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.