Having judged at a number of photography conventions both in Canada, the US and abroad, I get to meet some of the most enthusiastic photographers and wonderful people in the industry. It’s always so rewarding to be on a judging panel where the judges are invited and often expected to make educational comments about why they scored a photograph a particular way and have an attendee in the audience feel like it was a valuable learning lesson despite having to possibly face a disappointing score. I often hear people say how much they enjoyed the process but it’s such a treat to receive thank you cards or emails affirming the experience was a good one even if they didn’t enter the competition or did but didn’t score the way they hoped or perhaps did better than expected. It’s all good in any case!
