Competition Rules

Huntington Camera Club

(Revised August 2008)  

Print a copy here

I. CLASSES

Masters Class – Those who have, in previous years of club competition, established photographic skills in a specific category superior to Class A workers, or, met the requirements of II below. 

Class A – Those who have, in previous years of club competition, established photographic skills in a specific category superior to Class B workers, or, met the requirements of II below. 

Class B – All others.

The Competition Chairperson may, with the approval of the Executive Board, combine classes if in their judgment there are not enough members in a class. If a category does not have all 3 classes, the competition chairperson may request approval from the Executive Board to create a new class when the number of members justifies the expansion.

 

II. ELIGIBILITY AND CLASS ASSIGNMENT

A. Only those members whose dues are paid for the year may compete. Payment must be made to the Treasurer on or before the competition date. 

B. New or returning members will be assigned to Class B unless they have previously competed in a higher class at this or another club, in which case they must, prior to the first entered competition, submit a sampling of images for the desired category for evaluation. The Competition Chairperson will select a committee in the category, which will determine in which class the member should enter.

C. For the club competition year 2008-2009, the Digital Projected Images category will have no classification distinctions.  Everyone will compete in the same class. (see “Annual Awards” (VII-M-7)

D. No change in class may be made during the competition year. 

E. Once having competed in Masters or Class A, a member may not compete in a lower class, even if the member has not entered a competition for a period of time. If a class is eliminated, the member retains that designation in the event it is ever re-instated.

F. The Competition Chairperson will review the standing of the competitors at the end of the competition year and, at his/her discretion, move the winners in each class to the next higher class. The Competition Chairperson and/or his/her designees may review any other member and determine whether or not that member is moved up to the next class. 

G. The Class A and B first place winners must move up to the next level. In case of a tie in A or B, all those that tied must move up to the next level. 

 

III. ENTRY CATEGORIES

A. Black & White Prints – Black & White prints may be either mono-chromatic or have one additional color. The color may be an overall tint (such as sepia) or locally applied (a yellow sun). If the print contains more than one color or more than one color is added (such as in hand coloring) then the print must be entered as a color print. Prints may be made by any means including conventional paper and chemicals, Polaroid's, inkjet, laser or dye sublimation printers, etc., however, they must have originated in a light sensitive medium (see IV below). 

B. Color Prints – Prints which contain multiple colors, including mono-chrome with more than one added color. Prints may be made by any means including conventional paper and chemicals, Polaroid's, inkjet, laser or dye sublimation printers, etc., however, they must have originated in a light sensitive medium (see IV below). 

C. Slides – This category to be replaced by a new category called “Projected Images”.  It will be a digitally projected image category and will require entries to be digitized.  Members can convert their slides and other images to digital form and prepare them for entry in this category.  They may be either monochrome or color.

D. Digital Projected Images-  This category replaces the Slides category.  Images may be either monochrome or color.  The images will be projected using a digital projector and, therefore, entries must be formatted and sized appropriately.  See separate rules on format, size and naming convention located elsewhere on the website.

 

IV. ORIGINAL WORK

All work submitted must be the maker’s original photography. Copies of other two-dimensional art or the use of existing digital images created by another are NOT permitted unless the maker has created a distinctly original work from it. All work must originally have been created PHOTOGRAPHICALLY by the maker. That is, the original image must have been captured by any means such as a conventional film camera, pinhole camera, digital camera, etc., as long as the medium is sensitive to light. 

The original photograph may be manipulated in any way, such as hand copying, spot toning (retouching) burning, dodging, bleaching, distorting, air brushing, painting, etc., either by hand, mechanically or in a computer, provided such manipulations are under the direct supervision of the member. 

The original photograph may be combined with others taken by the member by sandwiching, montaging, pasting, etc., either mechanically or in a computer, provided the combining is under the direct supervision of the member and every element added to the photograph was created by the member.

As an organization of amateur photographers, it is our intention to assist, strengthen and refine the techniques employed in seeing, capturing and presenting our images.  We, in the body of these rules, repeatedly mention that the images presented for competition are the creation and generation by the individual.

 

V. SPECIFICATIONS FOR ENTRIES.

A. All entries must be registered on the Web by using our web-based competition entry form.

            1. All electronic entry rules must be followed.  The major rules are highlighted below.

2. Deadline for submission is 8:00 pm the Sunday preceding the competition date.

3. Projected images must be uploaded employing all digital formatting requirements.

4. When entering prints, both black & white and color, the prints must be submitted by hand carrying them to the competition.  The label data (title) must also be entered into the competition entry form accessible on the web.

5. Entry data and submission of digital images which fail to meet the deadline time will not be accepted.

B. Prints

1. All prints must be mounted on sturdy material capable of standing unaided in a print display box. 

2. Prints may be horizontal or vertical. The print must be a minimum of 5x7 to a maximum of 16x20. The mount may be any size as long as it fits in the club’s display box, but not more than 16x20 inches. 

3. Prints must be two-dimensional unframed, with nothing laid over the printed surface. No prints are to be mounted on wood or in any manner which might damage other prints (above or below) when placed in a stack. This particularly applies to glue, tape or metal clips. Prints so mounted will be rejected at the sole discretion of the Competition representative. 

C. Projected Images

1. Images must be formatted as .JPG.

2. Images must be sized to less than or equal to 750 pixels along the maximum dimension so as not exceed projector and software maximum resolution.

3. File size of images must not exceed 750KB since they are uploaded to the website using standard web software that typically limits file size.

4. Names should not exceed 31 characters including spaces, and all special characters should be avoided.  

 

VI. MARKING PRINTS AND PROJECTED IMAGES.

A. Prints

1. If your print is lacking an HCC Label, the maker must draw on the back of each mounted print, a sizable and clearly visible arrow, pointing to the top of the print. 

2. A club competition sticker (HCC Label) or facsimile, with the following required information: Title, Photographer’s name, Competition Date, Class, Make-up if applicable), must be affixed near the upper right-hand corner on the back of the mount. 

B. Projected Images

1. No special markings are required.  All file size and naming conventions must be followed as previously mentioned in these rules and detailed on the website.

 

 

VII. MONTHLY COMPETITIONS

A. A club year will consist of nine monthly competitions, September through May. 

B. All printed entries, which have been registered as required in section V above, must be received no later than 15 minutes prior to the announced start of the meeting on competition night to be eligible for judging. Late entries shall be accepted at the discretion of the Competition Chairperson.  Photographs which have not been registered as required in section V will not be accepted for competition that night.

C. Each member may submit two entries in each category. Should a member submit only one entry in a category such single entry shall constitute a full entry. The other may not be "made-up" later. 

D. Members who miss one or more monthly competitions, or join later in the club year, may make-up only one missed entry for each of the missed months. Only one make-up entry in each category may be submitted in any month. Make-ups are limited to a total of three per category for the club year. Make-ups must be clearly marked on the print with an "MU" plus the month being made up.  These markings should agree with the electronic (web based) entry form information.

E. If a member has a situation that is considered extreme or unusual in nature, which has caused them to miss at least 4 competitions in any club year, they may petition the Board for more than 3 make-ups. (Note: This provision will generally only be granted in cases of severe hardship). 

F. Scoring for all images at a competition will range from 5 to 9.

G. Ribbons will be awarded for each entry that received a score of 8 or 9. Only  “B” workers will receive ribbons. A– and - Masters will have to sign up to receive them.  “B” workers may elect not to receive ribbons if they so desire.

H. An entry which receives a score of 7 or less may be re-entered in subsequent competitions.   Modifications or rework on an entry is permissible.

I. Any entry which receives a score or 8 or 9 in a monthly competition may not be re-entered in the same or later year, regardless of variations or changes made. 

J. No print or digital image previously entered in another club’s competition may be entered here unless it received a score less than 8. 

K. Members need not be present to have their work judged. 

L. Non-compliance with any entry rule will result in rejection or disqualification of the entry. The Competition Chairperson or his designee will be the sole judge of acceptability on competition nights. 

M. Annual Awards

1. The member’s highest score from each monthly competition will be totaled to arrive at a cumulative score for each category.

2. First, second and third place awards will be presented at the annual awards meeting. No award will be made if a member receives a cumulative score of less than 64 points.

3. There will be no award for any category in which there were not three members competing in at least four monthly competitions.

4. A separate award will be made for the highest total year-end score in a category regardless of class, by counting every score (both monthly entries).

5. In the event of a tie, duplicate awards will be made.

6. The Executive Board may present a "Most Improved" award to a worker in class B. This award will be based on a comparison of scores for the first four months with the scores from the last five months.

7. There will be no awards presented in the “Digital Projected Images” category for the 2008-2009 competition year.  This competition is our first and it will be used to hone the software and procedures, and permit all members an equal opportunity to become familiar with the process.  Scores will be evaluated at the end of the year and a method devised to establish an appropriate class for each member for future competitions.

 

N. PRINT & PROJECTED IMAGE OF THE YEAR

1. Black & White print, Color print and Projected Image of the year competitions are held at a specially planned meeting at the end of the year.

2. A member may submit up to four entries per category.

3. Each entry must have been submitted during one of the year’s nine monthly competitions.

4. The Joseph Giambalvo Memorial Cup for the Image of the Year will be awarded to the winner among all of the categories (best in show).

5. A single person can not be awarded more than one award per  category (ie; a single individual can not receive both a 1st place and 2nd or 3rd place award for any category.).

 

 

O. DISPUTES

1. If a member believes anyone’s projected image or print has been submitted in contravention to any competition rule, they should mention it to the Competition Chairperson after the competition. This may result in cancellation of the score with no make-up allowed.

2. The Executive Board will decide any disputes concerning the interpretation or execution of these rules.

 

 

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Last modified: December 05, 2009