Mono competition. It was a bit of a marathon and you handled the competition and yourself very well."
Monday 18th May 2020
Woodford & Wanstead Photographic Society
- Feedback from various club members
Woodford & Wanstead Photographic Society
- Feedback from various club members
"I agree about last nights popular choice. Primrose Hill was one of my faves. I tried to photograph it a couple of years ago. But never got close to Peter’s shot"
"The funniest thing was over the years judges are always saying “shame there’s not a boat on the lake” ha ha so I put a boat on the lake and got “ id have been tempted to take this boat out” ha ha ha good job I can laugh at my failures ho ho"
"I liked the fact she not afraid the criticise, I’ve actually gone away knowing what I need to do differently. Had to laugh when she said of Rocky Road, “well obviously this is a quick shot you taken while on holiday” talk about found out! 😂😂😂😂"
"It was Kylie’s first judging assignment it takes time to learn how to pace your critique but she did quite well considering. And the overall quality of the images was very good as always with no absolute howlers at all."
"I thought Kylie was good at targeting 14 as a first score because that leaves a bit more scope for separating the rest of the images - Unlike when they start at 16 & try to fit everyone in between 17 & 19. However I did feel she then crammed too many down at 14 & 15 where they deserved more points. I still think she did pretty well for a first go - it must be very difficult"
"For her first time she was fine"
"She had looked at all of them in advance so she probably had an idea of the marks she was going to award. At least she explained why she gave the marks she did."
© 2021 Kylie-Ann Martin Photography. All images on this website are copyrighted.