DPAGB Success for Ross McKelvey
27th November 2011
Report from Ross McKelvey re DPAGB Award
On Saturday 26th November, I was attempting the DPAGB award at Llanberis, N.Wales. The DPAGB award involves 15 individual prints being scored (individually) by a panel of 6 judges. The standard is that of 'Open Exhibition Photography' - and the range of scores is from 2 to 5. Technically, 30 is the highest possible score but in reality, 24 or 25 is normally the highest score awarded. (On the day, there were no more than 6 prints which scored higher, with one getting an incredible 29 points).
The Judges are notoriously strict with the marks - more often than not, their choice is either '2' for a vote against, or '4' being a definite vote in favour. They only hit the 3 button if they believe it is 'very close' to the standard, but not quite hitting the mark.
The pass mark is 300 points, which requires an average of 20 points per print. I started well, with my first 5 prints being scored 24, 22, 21, 24 and 17 to be '8' marks above the standard. The next 5 prints were scored 23, 22, 21, 15 and 20, to be '9' marks above the average required. Things then started to go downhill, with a print being scored 14, followed by a 17 - which immediately wiped out the 9 point 'cushion.' With 3 prints left, I was right on the mark, needing to score 60 points in order to hit the finish line.
The first of the 3 scored 24, and the next scored 21, which required 15 points from the last image - one which I knew (from the pattern of marking up to that point) was unlikely to score well. It scored 16 - to give a total of 301 points, and a huge sigh of relief.
I would recommend anyone interested in this type of award to consider putting a panel in for either the CPAGB (which requires 10 prints judged to the standard of 'good club photography') or the DPAGB (which requires 15 prints judged to the standard of 'Open Exhibition Photography).' There is a very definite difference in standard between the two which was evident from the number of 12 points which were awarded - in other words, all 6 judges unanimously hit the lowest button - 2. In the DPAGB section, there were only 16 successful applicants, from an overall entry of approximately 38.
The only downside for me, was the fact that my lowest scoring print was in fact my most successful print! It had won a PAGB Gold medal, and had also scored 12 out of 15 at the PAGB Print Championships in October. For the same print to score 14 out of 30 was a bit of a blow, and I have to admit, difficult to accept. But it shows that with the scoring system as outlined above, if the judges do not like an image, they will not hesitate to hit the '2' button!! In order to compensate for a 14, you need a 26 point image to balance things out - which was always outside my expectation. But just as I never expected anything of mine to score 26, I certainly did not expect anything to score 14 - particularly not an image which had won a PAGB Gold Medal, and scored above average at the PAGB Print Championships.
The Northern Ireland Photographic Association is hosting these PAGB Awards in November 2012, and in anticipation of strong local interest, there is a workshop at Queens University on Saturday 3 December 2011. If anyone wishes to attend, please contact your NIPA Representative or Club Officer.
Ross McKelvey ARPS DPAGB
;-)
On Saturday 26th November, I was attempting the DPAGB award at Llanberis, N.Wales. The DPAGB award involves 15 individual prints being scored (individually) by a panel of 6 judges. The standard is that of 'Open Exhibition Photography' - and the range of scores is from 2 to 5. Technically, 30 is the highest possible score but in reality, 24 or 25 is normally the highest score awarded. (On the day, there were no more than 6 prints which scored higher, with one getting an incredible 29 points).
The Judges are notoriously strict with the marks - more often than not, their choice is either '2' for a vote against, or '4' being a definite vote in favour. They only hit the 3 button if they believe it is 'very close' to the standard, but not quite hitting the mark.
The pass mark is 300 points, which requires an average of 20 points per print. I started well, with my first 5 prints being scored 24, 22, 21, 24 and 17 to be '8' marks above the standard. The next 5 prints were scored 23, 22, 21, 15 and 20, to be '9' marks above the average required. Things then started to go downhill, with a print being scored 14, followed by a 17 - which immediately wiped out the 9 point 'cushion.' With 3 prints left, I was right on the mark, needing to score 60 points in order to hit the finish line.
The first of the 3 scored 24, and the next scored 21, which required 15 points from the last image - one which I knew (from the pattern of marking up to that point) was unlikely to score well. It scored 16 - to give a total of 301 points, and a huge sigh of relief.
I would recommend anyone interested in this type of award to consider putting a panel in for either the CPAGB (which requires 10 prints judged to the standard of 'good club photography') or the DPAGB (which requires 15 prints judged to the standard of 'Open Exhibition Photography).' There is a very definite difference in standard between the two which was evident from the number of 12 points which were awarded - in other words, all 6 judges unanimously hit the lowest button - 2. In the DPAGB section, there were only 16 successful applicants, from an overall entry of approximately 38.
The only downside for me, was the fact that my lowest scoring print was in fact my most successful print! It had won a PAGB Gold medal, and had also scored 12 out of 15 at the PAGB Print Championships in October. For the same print to score 14 out of 30 was a bit of a blow, and I have to admit, difficult to accept. But it shows that with the scoring system as outlined above, if the judges do not like an image, they will not hesitate to hit the '2' button!! In order to compensate for a 14, you need a 26 point image to balance things out - which was always outside my expectation. But just as I never expected anything of mine to score 26, I certainly did not expect anything to score 14 - particularly not an image which had won a PAGB Gold Medal, and scored above average at the PAGB Print Championships.
The Northern Ireland Photographic Association is hosting these PAGB Awards in November 2012, and in anticipation of strong local interest, there is a workshop at Queens University on Saturday 3 December 2011. If anyone wishes to attend, please contact your NIPA Representative or Club Officer.
Ross McKelvey ARPS DPAGB
;-)
