CLUB COMPETITION RULES
Quarterly Competitions
Printed Images
Projected Digital Images (PDIs)
- There will be two competitions for prints and two competitions for Projected Digital Images (PDIs) in each season.
- Each club member may submit two images into each Quarterly Competition.
- All image content must be the sole work of the club member.
- There is no theme for photo content. Images may contain any subject matter and may be colour or monochrome.
- Each image will be critiqued by a guest judge and awarded a score out of ten (half marks are allowed).
- Each image must be given a title, which will be read aloud as the image is presented before the judge.
- Judges are selected from a pool of judges made available via the Surrey Photographic Association.
- At the end of the season, scores will be added up and awards presented for the top three in both print and Projected Digital Image categories.
Printed Images
- Printed images must be mounted but not framed or under glass.
- Mounting can be done by simply sticking the printed image to a piece of card, or by using more professional mounting borders and backing card.
- The mount must be 50 cm x 40 cm.
- There is no restriction on the colour of the mount being used.
- The minimum size of the printed image is 10 inches x 8 inches, except for 'letterbox' format images where the longest side should be a minimum of 10 inches.
- Images may be printed by the author or by a commercial printer.
- Any printed image can only be submitted into one Quarterly Competition. Repeat entries are not allowed.
(However, an image which was previously submitted as a digital image, can be submitted as a printed image). - The members name and the image title should the written on the back of each mounted print in the top left hand corner.
- Titles, together with a JPEG of the image, must be submitted to the Competition Secretary by the SUNDAY EVENING before the competition. Email is the preferred method.
- The JPEG may be shown on the club website if the corresponding print scores 9 or above.
Projected Digital Images (PDIs)
- Digital images must be in JPEG format with a maximum resolution of 1600 pixels wide by 1200 pixels high.
(This is to conform to the SPA PDI Competitions format that came into effect on the 1st January 2017). - Files should be named "INITIALS_Image Title.jpg"
eg. ‘PH_windsor_great_park.jpg’ - Any digital image can only be submitted into one Quarterly Competition. Repeat entries are not allowed.
(However, an image which was previously submitted as a printed image, can be submitted as a digital image). - The JPEG images and confirmation of the titles must be submitted to the competition secretary by the SUNDAY EVENING before the competition. Email is the preferred method.
- The JPEG may be shown on the club website if it scores 9 or above.
Set Subject Competition
- Members may submit one print and / or one PDI into the Set Subject Competition.
- Interpretation of the theme is up to the entrant.
- All image content must be the sole work of the club member.
- PDI naming convention & resolution, and print sizes, are as per Quarterly PDI Competitions.
- Any images entered into the Set Subject Competition can be entered into the Image of The Year Competition for that season.
- The JPEG images and confirmation of the print title must be submitted to the competition secretary by the SUNDAY EVENING before the competition. Email is the preferred method.
- A guest judge will award 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places.
- The JPEG may be shown on the club website if awarded 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place.
Image of the Year Competition
- At the end of the season there will be an evening where each member may submit one printed image and / or one PDI into the Image of the Year Competition.
- Any print or PDI entered must have been previously entered into one of the Quarterly Competitions or into the Set Subject Competition during that season. The images must not be edited, updated, or changed in any way between competitions.
- A guest judge will award 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places in each category (print & PDI) and may also make “Commended” awards to other images.
- The judge will also select one image, from the combined print and PDI pool, that they consider to be the 'Image of The Year'.
- Print and PDI titles are to be to be submitted to the competition secretary by the SUNDAY EVENING before the competition.
- The JPEG of the winning image may be shown on the club website.
SPA Rules For 'Nature' Competition Entries
To provide clarity on nature photography when our club enters a nature panel into SPA competitions, a specific nature PDI or image must follow the definitions copied below for it to be eligible for entry in an SPA nature panel.
All other Chertsey Camera Club rules relating to print and image size are maintained.
Nature photography is restricted to the use of the photographic process to depict all branches of natural history, except anthropology and archaeology, in such a fashion that a well-informed person will be able to identify the subject material and certify its honest presentation. The story telling value of a photograph must be weighed more than the pictorial quality while maintaining high technical quality. Human elements shall not be present, except where those human elements are integral parts of the nature story such as nature subjects, like barn owls or storks, adapted to an environment modified by humans, or where those human elements are in situations depicting natural forces, like hurricanes or tidal waves. Scientific bands, scientific tags or radio collars on wild animals are permissible.
Photographs of human created hybrid plants, cultivated plants, feral animals, domestic animals, or mounted specimens are ineligible, as is any form of manipulation that alters the truth of the photographic statement. No techniques that add, relocate, replace, or remove pictorial elements except by cropping are permitted. Techniques that enhance the presentation of the photograph without changing the nature story or the pictorial content, or without altering the content of the original scene, are permitted including HDR, focus stacking and dodging/burning. Techniques that remove elements added by the camera, such as dust spots, digital noise, and film scratches, are allowed. Stitched images are not permitted. All allowed adjustments must appear natural. Colour images can be converted to grey-scale monochrome. Infrared images, either direct-captures or derivations, are not allowed.
Images used in Nature Photography competitions may be divided in two classes: Nature and Wildlife. Images entered in Nature sections meeting the Nature Photography Definition above can have landscapes, geologic formations, weather phenomena, and extant organisms as the primary subject matter. This includes images taken with the subjects in controlled conditions, such as zoos, game farms, botanical gardens, aquariums and any enclosure where the subjects are totally dependent on man for food. Images entered in Wildlife sections meeting the Nature Photography Definition above are further defined as one or more extant zoological or botanical organisms free and unrestrained in a natural or adopted habitat. Landscapes, geologic formations, photographs of zoo or game farm animals, or of any extant zoological or botanical species taken under controlled conditions are not eligible in Wildlife sections. Wildlife is not limited to animals, birds and insects. Marine subjects and botanical subjects (including fungi and algae) taken in the wild are suitable wildlife subjects, as are carcasses of extant species. Wildlife images may be entered in Nature sections of Exhibitions.
To provide clarity on nature photography when our club enters a nature panel into SPA competitions, a specific nature PDI or image must follow the definitions copied below for it to be eligible for entry in an SPA nature panel.
All other Chertsey Camera Club rules relating to print and image size are maintained.
Nature photography is restricted to the use of the photographic process to depict all branches of natural history, except anthropology and archaeology, in such a fashion that a well-informed person will be able to identify the subject material and certify its honest presentation. The story telling value of a photograph must be weighed more than the pictorial quality while maintaining high technical quality. Human elements shall not be present, except where those human elements are integral parts of the nature story such as nature subjects, like barn owls or storks, adapted to an environment modified by humans, or where those human elements are in situations depicting natural forces, like hurricanes or tidal waves. Scientific bands, scientific tags or radio collars on wild animals are permissible.
Photographs of human created hybrid plants, cultivated plants, feral animals, domestic animals, or mounted specimens are ineligible, as is any form of manipulation that alters the truth of the photographic statement. No techniques that add, relocate, replace, or remove pictorial elements except by cropping are permitted. Techniques that enhance the presentation of the photograph without changing the nature story or the pictorial content, or without altering the content of the original scene, are permitted including HDR, focus stacking and dodging/burning. Techniques that remove elements added by the camera, such as dust spots, digital noise, and film scratches, are allowed. Stitched images are not permitted. All allowed adjustments must appear natural. Colour images can be converted to grey-scale monochrome. Infrared images, either direct-captures or derivations, are not allowed.
Images used in Nature Photography competitions may be divided in two classes: Nature and Wildlife. Images entered in Nature sections meeting the Nature Photography Definition above can have landscapes, geologic formations, weather phenomena, and extant organisms as the primary subject matter. This includes images taken with the subjects in controlled conditions, such as zoos, game farms, botanical gardens, aquariums and any enclosure where the subjects are totally dependent on man for food. Images entered in Wildlife sections meeting the Nature Photography Definition above are further defined as one or more extant zoological or botanical organisms free and unrestrained in a natural or adopted habitat. Landscapes, geologic formations, photographs of zoo or game farm animals, or of any extant zoological or botanical species taken under controlled conditions are not eligible in Wildlife sections. Wildlife is not limited to animals, birds and insects. Marine subjects and botanical subjects (including fungi and algae) taken in the wild are suitable wildlife subjects, as are carcasses of extant species. Wildlife images may be entered in Nature sections of Exhibitions.