Entering underwater photography competitions

by Peter Scoones

Reproduced from in focus 21 (April 1987)

There are an ever increasing number of competitions open to the underwater photographer, ranging from local club competitions at one end of the scale, to international festivals at the other. Competitions can be of great benefit to the individual photographer, allowing pictures to be seen and compared with the work of others, Vhilst for the competitors, the display, awards and recognition will be the main attraction, it is Important for the continuing success of a competition that the organisers, sponsors and competitors all benefit from an event.

JUDGING

Any panel selected to choose the winning pictures will be composed of a number of individuals, some of whom may appear to be unqualified to Judge. For certain specific aspects, this may well be the case, since these Individuals may not take into account such items as difficulty and/or technical quality, They will be selecting on other criteria; their personal preference, specific application, or purely aesthetic values, Other members of the panel will use different scales of value to make their selection. Providing a panel contains a balanced view, (what's that-) the selection will be valid, One should realise that any two such panels, however well Informed, are unlikely to come up with the same selection, such is the subjective nature of picture appreciation. The volume of entries to these competitions and the various categories, sections and classes, makes the task of selection quite prodigious. It Is therefore most important that competitors study the rules and interpret them correctly. (Judges too please. ) Failure to do this can lead to disqualification of an entire entry or at least that individual pictures do not get the attention that they should.

In a large competition the process by which the entries are processed Is often as follows: initially the entries are logged In and at this stage only obvious non-compliance with the rules will be picked up. The second stage Is the assigning of individual pictures to their entered category, section and class, This Is done by following the instructions accompanying each individual picture; here eliminations will be made if size rules have been broken. Following this, there is often a 'preselection' , intended to reduce the volume that is presented to the
actual panel of Judges. This is necessary, for with all photo' competitions there are a considerable number of submissions that are well below standard. It is here that pictures that do not fit the category, class or section are identified, ideally to be re-assigned. In practice, they are often eliminated. This Is particularly so in the slide sections, due to the large number of entries. Also, as the selection will often be made on a light-box, where certain types of picture do not show up well, these also run the risk of being eliminated.

At the final judging, the task of selecting the top pictures is not too difficult. They will share common characteristics. They will be technically good, well composed, well presented and fit their class. The difficult bit is to select the best from this final bunch. Qualities that make a picture stand out are: a) originality, b) impact, c) unusual d) content and e) appeal. Points that go against are: a) similarity with other pictures, particularly if they seem to be from the same entrant and appear to be 'next on the roll'; b) if the same image appears in other classes, i.e. as a slide, colour print or black and white print. Remember, the judges see the lot, and are not impressed by those who cannot decide which is their best shot, or which is the best class to enter it in; and c) if the picture is one that has been seen around, or is known from other competitions. All the abovementioned points may be entirely acceptable within the rules but judges have their own attitudes! Having said this, it can happen that the judges do not collectively agree on the best pictures, each having a different personal preference, and why not- After discussion the awards go to pictures that do not raise any strong opinion but would not be the preferred choice of any. Additionally there are a number of ' formula' , cliche, or 'pussy cat' type pictures that recur often in the awards. Examples of these are: the ever-popular big fish head, the diver with a wreck shot and the diver silhouette. Any aspiring underwater photographer would be well advised to add similar shots to the collection.

FILMS

Here the rules of many underwater festivals tend to ensure that the submissions that they receive are of a low standard, rules that specify too large a percentage of underwater footage and other restrictions, ensure that the majority are not eligible to compete. In the Amateur sections. where films my be made specially for such competitions, the rules often specify limitations that run contrary to the requirements necessary for the production of good films. Trying to make a movie while complying with competition rules can restrict and lead to bad production methods. Xy advice to anyone who wishes to make a film, is firstly to forget competitions. It's the wrong reason! Find a story, script carefully, make it entertaining andlor informative and no longer than necessary. Do collaborate. Do he critical. Take time. Take more time. Then enter for the competition.

AUDIO VISUALS

This Is a comparatively new category to underwater competition and both the organisers and entrants seem to be feeling their way. It seems to be difficult to define what should constitute an AV. and what rules should apply. It seems not too difficult to define projection systems, practicalities dictate here. But content and length are probably beet left unspecified provided there is reasonable underwater presence. The writer recently was on a panel of Judges at a festival and can certainly define some do's and do not's and a few personal observations. Do riot: show your entire collection of underwater slides; mix horizontal and vertical pictures without valid transition; make it too long; include slides with personal or restricted appeal, mix dupes with originals or mix film stock with differing balance; mix stunning shots with mediocre ones. Seems obvious! Do: entertain andlor inform; keep it short, plan before shooting; be self critical.

PRINTS & SLIDES

Leaving out the films and AV categories, the way 1 would advise approaching competitions would be as follows. Read the rules thoroughly; decide which particular categories provide the most likely opportunities for success. Note, that the classes for black and white prints receive the fewest entries. The colour print classes are the next most popular, while the slide entry outnumbers all others by a long way. It seems obvious that entries in the least subscribed classes would provide the best opportunity. Next. providing your technical quality and presentation are up to standard, you comply with the rules and enter the right category and class, you can be reasonably confident that your picture will be presented before the panel.

Now, because there is no reliable way of predicting the Judges' preference, it Is wise to enter a selection of pictures in each class. For example. take a class called 'Fish pictures'. The selection could Include one close-up - the cliche, big fish heads the eye must be pinsharp. One medium shot, where the subject/s are seen with scenery, even including a diver in the background. Finally Include one personal favourite providing It Is substantially different from the others. laturally, If you have more pictures that will fit this class they can also be entered, but make sure that the subject and treatment is sufficiently different from the others. the object is to get as many different types of picture into the final selection as possible. From there on it the personal preference of the panel that makes the choice. Regardless of all the foregoing, one thing is for sure; If you do not enter you will not win.

CONCLUSIONS

It is often recognised by either the organisers or the entrants to competitions, how much rules and results Influence what is selected as 'good photography'. Vith underwater photography In particular. competitions appeared locked into sport diving and natural history pictures. Photographs that did not conform to the conventional were unlikely to succeed; the contrived or manipulated were definitely taboo. Pictures were not permitted to say much and even If they did, this was not recognised. Recently, and possibly because of boredom with the uniformity of the conventional pictures, more adventurous images have become acceptable in competitions. This trend has livened up the scene considerably, freeing the imagination and allowing the efforts of the experimenters to be seen without the stigma prevalent in the past. This new wind is leading to a different approach to the conventional subjects and pictures will gain interest from the individual photographers' personal Input. Pictures are becoming more eloquentl