2008 CWAS David Malin Awards

[Screwdriverone (Chris)]

Hi All,

After reading all the posts in this thread I am not sure if the real purpose or tradition of the "David Malin Awards" has been forgotten? That is, if I understand the competition correctly (correct me if I am wrong).

Surely these awards are won by astrophotographs taken by people and submitted to the competition to be personally judged by: wait for it: Dr David Malin!?

If Dr Malin decided that a picture of a sparkler attached to a tree by a cable tie in front of a night sky was good enough to win the competition, surely isnt that enough?

I always thought that a competition was just that, a contest where the end result is looked at by a judge and then that judge makes a subjective decision, end of story.

Whilst I can understand the reasoning behind all points of view here, I dont think it should come down to comparison of equipment, processing, difficulty or who has the bigger setup or bank balance to support such photos. If the issue is what is professional or semi-pro compared to owner or renter etc, what does that matter? Doesn't overclassification just make the whole process too complicated, clinical and robotic?

I am pretty sure that with some experimentation and practice, I could probably mount my 35year old SLR film camera on a tripod, take a long exposure of the night sky and enter the contest with a photo that might just win a prize in the contest....

If Dr David Malin liked the photo, that is.........

Just my thoughts.

Chris

[skeltz (Rob)]

Yes exactly............................ ...no less or more need be said
rob

[anthony.tony]

Remember despite all the Pro's and Con's about how Images should be judged and the Types of Categories.The Winners Images Travel from Parkes to Mount Stromlo - Sydney Observatory and many other places to viewed by the general Public .That's got to be good Advertising for the Winners.Plus David Malin Would be the Best Astrophotographer of his time so it should be considered an Honour to have David judge and choose your image in this competition.David Malin pioneered a lot of the processing Techniques we use today.Reguard's Tony

[Rob_K]

Yes, I think I agree that ultimately it should be the photo, and the last thing I’d like to see is a ‘level playing field’ where through the creation of obscure categories my sad photos had as much chance of picking up an award or honourable mention as, say, Strongmanmike’s. A comp is a comp and the organisers set the rules. You enter or you don’t. The comp will live or die as Australia’s premier amateur astrophotography awards according to the strength of the entries, which is something the organisers do need to be aware of in setting the rules. But it seems to be doing pretty well at the moment, and time will tell as to its continued ranking.

I must say I was a bit surprised to learn that Dr Malin is the sole judge (for some reason I thought the awards were judged by a panel and named in honour of Dr Malin), but again, even if it is just ‘excellence’ seen through the eyes of one man, so be it.

Well done to all the winners & honourable mentions!

Cheers -