Likes or Dislikes

So what is the important elements in an image to possibly make it an award winning image, good question.
Lets see if I can cover a few of the likes and dislikes I have as a judge. I hope these do not come over as prejudices and biases.

 Pet hate for me is DUST SPOTS, I hate seeing these in an image and I will always mark an image down in a competition, as I see this as a lack of respect for your image, is it not your job as the author to ensure the image is the best it can be when you send it out into the world, all the pixels in your image are your responsibility. Most software, even the free ones have the option to remove spots whither theses are on the sensor or the lens.

 One thing I always like to see in a image is a story, or as I often refer to it as Gesture or Impact, something in the image that smacks you in the face, holds my attention. Have you used the elements in the image to control my journey through the image. 

If photographing something done many times before have you added your own essence to the scene. To make it new and refreshing interpretation of the scene.