Judging is where a club season is won or lost — not by the photographs, but by the members' trust in the process. Get this right and complaints disappear. Get it wrong and even brilliant images feel unfair. Here's what a decade of watching judging nights has taught us.
Should judges score out of 10 or 20?
Twenty gives more resolution — a judge who thinks image A is "just a bit better" than image B has a way to say it. But it also adds cognitive load: judges spend longer deciding whether something is a 16 or a 17.
Our recommendation: use 10 with half-points allowed (so scores are 8, 8.5, 9, 9.5, 10). You get 20-point resolution without the paralysis of a 20-point scale.
How do judges record scores efficiently?
Three formats work, in order of speed:
- Judge calls, secretary types. Fastest — but only if the secretary has a decent tool. Camera Club Score's Live Entry grid is designed for this: press Enter, jump to the next score, keep going.
- Judge on a tablet. Best for hybrid clubs. Slight learning curve for older judges.
- Judge on paper. Slow but reliable. Someone else has to transcribe afterwards.
Can scores be entered during judging?
Yes — this is how it should be done. Live entry means the judge sees the running total on-screen at the end, results are published instantly, and there's no risk of losing a paper sheet on the way to the treasurer's car.
How do we avoid duplicate scores?
Two habits: (1) every photographer has one row per image, so duplicates are visible instantly. (2) the running order is locked before judging starts, so nobody can accidentally add the same image twice mid-session.
How do we handle tied scores?
Three schools of thought:
- Both share the rank. "Joint 3rd" — most common, feels fair.
- Judge breaks the tie. Adds pressure to the judge but produces a clean league table.
- Count next season's competitions as tiebreakers. Only really works at the end-of-season league.
Camera Club Score defaults to "both share the rank" and shows a Tied chip next to the photographer's name so it's visible at a glance.
Should judges see previous scores?
Absolutely not during scoring. This is the single most important rule. A judge who's just given a 9 will unconsciously calibrate the next image against it — score drift is a real thing. Either hide previous scores from the judge's view, or run scoring blind and reveal at the end.
How do we produce judging reports?
A judging report is a PDF listing every entry with its score, placement, and the judge's name — printed and archived. In Camera Club Score this is a one-click export from the Results page.
How do we display results during judging?
Two options. The subtle one: a laptop on the scoring desk that shows the live grid. The showstopper: mirror the app on the projector for members to watch the leaderboard update in real-time. Judging becomes a bit theatrical — in a good way.
Try any of this with Camera Club Score. Free for camera clubs, no credit card, set up in two minutes.