The goal of the APJA Training Syllabus is to deliver the knowledge and skills required for critiquing photographic images, to photographers who wish to become APJA-accredited judges.
Further, the training is designed to equip judges with the tools to provide effective and practical feedback when judging club competitions.
The courses consist of Introduction to Judging and Image Evaluation, Core Training and Advanced Training. There are strongly recommended prerequisites.
Course material is delivered through live, online sessions. Participants will complete practical assignments to reinforce their learning.
The delivery schedule of training is outlined in the APJA training calendar.
The following outline summarises the focus of training provided at each level.
Introduction to Judging and Image Evaluation
A standalone course without any entry requirements.
Introduction to Judging is a 6 hour course conducted over 3 evenings.
Session 1:
- Why learn to evaluate an image
- The difference between Image Evaluation and Judging
- What Clubs require from judges and how the judging system works
- What judges look for in an image
- Assessing an image
Session 2:
- Bias in judging
- Giving feedback with the Commend - Recommend - Compliment (CRC) method
- Aesthetics in photography
- Introduction to practical judging
- Writing your comments
- Allocation of homework
Session 3:
- Review of scores given
- Presenting your comments
- General discussion about the images
- Course review and discussion
Core Training
Recommended prerequisites: Introduction to Judging, Panel Judging or Image Evaluation.
Core Training is a 6 hour course conducted over 3 evenings.
Session 1:
- How to apply the CRC method of critiquing and coaching
- The importance of Topic definitions and Club instructions
- Assessing all parts of an image
- Scoring - addressing different scoring methods. Out of 15; Highly Commended, Commended and Merit; First, Second and Third places.
- Ethics and copyright law in photography
Session 2:
- Aesthetics - Art elements, Design principles and Composition
- How to write concise comments using CRC
- How to judge via club software and via Zoom
- An introduction to Public Speaking
- Homework component: On evening 2, you will be given some images to suit a topic & definition. You will be and asked to evaluate, score and comment on them, using the CRC method in your comments. You will present your scores and comments next week.
Session 3:
- Homework component: Each student will be asked for their scores and to give a comment on one or two images
- How did an experienced judge score and comment?
- Open discussion on the images judged and course review and general discussion
Advanced Training
Recommended prerequisite: Core Training.
Advanced Training is an 4 hour course conducted over 2 evenings.
Topics in this course change each year, below is an example:
- Advanced Aesthetics
- The impact of AI in photography
- Experienced speakers on a selected genres - these will change each year
General discussion on issues faced by judges and how to deal with them.
