Newport Photographic Club

Competitions & Trophies

Competitions

Each season there will normally be 9 competitions. These will be as follows:

Three Open competitions -Print and Projected image classes

Three competitions on set subjects -Print and Projected image classes

The President’s Cup -Prints

5 Prints on a Theme -Prints

Annual competition -Colour Print, Monochrome print & Projected image classes.

In-Club competitions are open to all Full Members who have paid their annual subscription.

Unless indicated otherwise, judging for each competition will normally be by a judge from the panel published by the Midland Counties Photographic Federation.

By entering the competition, members accept that if their entries are placed or gain points in competitions:-

· they may be retained by the club for a period and displayed in Cosy Hall . Members will be asked to provide prints from the placed projected images.

· Members will be expected to provide a file for inclusion on the Club website.

Points will be awarded for the first 6 placed images in each class for the three Open competitions and three Set subject competitions. These points will count towards the club trophies for Photographer of the year.

Points will be awarded as follows:-

The image placed first will be awarded 8 points, the second will receive 7 points etc, until the sixth placed will receive 3 points. Unplaced entries will receive 1 point each.

Members will be expected to provide Prints and Projected Image files for use in Inter-club competitions.

General Rules

Except for the 5 Prints on a Theme Competition, the general rules for each competition are as follows:

Prints and projected images may have been digitally manipulated but the individual components of each image must the member’s own work, and must have been taken using a camera.

Prints

Prints are to be mounted. The back of the mount should show the title of the print and the author’s name and indicate the top of the print.

The maximum size of mounts is 16” x 20”

The minimum size of images is 5” x 7” or 35 square inches if a different format is preferred.

Projected images

Projected images are to be submitted as files in JPG format (High quality).

Image size must be a maximum height of 768 pixels, and maximum width of 1024 pixels.

Images should use sRGB colour space

Files should be named as below:

o sequence number 01 or 02 to indicate which is projected first

o One space

o Title of image

A detailed document defining how to prepare images is available from Competition Secretary and is appended at the end of this section.

The 3 Open Competitions and 3 Set Subject Competitions will be judged in 2 classes –Prints and Projected Images. Members may submit up to 2 prints and 2 projected images for each competition.

Competition images must not have been submitted in previous club competitions (but see specific rules for Third Open Competition below).

The titles of the prints and the actual file for projected images for each competition are to be submitted to the Competition Secretary at the very latest by 10pm on the Friday evening preceding the competition. This is to allow reasonable time to collate and produce the entry list. No exceptions will be allowed to this rule. If entries have not been received by the deadline, those entries will not be allowed into the competition.

Titles for prints can be submitted by e-mail or by phone. Projected images files can be supplied by e-mail or CD.

Competition Format

First and Second Open Competition. General rules apply. Members may submit images on any subject.

Competitions on Set Subjects. General rules apply. The scope and parameters of the set subjects will be agreed at the annual programming meeting.

The President’s Cup. General rules apply. The subject will be chosen by the President who will also decide any special rules or conditions. The winner will be the member who has submitted the best print as judged by the President. This competition will not count towards any other trophy.

5 Prints on a Theme.

This is an Open Competition for Prints only.

The competition has its own trophy so it does not count towards the Photographer of the Year Competition. The competition is judged by the Club’s President.

The aim is to produce a panel of 5 prints mounted on a single sheet of mountboard. (panel) The prints should illustrate a common theme or subject, which is chosen by the member submitting the panel of prints, and which is defined by the title of the panel.

As a guide:-they might all be of the same subject, taken from different angles and a mixture of close-up, medium and long-distance shots. Alternatively they might share a common theme such as flowers, cars, birds, churches or whatever else takes your fancy.

Each panel must meet with the following conditions:

· It consists of 5 prints, mounted on a plain board panel, (white or any plain colour). The maximum size of the mountboard on which the pictures are mounted is 22” x 32” (1/2 a full board).

· Each of the 5 prints can be no greater than “A4 size” 210 mm x 297 mm when printed. They can be cut to any shape or size from this A4 print and mounted in any arrangement within the mount board (but not overhanging the edge).

· The prints can be flat mounted i.e. stuck directly onto the mountboard, or back mounted in the way that prints are normally mounted for club competitions.

· The title of the panel may be written/printed on the panel but no other text, printing, or decoration is allowed on the mountboard.

Each member may submit a maximum of 2 panels.

Third Open Competition. General rules apply. For this competition members may re-submit images that have not been placed in the first 6 places in previous club competitions.

Annual Competition. General rules apply except as follows. Members may submit a maximum of 2 colour prints, 2 monochrome prints and 2 projected images in the relevant classes. Members may re-submit images which have already been placed in that season’s competitions, or previous competitions. The only exception is that prints and slides which have won “Print of the Year” or “Slide of the Year” in previous years may not be re-submitted.

Trophies and Awards

Print Photographer of the Year (Shield).

Awarded to the member who has achieved the highest number of points in the print category at the 3 open and 3 set subject In-Club competitions.

Slide Photographer of the Year (Shield).

Awarded to the member who has achieved the highest number of points in the projected image category at the 3 open and 3 set subject In-Club competitions.

President’s Cup (Cup)

Awarded to the member who comes first in the competition for the President’s Cup

Colour Print of The Year (Shield)

Awarded to the member whose colour print is judged to be the best in the Annual Competition.

Monochrome Print of The Year (Shield)

Awarded to the member whose monochrome print is judged to be the best in the Annual Competition.

Monochrome images may be in black or white and shades thereof, or may be colour toned using a single colour (e.g. sepia). The addition of any further colour will move the image into the colour print category.

Slide of the Year (Shield)

Awarded to the member whose projected image is judged to be the best in the Annual Competition.

Photographs on a Theme (Shield)

Awarded to the member who comes first in the Photographs on a Theme competition.

Most Improved Photographer (Camera model)

Awarded by the Elected Officers of the Committee to the member who has improved most in the season. The winner must not have won any other trophy in that or previous seasons at the club.

Roger Price Shield

Awarded to the Member with the highest total of points, who has not won any other trophy in that year.

Preparation of Pictures for the Projected Image class of competitions

1. Open the image on your computer screen

2. If it has more than 1 layer, flatten the image so there is only 1 layer.

3. Click on the <Image> menu at the top of the screen. In the drop-down menu click on <Mode>. In the menu that appears click on <sRGB> or <RGB> as the mode. Make sure the <8 Bits/channel> is ticked

4. Look at you picture. If it is wider than it is high, it is in LANDSCAPE format. If it is higher than it is wide, it is in PORTRAIT format. See below for the sizing of square format pictures.

5. The required size for projected images is measured in pixels. If your picture is in LANDSCAPE format the width needs to be 1024 pixels (ignore the height). If it is in PORTRAIT format, the height needs to be 768 pixels (ignore the width).

6. Resize your picture as required in para 5. In the <Image> menu click on <Image Size>. Make sure the <Resample Image> and <Constrain Proportions> boxes are ticked. Choose <Bicubic> as the resizing method. In the box labelled <Pixel Dimensions> put in 1024 in the width box if it is a LANDSCAPE picture. Put 768 in the height box if it is a PORTRAIT picture. Ignore the resolution and actual size (in inches or centimetres) boxes as this will be automatically sorted out when projected. If your picture is in a square format, make sure that the width does not exceed 1024 pixels, or that the height does not exceed 768 pixels. In this case, your final size is likely to be around 768 x 768 pixels.

7. Save the image by going to the <File> menu and selecting <Save As...>. In the menu that appears, make sure you have selected <JPEG> or <JPG> as the format. In the file name box put the number of your picture using 2 digits (e.g. 01, 02, 03 etc), followed by a space, followed by the title of your picture. The name in the file name box will therefore appear as (e.g.) 01 Beachy Head Lighthouse. When projected your title (minus the index number) will appear on the screen. If you save it as IMG 657 ByHd Lh this is how it will appear on the screen. Click <Save>. In the menu select a quality of 10, 11 or 12. Click OK

8. Send your image(s) to the Competition Secretary by attaching them to an e mail. When you attach the images, do a final check. In the Attach line your images should appear as (e.g.) 01 Beach Head Lighthouse (540kb), 02 Misty Morning (620Kb). If the titles are not as you want them to appear, something has gone wrong! If the files are more than 1 Mb each, check the dimensions of your files.

If your are not sure, or have any questions about the above procedure, please phone or e mail either the Secretary or the Competition Secretary. If your file is not in the correct format, it is possible it will be rejected and will not be entered in the competition

President's Cup 10th November 2009