COMPETITION RULES
General1. Competitors may enter up to three images for each competition. In the First Exposure and Annual Competitions, entrants may enter prints, or projected images, or a combination of both. However, mixing of prints and projected images is not permitted in the Theme Competition. Images may be either colour or black and white (monochrome) or a mixture of both.
2. Any one image may be entered in no more than two club competitions. For the Theme Competition, different images must be entered for each leg. There are no restrictions on the number of external competitions for which an image may be submitted.
3. All images must be the entrant’s own work, but commercially produced prints or commercially developed and/or mounted 35mm slides are acceptable.
4. Members with limited experience of photography and less than 3 years’ membership are eligible for consideration for a special award for the “Most Promising Beginner”. This will normally be awarded to the newest club member scoring the highest number of points in club competitions that season. Previous winners are no longer eligible for this award.
5. In the event of a tie in a competition, the winner of each category will be the member with the highest mark for an individual image in that category.
6. The author’s membership number (and not her/his name) should be clearly marked on all slides, prints, CDs and any packaging.
7. The title of the image should be clearly marked on all slides or prints. For digital image files, the title of the image may be the file name.
8. All prints and slides should be submitted in a good, clean condition as the judge may deduct marks for dirty or damaged prints/mounts or slides. Velcro should not be left attached to the mounts.
9. Beginners (see rule 4 above) should add a letter ‘B’ after their membership number.
10. The Competition Secretary has the right not to submit for judging any image that does not appear to comply with the competition rules.
11. Entries are normally available for collection one week after the competition or by prior arrangement.
12. All entries must be handed in promptly. Handing-in dates will be indicated in the syllabus.
Prints:
Prints may be of any size. Many members regard 8" x 10" as a suitable minimum size, but this is not compulsory. They should be card mounted with the title and author’s membership number printed on the back. To reduce the risk of damage, it is recommended that the size of the mount does not exceed A2 (594mm x 420mm, approx. 23.4” x 16.5”). It is the responsibility of the member to supply suitable protective packaging for any print or mount that exceeds this size.
For the Theme Competition, members may alternatively submit a panel of multiple prints. Panels may include any number and size of prints mounted on a single card no larger than A2 size.
Projected Images:
This category is for either mounted 35mm slides or digital image files. Digital images may be emailed to the Competition Secretary or submitted on CD. Digital files must be in .jpg format, with a maximum file size of 1 megabyte per image. Slides must be marked clearly with the author’s membership number and be ‘spotted’.
Internal Competitions
First Exposure:
The First Exposure Competition is held early in the season. Images must not have been previously shown in any club competition. Images must have been taken within 12 months of the date of the competition; however, this condition is waived for new members. New members are particularly encouraged to enter this competition. Judges will award an individual mark for each image.
Theme Competition:
The Theme Competition is designed to encourage members to photograph and present creative interpretations of particular themes and is run in two parts.
The first leg is an “open” theme in other words, members should submit three related photographs on a theme of their own choosing. It is essential to state the theme on your entry!
The second leg is a “set” theme, the theme being chosen at the previous year’s AGM.
Images must have been taken within twelve months of the date of the competition. In each leg,
members may make entries in only one of the following categories:
• Three prints (or a single panel of multiple prints – see above)
• Three projected images
In both the first and second legs, the images should “work” together as a set of three, and the sequence of presentation should be indicated (i.e. which image comes first, second and last). To help the images cohere, prints should all use the same size and colour of mount. Judges will award an individual mark for each image, and a further mark for each set of images to reflect how well, in the judge’s opinion, the set of images interpret the Theme. Members’ highest scores in each round will be aggregated to decide the overall winner of the Theme Competition.
Annual Competition:
The Annual Competition is the last of the internal competitions, and should represent the best of members’ work. Images must have been taken within 12 months of the date of the competition, or have been entered in a Club competition earlier in the season. Judges will award an individual mark for each image.
Trophies:
At the AGM, trophies will be awarded to the winners of the individual competitions, and also for the best projected image and the best print in the Annual Competition.
· Tyne Cup. Presented to the winner of the First Exposure competition.
· League Cup. Presented to the overall winner of the Theme competition.
· Colour Trophy. Presented to the author of the best projected image in the Annual competition.
· John Apps Trophy. Presented to the author of the best print in the Annual competition
· Lothian Cup. Presented to the Most Promising Beginner.
· The Tully Jackson Cup. Presented to the winner of the Short Story Competition (does not contribute to the Carlyle Cup).
· Carlyle Cup. Presented to the member scoring the greatest number of points in club competitions over the entire season.
Certificates of Merit will also be awarded to winners of the projected images and the print category of each leg of each competition.
External Competitions
Members may submit, or be invited to submit, any number of images to be considered for entry into external Inter-Club competitions. While every care will be taken with member’s work, prints and slides can and do get damaged. For that reason, members have the right to refuse permission for their work to be used in this way. Images may be submitted for consideration at any time during the season. Early in the season, an evening meeting is set aside for images to be viewed by all members and the opinions of all members as to the suitability of a particular image in InterClub Competitions will be sought. However, the decision of the Competition Secretary as to which images considered as suitable to represent the club are used in any competition will be final.
All text and the Haddington Camera Club logo are ©2008 Haddington Camera Club. All photographs are ©2007-2008 the respective photographers.