JUDGING AND SCORING

  1. Selection of Judges: The NIH Camera Club Program Chairman selects judges for all competitions.
  2. Procedure: Prior to the competition, the Program Chair will review the judging guidelines and the scoring system used by the NIH Camera Club with the judge. The Secretary shall disqualify and remove any entry not conforming to the NIH Competition Rules. The judge(s) shall reject any entry not conforming to an announced subject and/or technique category. It is the duty of the Program Chair to instruct the judge(s) in the definition of such a category.
  3. Maker Identification: The identity of the maker of any photograph should not be made known to the judge(s) until all judging is completed, even if the judge(s) asks. Silence should be maintained at all times during the judging and there should be no visible or audible reaction to any of the images as they are shown.
  4. Judging: Within each competition class, the best photographs are selected by the judge(s) and are then ranked. There must be a minimum of 4 entries by at least 2 different makers in order to conduct a competition. 25% of the entries shall receive awards. The Secretary will inform the judges of the number of awards for each competition category.
  5. Scoring: Within each competition, points are awarded as follows:
    • First Place…6 points
    • Second Place………4 points
    • Third Place..2 points
    • Honorable Mention..1 point
  6. Point Accumulation:
    1. Points are accumulated in each separate category/class. This total is used to determine the member’s class.
    2. Points are accumulated over all categories/classes and over time. These points are used in awarding plaques and star merit awards and for determining “Master” status.
  7. Tallying and Posting: After each competition, points for that competition and cumulative points for the year for each member are tallied and recorded by the Secretary. Cumulative points are published in the June issue of the NIH Camera Club Newsletter.

When there aren't enough entries in a category to hold a competition, the novice and advanced categories can be combined or the photographer can request to receive a critique of his(her) submissions from the judge without them actually being judged (place and points awarded).