We have been fortunate to have experienced significant growth in membership and participation in our club competitions in recent years and now have a very broad spread of photographic skills and experience, ranging from raw beginners to photographers who have been recognised at an international level, producing work that is an inspiration to us all. All our members receive gradings based on a broad criteria which includes assessment of a combination of experience level, consistency of competition results, demonstrated level of skill and a comparison with other club members with an equivalent skill level.
At present, there appears to be quite a large middle ground in our club, between those with basic levels of skills presently competing in our B grade and the group consistently placing at the top of the A Grade. This has led to quite a lot of reflection on our grading and the purpose of that process. While some would argue that competition should be completely “open”, as a committee we have formed the view that members have a better basis for comparison and development of their skills when competing with others at a comparable level of skill and experience.
With approximately two thirds of our members presently competing in A grade, while discussing the prospect of modifying our grading criteria, we briefly considered the creation of a “Masters” grade, however, we felt that the creation of an intermediate AB grade would be of more assistance to those in that large “middle ground” and would allow them also to compete more favourably in external competitions in “Non A Grade” divisions.
Some members from our current A grade have already indicated that they will be happy to move across to the new AB grade, however, to assist in the process of creating this new grade, our Grading Committee will be working overtime for the next couple of months to review all grades ready for the start of 2025.
If you have any concerns, or a strong desire to remain in the grade in which you are currently competing, please contact me (Ann) and we will give your request due consideration. Look forward to catching up with lots of you at upcoming meetings!
