it was judgment day today. But fortunately a benign one. The Latow photography guild in Burlington held a photo contest with a South African photo club. 60 photos, 30 from each club, were to be judged. I was one of the three judges, and had a great time tonight. I saw excellent, excellent work.

(Photo: Paul Sparrow/Latow)

And I observed a few interesting things.

First, that the status of work was incredibly high. Some beautiful, beautiful work. Mostly technically perfect.

Second, that the standard of Photoshop/Lightroom work in Burlington was very high. Higher than that in South Africa.

Third, that my judgment and that of the two other judges, highly experienced professionals, wee very very similar. Our grades were usually identical as far as I could see.

And fourth, and most interesting, was that whenever the picture was not perfect and could have been taken to the next level, it was usually a case of the photographer letting himself or herself off easily.  We all have a tendency to do this. The “yes but” phenomenon. Yes, but there wasn’t enough light. Yes, but I didn’t have enough time. Yes, but there were no clouds. Yes, but that car was in the background.

You must not do that. No one is  interested in the excuses. The only thing that matters is the end result. The photo. Nothing else matters. If there are no clouds in the sky, come back on a day when they are there. If there is not that of light, come back when the light is better!

This was your conscience speaking. Now, a beer and bed.