Definitions - Allowable images

All genre of image is acceptable up to and including !Art Nude".
Entries must originate as photographs (image-captures of object via light sensitivity) made by the

entrant. By virtue of submitting an entry, the entrant certifies the work as his/her own.

This can include but is not limited to: Landscape, Portrait, Nature, Wildlife, Macro, Abstract, Still Life, Creative Images (this is where an image has been altered, either electronically or otherwise, by the entrant and artwork or computer graphics created by them may be incorporated provided the photographic content predominates.).

Images that are considered to be offensive or pornographic will be removed from the competitions before being shown.

Any image that shows Copyright, Watermark or the Photographer"s name will be excluded.

Competitions - general

The main competitions will be run on a league basis similar to a football league. There will be two Leagues, one for prints and the other for DPI. Both the Print and DPI League competitions will have four rounds each. There will also be Print of the Year and DPI of the Year competitions.

The Club may run other types of competitions from time to time. These may include a set subject or a panel of images. The annex to these rules includes definitions, to which entries should conform. Where definitions are not provided, the Competitions Secretary will set out the entry criteria in writing in advance of the competition taking place.

There are no Divisions this season.

Each member is allowed to enter a maximum of three images in each competition, unless otherwise stated by the Competitions Secretary in advance of the competition taking place.

Re-use of images
An image may only be entered once. There is no limit on the age of the image.

Print competitions

Print competitions will be judged by an external judge with marks awarded out of 20 for each image. Scores will be aggregated together to provide the total score for the night. For Leagues, the nightly scores in each round are then in turn aggregated to form a total for the season. There will be no adjustment to an end of year score for a member who may miss a competition. In the event of a tie, the member with the most scores of 20 over the season will win the League. In the event of two or more members achieving the same number of scores of 20, the League will be tied and the trophy shared.

All League competitions will be Open in category, i.e. no set subject, colour or monochrome.

All prints must be recorded on the appropriate entry sheet in the club hall by no later than 19:45 on the evening of the competition. Images submitted after this time may be excluded.

A Print of any size up to a maximum size of 50cm x 40cm (19.68′′ x 15.74′′) will be accepted BUT all prints must be mounted in or on a standard size 50cm x 40cm. (19.68′′ x 15.74′′), maximum 4 mm thickness mount with compulsory 50cm x 40cm full back board. No abrasive / sticky material e.g. Velcro / Sellotape / Masking Tape is to be visible on the rear of the mount. Prints must be capable of being stored with other work without causing damage due to poor mounting. Failure to satisfactorily mount prints may result in their exclusion.

This requirement is to allow any image submitted for a competition to be included in battles with

other clubs or submitted for consideration in KCPA exhibitions / competitions (with the author"s permission). Prints that fall outside these acceptable parameters will be excluded from selection.

Each print must contain the member’s name and the image title clearly displayed on the back of the print / mount. There are to be no names, titles or copyright notices on the front of any print / mount. The image title label will be used to determine the orientation for the image and will be displayed on the print stand for judging in this way.

Digital Protected Images (DPI) Competitions

DPI competitions will be judged by club members. Images are scored 1, 3, or 5 points by each member and an average score is calculated. For Leagues, the nightly scores in each round are then aggregated to form a total for the season. There will be no adjustment to an end of year score for a member who may miss a competition. In the event of a tie, the member with the most scores of 5 over the season will win the League. In the event of two or more members achieving the same number of scores of 5, the League will be tied and the trophy shared.

All League competitions will be Open in category, i.e. no set subject, colour or monochrome.

DPIs must be entered on the PhotoEntry system. No entries will be accepted on the night without first having been registered in PhotoEntry. Each member wishing to participate in DPI competitions will have a user account issued by the Competitions Secretary. DPIs must be submitted no later than midnight on the closing date for competition entries in PhotoEntry.

Maximum image width is 3840 pixels and maximum image height (vertical) is 2160 pixels (4K). These dimensions reflect the capability of the club’s projector. Smaller images are acceptable (e.g. 1400 x 1080 pixels as in previous years) but will not necessarily be displayed at their best.

Save your file in the JPEG format. Using the sRGB colour space is recommended as this will provide better quality with the equipment used for judging the competition.

End of Year competitions

The End of Year competitions will be open to all members. Members do not need to have entered images in League competitions, to participate in the end of year competitions.

Entries for end of year competitions must have been taken in the season. It is permissible to enter images into the end of year annual competitions which have been judged in League competitions.

Queries

In the event of a query or clarification being needed relating to the these rules please contact the Competitions Secretary for a formal response in advance of the competition taking place. In the event of a dispute on the night of the competition, this will be resolved by the Competitions Secretary, or if not present, the Executive Committee member chairing the session.

Set subject and panel competitions - definitions

Monochrome (Black and White) photographs
A black and white image containing various shades of grey from black to white is considered to be monochrome. A black and white work toned entirely in a single colour will remain a monochrome work able to stand in the black and white category. However, a black and white work modified by partial toning or by the addition of one colour becomes a colour work (polychrome) and will be excluded or disqualified from the Monochrome section.

Colour photographs
All images other than those above are defined as colour images. As stated above, a black and white image which has been modified by the addition of partial toning or by the addition of one colour to any part of the image is a Colour image.

Street Photography
Street photography is photography conducted for art or enquiry that features unmediated chance encounters and random incidents within public places. Street photography can focus on people and their behaviour in public.

Street photography does not necessitate the presence of a street or even the urban environment. Although people usually feature directly, street photography might be absent of people and can be of an object or environment where the image projects a decidedly human character in facsimile or aesthetic. In this respect the street photographer is similar to social documentary photographers or photojournalists who also work in public places, but with the aim of capturing newsworthy events.

Nature
The following is the PAGB’s criteria for nature images:

Nature means Images where living organisms are the primary subject matter. The story telling value of an Image will normally be weighed more than the pictorial quality.

Nature includes:
• Images taken with subjects in controlled conditions such as zoos, game parks, botanic

gardens, aquariums and enclosures where the subjects are dependent on man for food. Scientific bands, tags or collars are permissible.

Nature excludes:
• Images where the subjects are obviously domestic animals or plants. • Images where an obviously artistic treatment has been applied.

Processing of the captured image, by cropping, exposure adjustment, colour correction, noise minimisation, dodging/burning, HDR, focus stacking and sharpening, is permitted, as is cloning of image defects and minor distractions including overlapping elements.

An Image appearing to meet these criteria will be accepted as Nature. The Judges will normally assume that any Image presented to them is eligible.

Access to some biological subjects may be restricted. Where that is relevant, then Photographers warrant that they have followed relevant codes of practices and hold any necessary licences.

Panels
Panels must consist of a fixed number of images determined by the Competitions Secretary before the event which are displayed all at the same time. The entrant dictates how the images are to be ordered when being displayed so as to achieve the best balance and impact.

Some of the Images for the Panel may have been shown in League competitions during the year, however there must be at least 50% new images in the Panel.

Images within a Panel must work together as a set. They can tell a story, be images based on a single theme, be of the same item taken in different seasons for example, or a model in different outfits or in varying locations. The images should have a relationship in some way.

Images should be presented individually, ie they must not all be printed onto one sheet of paper.or displayed digitally as a group.

Advice

Many things need to be considered when working on a panel, the following may help:

• Relationship of the images

• Do the images work together?

• Is the exposure similar across all the images (or massively different)

• Are images all printed on the same paper type

• Has any post processing !style! ,"plug-in"#been applied to all the images?

• Are they all mounted in the same format (borders/mount colour/window/flush etc.)?

• Diagonals work better pointing into the centre of the panel

• Portraits work better facing into the panel

• Use heavier (darker) images at the base, and obviously lighter images at the top.

• Try vignetting the very outside corners of each image (e.g. the top right corner on the top right

• image, bottom left corner of the bottom left image etc.)

• Don"t have images that are too similar, even when working on a common theme / style there needs to be differences in the images.

• Landscape and Portrait formats can be mixed but the Panel needs to be balanced

• The use of leading lines, diagonals etc. helps to keep the interest within the panel and to

  prevent the viewer"s eye wandering off at a tangent

• Consider flipping/rotating images during processing to get angles/faces pointing the right way,

  use all the tools you have in your box to help achieve impact and balance

• Keep images the same size if possible, it"s easier to view in this way

  These are just guidelines, not rules, and are meant to be broken should the panel improve by doing it.