Judges Instructions

As a Judge, you will vote in a series of steps to determine the Awards.

Each judge individually selects or votes for photos anonymously without discussing photo choices with the other judges.

There are four judging steps in our photo contest, each one opened and completed before the next.

The first step is the "Judge's “Primary” Selection".

This is an individual and anonymous judging step where you will be reducing the large set of photo entries to a smaller set for the "Best in Class" voting. Since there are 603 photos entered in the show, the judges primary selection is our method of reducing the number of photos to be considered for judging in the next steps. There are 24 photo classes with an average of 26 photos per class but typically some classes are larger and some have only a few photos. We suggest that you select up to one-third of the photos in large photo classes and up to ten photos in smaller classes. This is not a judging step, rather a way to eliminate obvious photos that would not likely be considered by you or another judge. Photos that do not pass this step will not be considered for a ribbon. Please be generous and try to pass about a third of the photos. You are not attempting to pick the photography class winners and other judges may pick some of the same or different photos. When all judges have finished their “Primary Selections” , the next step will use those photos as the source of photos for judging. Only photos that were passed by two or more judges will be considered in the next step.

The second step is the "Judges Best in each Class Vote".

This second step is an individual and anonymous judging step where you will be selecting the top four photos in each "Photo Class". Your selections will be tallied with those from the other judges to produce the "Judges’ Best in Class Awards". The voted photos in this set of "Best in Class awards" will be the photo source for the third phase of voting for "Best in Show".

The third step is the "Judges Best In Show Voting".

This is like all the other steps because judging is by an individual and anonymous person, As a judge, you will select your top four photos for consideration as candidates for "Best in Show". Your selections will be tallied with those from the other judges to produce the "Best in Show Awards". The first place ribbon for the Best in Show award will be recognized as the Wells Knierim Award. You may also select one or more “Honorable Mention” awards as well as the special Youth Award.

The fourth step is the "Judges Choice Voting".

This last step is an individual judging step where you may select a photo that you wish to recognize as a winning photo for any reason.

This is an optional step and is not required if you do not want to award a "Judges Choice" ribbon. Also the timing, while traditionally done after all judging is completed, can be done after your “Best in Class” voting. The photo you select may or may not have received another award. You may only vote for one “Judges Choice” in the show. The Judges "Best in Show" Awards page will also display your "Judges Choice" selection and will indicate the photo was your choice.