I was in my first show last week and I was disappointed with the judging. First, there were no judges that were photographers. They were all sculptors, painters and crafts-people. Granted this is not a great start for judging photos but it was local and it was a start for me. Secondly, the shooter that one first was outstanding. His work was huge, sharp and of exotic locales full of color and fair composition. However it wasn't original. It was like he took it trying to re-create National Geographic shots. However they were flawless. Third, the person that got second did so with little effort. His images were very good but the presentation was horrid in my mind. The images were 5x7 at the largest and framed poorly. The "booth" was a cart of some kind with an umbrella attached. Fourth and most annoying to me was third place. This shooter had EXACTLY the same shot I did, and I mean EXACTLY. It was like he shot it over my shoulder. His presentation was framed where my version wasn't (it was a fill in for me, not my first choice submission, and only 1 of six submitted). His booth was very large but more "shabby sheik that stylish (IMHO). Perhaps what bothered me most was that he got third and I didn't even get an honorable mention. If the images had been of different subject I can understand, but these images were virtually identical! The only person to get an honorable mention had works that didn't even look like photographs. I think if they were presented here they would be placed in 2D or Mixed Medium. Now add to this that every person that walked past my booth swooned over some of my work. I only sold 5 pieces but I am proud of that. My goal was 10 but it was my first show. We are mostly all shooters here and I think some of you are 100 times better than the winners of this show. So I wanted to ask those whose opinion I trust and prefer, What makes an award-winning photo for you? Input needed! Magick Michael