Want to know a bit more about the APA Awards judging process?
This year we launched a new submission system built by our developer And Then Some. The new site recognizes members, their level of membership, and made submission easy. APA members can log on to their account and view the images they submitted and the categories they entered.
After the close of the competition images were uploaded to Smarter Entry. A streamlined online judging platform. A customized version was created for APA.
APA Awards 2016 Categories
Adventure/Sports/Action
Architecture/Interiors
Beauty/Lifestyle
Celebrity/Musician
Conceptual/Altered
Documentary/Editorial
Fine Art/Personal
Portrait
Still LIfe/Food
Travel/Landscape
Emerging or Student
There are 21 industry professionals judging the APA Awards and they have been very engaged in the process. There are many incredible images that are submitted and deciding on only a few finalists is not easy.
In the first round the judges selected 15 images that best represent the category as they interpret it.
In the next round, the two judges for the category score their combines selection of images.
The combined scores help determine top contenders but is not the final result. Each pair of judges communicated with each other to discuss the selection and agree on the choice for winners and their placement. Sometimes this requires a certain amount of back and forth and reviewing earlier images.
The judging is blind, though we realize that the judges are from our industry and may recognize work by photographers they know or have worked with. We ask them to judge fairly and vote for work they feel best represents the category. A photographer can only win once in the competition (and can not win with an image that has won in any previous APA Awards)
Judges need to let us know if they or their agency or publication were involved with the work they are judging in any way (if there is any question, we can invite the other judges to weigh in on the selection).
Some of the judges easily agreed on their top pics and for some there were intense discussions. Multiple judges allows for a variety of prespectives. We greatly appreciate their passion and effort made in making their selection. It matters.
Winners will be notified the week of August 22. Winners will be publicly announced and posted on the APA site early September.
Looking forward to sharing the news!