The Victorian Association of Photographic Societies (VAPS) maintains a directory of suitably qualified judges available for judging club competitions. This includes both individuals and club judging panels.
Communication between the club and the judge
Prior to accepting the judging assignment the club and the judge should have a discussion on what the club expects and what the judge requires. This includes how much time the judge requires to view, critique and write up the critique of the images, whether the judge wishes to show some of his/her own work and whether the judge is prepared to manipulate any members’ images for education purposes with, of course, the permission of the member/s.
Some judges are also available to give lectures on various topics and some will/will not undertake cold judging.
Communication is the key to avoid any misunderstanding.
Training
All Judges have undertaken at least initial training hosted by clubs, VAPS and in recent years by the Australian Photographic Judges Association (APJA).
The APJA training consists of 6 courses (either 1 full day attendance or 3x2hr online sessions) and judges who complete these courses, together with additional assessment criteria, may seek accreditation.
There are 6 accreditation Levels:
Novice – NAPJA
Intern – IAPJA
Licentiate – LAPJA
Associate – AAPJA
Fellow – FAPJA
Master – MAPJA