2nd Singapore Young Photographer Award (SYPA) 2008

[fWord]

Anyway, I know this horse is dead but I shall beat it hard a few more times.

While I wasn't at the judging ceremony itself I think that perhaps it was the time limit itself that was screwed up. Not the process. Wouldn't it be best if there was a long and flexible time limit for something like this? And we actually need people who are genuinely passionate about photography to do the judging.

As one poster said, one or two of the judges were hardly interested with the judging.

Photography is not a 'see and forget' sort of thing. That's why we do photography isn't it? To see and capture for posterity.

That being said it's heartening to see that in SYPA 2008, the broad CS base has approved of the winners here, unlike in SYPA 2006 when there was much unhappiness around. Comparing the winners photos I liked the B&W set and feel it should have taken first, but it didn't.

And I find it hard to justify many of the others.

But then again that's just me. SYPA 2006 winners might want to shoot me down, and you can do it, but hey, I wasn't the judge. Just having my say.

Maybe they did the judging process in the open this time for transparency...was it a result of complaints about what happened last year? Maybe. Maybe not.

However with us now worrying how the process was done in a matter of hours, the committee could well revert to silent judging in the next competition. Then they are no longer up for scrutiny. They could do the same process in 3 hours and say it was done over a period of a week. :bsmilie:

This is one of those things in life. If you do, you're screwed. If you don't, you're just as dead.

 

[fWord]

yar, got nightmares.

Heheh...pun intended, I'd bet. See ya around and best of luck with your studies. I'm glad to be over that. Working life is better, IMO. Sure, you still suffer, but you get paid.

 

[haechoo]

Hey did anybody see my entry there today? Sprintist?

These are some of my entries.

Hmm...so no one saw my pictures?

 

[haechoo]

the last one.

 

[Andy Tay]

Anyway, I know this horse is dead but I shall beat it hard a few more times.

While I wasn't at the judging ceremony itself I think that perhaps it was the time limit itself that was screwed up. Not the process. Wouldn't it be best if there was a long and flexible time limit for something like this? And we actually need people who are genuinely passionate about photography to do the judging.

As one poster said, one or two of the judges were hardly interested with the judging.

Photography is not a 'see and forget' sort of thing. That's why we do photography isn't it? To see and capture for posterity.

That being said it's heartening to see that in SYPA 2008, the broad CS base has approved of the winners here, unlike in SYPA 2006 when there was much unhappiness around. Comparing the winners photos I liked the B&W set and feel it should have taken first, but it didn't.

And I find it hard to justify many of the others.

But then again that's just me. SYPA 2006 winners might want to shoot me down, and you can do it, but hey, I wasn't the judge. Just having my say.

Maybe they did the judging process in the open this time for transparency...was it a result of complaints about what happened last year? Maybe. Maybe not.

However with us now worrying how the process was done in a matter of hours, the committee could well revert to silent judging in the next competition. Then they are no longer up for scrutiny. They could do the same process in 3 hours and say it was done over a period of a week. :bsmilie:

This is one of those things in life. If you do, you're screwed. If you don't, you're just as dead.

Sat was the final round of judging. So the whole judging wasn't like just the 3-4hrs which everyone saw yesterday. The judges took the whole of Fri to narrow down the list to 211 entries which proceed to the final round of judging.

Good point there also. Judging by what's been said so far I find it even more surprising that most of the entries were already trashed before the judging day. Perhaps they did it on the spot...receive the prints, look quickly at it. If it's crap, into the trash it goes straight away, then no need to judge so many on the last day.

1st round of judging was on Fri, the system goes like this.
5 judges are shown a set of photos, they will vote for the set if it's to be advanced to the final round. The photos are then separated into 1 vote, 2 vote etc area. Plan is for only the 3votes and above to advance or to rejudge the 1 and 2 votes photos to bump up to 200 sets which we didn't need to do so as the 3-5votes had 211 sets.

Not good lah. I took it off the thread because no point having it here. Just that I need to look for other competitions now. This is a pity, because thus far the SYPA has had the broadest topic base and hence allowing more flexibility in the entries. Others I've seen are really specific. And unless you're a specialist in that area, you really don't stand a chance.

Wildlife photographer of the Year competition, for example. Those are breathtaking photos which unfortunately most Singaporeans will not be able to produce unless traveling abroad. We could attempt some zoo photos or Botanical Garden macros, but I doubt if it'd even be able to compete.

Well, you can check out this photo competition that Asia Geographic Magazine are doing. http://www.asiangeo.com/contest_awb.html Quite attractive prizes on offer I reckon. No cash prize thou. There's also the SAFRA Photographer of the Year contest coming soon. Similar to the SYPA in that you need to submit a set of 4 photos. Judged on the cohesiveness, creativity, and photographic aspects of the set. Held every 2 years, this will be the 9th edition of the competition.

Serious You got 1st most prob

Maybe I am inexperienced.

Ok Judging(biased):
1st: Every photo was like judged in 20seconds on average
2nd: Some of the judges weren't even paying attention, especially the lady on the right she just lied on the table, even before the photos were finish displaying, she pressed 1.
3rd: The architechure and the normal competition photos weren't judge seperately, so it kinda is biased in a sense that if i had good architecture shots i still couldn't compete because it was all judged by the initial 1st impression of the judges(which some was lousy)

But like i said earlier i may be too inexperience.

BTW they already did preliminary sieving of the 900 entries and took out about 250. (another point)

1) There was no time limit set on the judges. And most of the photo competitions judging that I saw was about the same format/time. Not that I saw THAT many judging before. Slightly more than 10. :sweatsm:

2) Bro, dun scare me. There was no female judge among the 5 judges leh. From audience POV, the judge on the right is Mr Ken Seet. To the left is Mr Darren Soh.
Btw, list of judges:
1. Mr Kwek Leng Joo, Managing Director, City Developments Ltd
2. Dr. Graeme Guy, President, Nature Photographic Society (Singapore)
3. Mr Lee Tiah Khee, Chief Photographer, Lianhe Zaobao
4. Mr Ken Seet, Singapore Renown Photographer
5. Mr Darren Soh, Singapore Renown Photographer

Btw, Mr Kwek is a avid photographer and supporter of the local photography scene. So he's definitely qualified to judge in case you guys are wondering if a MD from CDL knows anything abt photography. =)

3) It's because you're eligible for both SYPA and architecture. If the organiser separate the architecture sets, you're not judge on same level as the SYPA sets with perhaps more emphasis on the architecture. Subconsciously the judges might pay more attention to the architecture photos. Uneven judging. I dont know... Will participants rather to go for the architecture prize which is S$2500 as compared to SYPA's S$5000?

Anyway from my POV, the architecture comp dun mean you have 2 gd photos of arch you can win. You're still judged on the whole set. So the eventual winner for arch was selected among the top 20+ entries. But this is only my POV. No right, no wrong.

Wow...3 hours and 5000+ photos...so the winners already set? What about the 'shortlisting' and interviews? Imagine sitting in a room under the scrutiny of a panel of judges. I think it was a misfortune to be unable to attend the judging process...can't even find out what 'works' and what doesn't.

I guess for my replies above, by now you'll know that it's not 5000+ photos under 4hrs. =) From my limited few experiences of judging process, if photos are judged as a set, variety of shots is 1 thing that they look out for.


I'm here to clear some doubts and offer my POV. Each have their views and there's no strict wrong and right. I'm just helping out with collection of photos and judging venue. So any arrow dun fly here. :sweat: Praises to all participants for ya enthusiasm and effort put in.

 

[white5tar]

Hmm...so no one saw my pictures?

how u get to shoot all the empty cartridges??

 

[fidophoto]

so guys?who is the overall winner?
is it official its nightmare?

did anyone saw mine on sat?

 

[oneofakind]

has anybody been contacted?

 

[fWord]

Well, you can check out this photo competition that Asia Geographic Magazine are doing. http://www.asiangeo.com/contest_awb.html Quite attractive prizes on offer I reckon. No cash prize thou. There's also the SAFRA Photographer of the Year contest coming soon. Similar to the SYPA in that you need to submit a set of 4 photos. Judged on the cohesiveness, creativity, and photographic aspects of the set. Held every 2 years, this will be the 9th edition of the competition.

I guess for my replies above, by now you'll know that it's not 5000+ photos under 4hrs. =) From my limited few experiences of judging process, if photos are judged as a set, variety of shots is 1 thing that they look out for.


I'm here to clear some doubts and offer my POV. Each have their views and there's no strict wrong and right. I'm just helping out with collection of photos and judging venue. So any arrow dun fly here. :sweat: Praises to all participants for ya enthusiasm and effort put in.

I will have my eyes open for the competitions that you cited. Any opportunity is good. Ultimately I'm not after the money so the lack of cash prizes doesn't trouble me. Personally, winning a competition in itself will give some purpose to my hobby. Until that happens I'm simply seen as a gear freak and nobody will take me seriously.

Well, you know, like the guy who will carry a big lens around just to compensate for some short comings, and ultimately cannot even produce a prize-winning photo with the said gear. :think: Sometimes I even consider getting rid of all the SLR gear and going to a P&S. No point having the gear and cannot produce the photos, right? But then again, photography is really a bit of both.

With the other competitions my concern is that it'd be for people residing in Singapore only. In that aspect a Singaporean like myself who's working in Australia may not qualify. With the SYPA I specifically emailed with such an enquiry, and thankfully I was told that I could still participate.

Variety in shots...maybe that's why mine CMI. All in landscape orientation :bsmilie:

 

[haechoo]

how u get to shoot all the empty cartridges??

Shot the cartridges at the Cu Chi Tunnels firing range, in Vietnam, where tourists get to try an M16 for US$1/bullet. Haha...waste money...so i just wear the ear muffs and shot the empty cartridges.

 

[fWord]

Shot the cartridges at the Cu Chi Tunnels firing range, in Vietnam, where tourists get to try an M16 for US$1/bullet. Haha...waste money...so i just wear the ear muffs and shot the empty cartridges.

No kidding...if I were there I'd sit outside the firing range and buy a nice ice-cream for US$1. :bsmilie: That's really quite costly. In the days when I was very young I always wanted to fire a gun and have some bullets in my hand.

In the end I had my chance, courtesy of NS. All expenses paid 'holiday tekan camp' for 2 years.

 

[labla]

Sat was the final round of judging. So the whole judging wasn't like just the 3-4hrs which everyone saw yesterday. The judges took the whole of Fri to narrow down the list to 211 entries which proceed to the final round of judging.



1st round of judging was on Fri, the system goes like this.
5 judges are shown a set of photos, they will vote for the set if it's to be advanced to the final round. The photos are then separated into 1 vote, 2 vote etc area. Plan is for only the 3votes and above to advance or to rejudge the 1 and 2 votes photos to bump up to 200 sets which we didn't need to do so as the 3-5votes had 211 sets.



Well, you can check out this photo competition that Asia Geographic Magazine are doing. http://www.asiangeo.com/contest_awb.html Quite attractive prizes on offer I reckon. No cash prize thou. There's also the SAFRA Photographer of the Year contest coming soon. Similar to the SYPA in that you need to submit a set of 4 photos. Judged on the cohesiveness, creativity, and photographic aspects of the set. Held every 2 years, this will be the 9th edition of the competition.



1) There was no time limit set on the judges. And most of the photo competitions judging that I saw was about the same format/time. Not that I saw THAT many judging before. Slightly more than 10. :sweatsm:

2) Bro, dun scare me. There was no female judge among the 5 judges leh. From audience POV, the judge on the right is Mr Ken Seet. To the left is Mr Darren Soh.
Btw, list of judges:
1. Mr Kwek Leng Joo, Managing Director, City Developments Ltd
2. Dr. Graeme Guy, President, Nature Photographic Society (Singapore)
3. Mr Lee Tiah Khee, Chief Photographer, Lianhe Zaobao
4. Mr Ken Seet, Singapore Renown Photographer
5. Mr Darren Soh, Singapore Renown Photographer

Btw, Mr Kwek is a avid photographer and supporter of the local photography scene. So he's definitely qualified to judge in case you guys are wondering if a MD from CDL knows anything abt photography. =)

3) It's because you're eligible for both SYPA and architecture. If the organiser separate the architecture sets, you're not judge on same level as the SYPA sets with perhaps more emphasis on the architecture. Subconsciously the judges might pay more attention to the architecture photos. Uneven judging. I dont know... Will participants rather to go for the architecture prize which is S$2500 as compared to SYPA's S$5000?

Anyway from my POV, the architecture comp dun mean you have 2 gd photos of arch you can win. You're still judged on the whole set. So the eventual winner for arch was selected among the top 20+ entries. But this is only my POV. No right, no wrong.



I guess for my replies above, by now you'll know that it's not 5000+ photos under 4hrs. =) From my limited few experiences of judging process, if photos are judged as a set, variety of shots is 1 thing that they look out for.


I'm here to clear some doubts and offer my POV. Each have their views and there's no strict wrong and right. I'm just helping out with collection of photos and judging venue. So any arrow dun fly here. :sweat: Praises to all participants for ya enthusiasm and effort put in.

Hi Andy not shooting anyone just abit shocked with the judging and if there isn't a female then i gotta say that the guy seriously looked like a female

Oh ya Andy can get back photos anot ar?

 

[alvelyn]

Hi Andy not shooting anyone just abit shocked with the judging and if there isn't a female then i gotta say that the guy seriously looked like a female

Oh ya Andy can get back photos anot ar?

yeeeah mannn sir, any chances?

 

[SolBadGuy]

Hmm, lunas, night86mare n of course sprintist bro, and whoever's gonna meet up, let me know k? i'm interested to meet you guys as well. i had to give this a miss cos of the untimely injury i suffered. in the end, didn't have the time to go down n submit in time. :bheart:

no more chances alr, im turning 25 next yr, n the next SYPA will be 2 yrs from now. :cry:

really look forward to meeting you guys up.

 

[scarlet-sundress]

How will the shortlisted participants be notified? email or by phone? will it be soon?

Oh, did anyone see these photos during judging?

 

[haechoo]

No kidding...if I were there I'd sit outside the firing range and buy a nice ice-cream for US$1. :bsmilie: That's really quite costly. In the days when I was very young I always wanted to fire a gun and have some bullets in my hand.

In the end I had my chance, courtesy of NS. All expenses paid 'holiday tekan camp' for 2 years.

Haha! Exactly why i din want to shoot. Haha...such a waste of money man...cheap thrill only lor!
Looking forward to knowing the results for SYPA man...damn exciting.

 

[knpan]

when will the results be out
?

I am confused, some say they are out, soem say they arent.