Judging Koi indoors.....

[schildkoi]

OKC was a great example of some of the points I was trying to make. The GC, although thick beni was persimmon and presented with a much lighter (almost washed out effect) while another Kohaku (previous GC at Dallas last year...also D&G's) has a more intense beni but still unfinished. This gave this Koi a "modelled effect" and the judges had to look closely just not to down grade her due to an appearance of lumpiness (when in effect she wasn't). In the end though, the lighter persimmon Koi took the day, the judges NOT "falling for" the lighter intensity/thin beni misconception that many folks fall for.

Steve

[RayJordan]

When I am judging a show one of the 1st things I do when I get to the show site on Sunday morning is walk around and look for koi that have changed from the day before. A few will look better - some will look worse than the day before. Sometimes a decision or two might have changed if show judged on Sunday morning vs Saturday morning. I like to point these changes out when doing a judges talk on Sunday morning. This is a part of koi shows that is difficult to control. Koi can spawn at shows and the poor water conditions that occur can effect how koi appear.

Tip - If you buy a shiro utsuri to take to shows be sure to place in a blue tub with a airstone at the dealers and leave for awhile to see if the sumi starts to fade or the white starts to pink before you buy. Also try to take shiro utsuri's to shows on Friday to let them adjust to the changes before judging.

[carolyn swanson]

At the San Diego show this year, they had supplemental lighting used to judge. This was in response, I believe, to complaints the previous year about the colors of the kohaku.

[Bern]

Given a preference I choose outdoor shows even if it means judging in the rain, the fish look better in natural light.

But for judging - as long as the condidtions, whatever they are are the same for all koi then it is not a problem. As Steve says ' a judge knows the difference between intensity and thickness'

Regarding shiros. Something I have witnessed when working on shows is that the lighter the vat the more lesser quality utsuri sumi will fade. There are rigid polypropelene vats over here that are a paler blue than the standard collapsable vats (for vats read tanks) and they are guaranteed to upset shiro and showa.
However, higher quality koi dont seem to be affected. I've seen shiros sharing the same vat where one has faded and the other hasn't.

rgds BERN