Online koi photo contest COMMENTS

[jnorth]

Please feel free to post any comments about the koi in the contest in this thread. Comments not about the koi will be deleted. Thanks.

[Nancy M.]

Some really nice fish are being entered. I hope we get to see many more, what a great way to learn and have fun at the same time.

[JasPR]

what are the criteria for picking a winner in a photo contest? What will the judge be looking for and how will he evaluate the fish? JR

[BobWinkler]

Hopefully a picture with some glare in it

[JasPR]

Morning Bob. Having done a few photo contests ( the first one ever, I believe, was on koivet if you recall and shiromuji was the showchairman. Steve and I were the koi judges as I recall? ) and a few KOI USA judging contests, there is a world of difference between a photo contest and a koi show. Really the judging criteria is as different as breeder judging ( where you pick the best genetics) and amateur show judging (where you pick the fish closest to the standards).

Honestly, I think a photo contest can only be as educational as the criteria set. IMHO

JR

[Bob Winkler]

Good points JR I am sure the judge and/or JNorth might make public how they are judging. As you say, picture judging and real world judging can vary by lots of factors, not the least of which is "where the judge is coming from"...ie breeder, hobbyist, dealer, etc...

[kntry]

When choosing which fish I wanted to enter, I was wondering if they would be judged for the time of the pic or for future potential.

Either way, it's going to be educational and fun.

[aquitori]

I think the only thing we can judge from the pics are conformation and pattern depending on the pics...Anyways, it will be nice to see if Burt adds notes to his selection.

[jnorth]

Quote: Originally Posted by JasPR Morning Bob. Having done a few photo contests ( the first one ever, I believe, was on koivet if you recall and shiromuji was the showchairman. Steve and I were the koi judges as I recall? ) and a few KOI USA judging contests, there is a world of difference between a photo contest and a koi show. Really the judging criteria is as different as breeder judging ( where you pick the best genetics) and amateur show judging (where you pick the fish closest to the standards). Honestly, I think a photo contest can only be as educational as the criteria set. IMHO JR

Sorry I thought I wrote a response to this earlier. The judge will set his own criteria. Whatever he wants basically. The contest is more about people posting comments on each others koi so others can learn. So the contest part is secondary, more a of a way to get a group of photos for a more focused study. Hence the prizes are nice but not worth cheating or fighting over.

[Lam Nguyen]

First of all, please allow me to be the first to apologize for any tension/argument that I may have caused among the KB family. My whole intention for suggesting such an online judging event in the first place is several folds: (1) to give those who are new to the hobby or those who do not have the opportunity to attend live shows a chance to learn about conformation, pattern, depth/thickness pigmentation, and other criteria that judges use; (2) for fellow KBers to showcase their koi and see what fellow KBers have to say about them; (3) to give us something to do during the winter months; (4) to suggest possibly adding another media type to online judging by the use of video clips. While I understand that judging from pictures is nowhere close to live judging, it sure as heck beats not judging at all.

With all this said, I believe that it's not important who the judge is or what the prizes are. I wanted to have this online event be as close to a live show as possible, and in a live show, an entrant does not choose who the judges are. Rather, it's up to the show chairperson (in this case, Jim) and the show committee. Also, similar to a live show, all koi will be judged based on today rather than the potential future development. I just simply wanted all of us to have a chance to comment on each others koi and to see how close we get to the judge's selection and to learn. I do admit that I am verrrrrryyyy weak at judging conformation and good shiroji. Therefore, I was hoping that this event will give me an opportunity to continue to learn and to hear from not just the head judge himself, but also from those such as James Reilly, Larry Gill, Jim North, Dick Benbow, Bob Winkler, Steve Childers, Tonio, and others who frequently post in this forum who I have not had a chance to meet or know. While these individuals do not have the final saying in the placement of the entree, I strongly believe that they can contribute to this event by giving us their input and I strongly encourage them to do so.

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Edited 2/5/08 @ 1630

So far, these are the koi that really stood out:

Steve Height's shiro - post #3
Jim North's tancho kohaku - post #5
Khung's kohaku - post #10
BNKoi kohaku - post #11
Bob Winkler's sandan maruten kohaku - post #18
Minhla's Sanke #19
Jan T's Marudo sandan maruten kohaku - post #20
Mike M's kohaku #22