Competition Rules

Skill Levels in Competition

Entrants divided into two levels of expertise, Novice or Advanced.

A “Novice” entrant one who has joined the club with no previous photography accreditations, or who hasn’t yet been promoted through previous club competitions.
An “Advanced” entrant is one who has been promoted through previous club competitions, has been accredited or gained qualifications in photography or fulfils the NIPA criteria for an advanced status. (see NIPA rules, NIPA website).
If a ‘Novice’ member achieves a winning place (1st, 2nd or 3rd) in ‘Colour’, ‘Monochrome’ or ‘Projected Digital Image’ approximately six times within a competition year, including the annual exhibition, they will be asked if they wish to move to ‘Advanced’ for all categories in the following year. This promotion will at the discretion of the competition secretary and the wishes of the club member. Similarly if a recently promoted Advanced member feels they are out of their depth they can ask to be re-instated back to Novice. The final decision is with the competition secretary. An entrant cannot change category after the first entry date of that competition year.

How to Enter

Prepare your images in accordance to the Guidelines for Printed Images and Projected Digital Images below.
Be aware of the theme or nature of the competition.
Make sure you are familiar with the Miscellaneous Rules.
Make sure your entries are correctly labelled.
For panels label all 6 images. Include some form of instruction as to how the images should be arranged. Size of images to be as for NIPA competitions.
Make sure to get your entries to the Competitions Team on time. Check the Club web site and notice board for details of the next competition. All entries must be submitted by 10.00 p.m. one week before the competition date, unless stated otherwise.

Judging

Competitions are adjudicated by an invited Judge, who is often but not exclusively a non-member. Judges are at liberty to put forward their own opinions which are respected and considered final.

It is the responsibility of the Competitions Secretary to inform the Judge of the nature of the competition and to advise on the nature of relevant rules.

All entries will be judged at the camera club premises, before members arrive or during the meeting at the Judge’s discretion.

PDIs will be viewed on the club computer/projector.

Guidelines on Printed Images

Prints can be up to 40 x 30cm (15.75 x 11.75in) size and do not have to be mounted although you may wish to support the photo with a piece of card. The card size should be no smaller than the print size.

Note 1: It is generally accepted that prints are shown off to their best advantage when mounted with a border of around 5cm or so on each side. Exact dimensions are at the authors discretion within the overall size stated.

Note 2: If an unmounted print is selected to advance to the NIPA regional round then they are required to be mounted.

Print details should be marked on the back of each entry. Include:

Your club competition number (not your name). Ask any of the competition team if you do not have or have forgotten your number.
Level ‘(Advanced’ or ‘Novice’ , A or N) (Optional)
Category (Colour or Mono, M or C) and the
Title of your print.

The orientation of your label will be used to indicate the orientation of the image. Please ensure that the top of the label is oriented to the top of the image.

Guidelines on Projected Digital Images

The Club’s online entry system will resize PDIs automatically according to the permitted size.

Or members who prefer to re-size thrir images themselves, here are some simple guidelines to follow. These have been set to comply with PAGB standards and with the Club’s PhotoEntry system.

Only JPEG images will be accepted. Tiff’s, psd’s, png’s, etc will not be considered.
Images should be no more than 1600 pixels wide and 1200 pixels high. Only one dimension need be at the maximum, as illustrated below.

PDI Guidelines

File size should be no more 10MB. (in practise jpeg images will not exceed this limit)
Images should be saved in 'sRGB' colour space. (If you use a different colour space we will view in sRGB and the result may not be what you intend.)
Every image should have a title. (Please avoid ‘Untitled’).
If you do not understand any of the above, please attend our Wednesday evening sessions to learn more.
Digital Images should be made via the club’s ‘PhotoEntry’ site, accessible via the web.

Please note that any images that do not comply with 1-5 above may be excluded from the digital competition. The short-listed images will be examined at full resolution (up to 1600x1200) on the competition evening by digital projection.

Miscellaneous Rules

Members may not enter the same image in Colour, Monochrome, or Digital Projection in the same competition (All NIPA Rounds are considered the same competition.)
All images should be recent and not previously entered in the same competition. (Competitions 1 to 5, or Rounds 1 to 5 of the Club /NIPA Selection Competition are regarded as the same competition).
An image which has been edited or undergone tone adjustment is considered a new image.
Monochrome images may be toned (e.g. with sepia) provided that the tone is uniform. A Monochrome image with even just one pixel of colour will be deemed a ‘Colour’ image. “Split tone” images are colour.
A member may only have two winning entries within each category. In the event that a member wins 1st, 2nd and 3rd (within Colour, Mono, or Digital Projection) then the 3rd place will pass to whoever came 4th. In relation to points, a 3rd place moved to 4th will be awarded a shortlist point of one.
Entries selected for NIPA, must be properly mounted before being entered into NIPA. The Club NIPA Representative and the NIPA Quality Team will advise. However, be aware that if your photo has been selected for NIPA and you cannot provide a suitable image in time for the NIPA competition, then the NIPA Representative may submit one of the other ‘winners’ at his discretion.

If you have any questions, or simply require some advice, you should speak to the Competition Team or any committee member.

Dispute Resolution

Competitions are run on the basis of friendly competition and mutual respect which all entrants are expected to observe.

If for any reason you feel that these rules have not been applied evenly or that you have been disadvantaged by their application, then you are entitled to raise a dispute.

In the first instance, you should contact the Competitions Secretary who will discuss your concerns and resolve them if he/she feels that they are able to do so. If for any reason you feel that the Competitions Secretary does not fully address your concerns then you are entitled to follow our ‘Competition Appeals Procedure’ as defined below:

All concerns in relation to competitions should be made to the Competitions Secretary, in writing (or by email).
The Competitions Secretary will inform the Chairman of the details (by way of courtesy) and then carry out whatever investigation / research is required.
Competitions Secretary will then forward all details (by email) to a nominated committee member who will consider the details, ask for additional information and consult the judge if deemed appropriate.
They will then recommend a resolution to the Chairman who will indicate his acceptance or ask for further consideration if he feels there is justification in doing so. The decision will be final and there will be no other form of appeal.
The Chairman will inform the member concerned of the decision.