I. General Provisions
A. Competition Categories and Classes
The competition categories are:

 • Slides
 • Digitally Projected Images
 • Monochrome Prints
 • Color Prints
 • Enhanced Prints

The Enhanced Prints Category has a single class.  The Slides, Digitally Projected Images, Monochrome Prints, and Color Prints categories each have two classes:  Novice and Advanced.

B. Number of Competitions
During the club year (September through May), NVPS will sponsor nine monthly competitions. For a monthly competition in a Class/Category to occur there must be at least two entrants.  When there is only one entrant, even if there are two entries, the judge shall comment on the image(s) and the image(s) will be given one point each for participation, but no award points.

C. Eligibility
Only Club members are eligible to enter competitions.  The total number of images each member may enter in any one monthly competition is limited to three (3); no more than two (2) of these entries may be submitted in any single Class/Category in which they are eligible.  All entries must have been photographed by the entrant and must satisfy the definition of photograph in Section II A. Plagiarism will result in disqualification of the image.  All entries must be submitted prior to the start of the competition for the Category/Class in which it is being entered and must not, in the opinion of the VP for Competitions, interfere with the process of preparing a competition class/category for judging.  Entrants should strive to submit their entries prior to the start of the meeting.

D. Subject Matter
Subject matter, theme, and artistic presentation are the choice of the photographer. However three of the monthly competitions will have an assigned topic or theme and all competitions will have a time constraint.  All elements of competition entries must have been captured within two years of the monthly competition date. The President shall appoint a committee to define the themes 2 years in advance.   The themes will be published in FOTOFAX, the club newsletter, no later than the Summer issue and will also be posted on the club's web site at that time.  

For a monthly competition in a Class/Category to occur there must be at least two entrants in Novice Classes and at least three entrants in Advanced and Enhanced classes.  When there are insufficient entrants, the judge shall comment on the image(s) and the image(s) will be given one point each for participation, but not 10 points for First Place.  A single image can only be entered in one Category/Class in a given Club year and can be entered no more than three times within that Category/Class within the year.  For example, if you have a slide and make a print from it, you must decide for a given club year whether to compete with it as a slide or as a print.  Once an image has received an award (first, second, or third place, or honorable mention) it may not be entered in subsequent monthly competitions in the same category/class that or any other year with the exception of the end-of-year competition.  An image that has won an award may be entered in a different category/class in a subsequent year.  In addition, a similar photograph of the same image that has received an award may not be submitted in any category/class during the current competition year.

E. Presentation of Prints
All prints must be mounted.  Prints and mounts may not exceed 20 inches in height and 40 inches in width to accommodate the light stand.  A mount may contain more than one print, but all prints on the mount will be judged as one entry.  Entries will not be eligible for competitions if they are framed, have attached hardware, or could, in the opinion of the Vice President for Competitions, cause damage to other prints.  The name of the maker, the title of the print, and the class/category in which it is being entered must appear on the back of the print or mount, along with an arrow that indicates "this edge up".  Neither the name of the maker nor the title of the print may appear on the face of the print or mount.

F. Presentation of Slides
1. To be shown in the club projector, slides must be mounted in 2x2-inch cardboard, glass, metal, or plastic mounts.  Mounts which do not fit the club projector will be disqualified unless the entrant makes prior arrangements with the Vice President for Competitions, and provides the means of projection. 
2. Use of Erie mounts or other cropping methods is permitted as long as the method does not cause projection problems.
3. A convention has been established to tell the projectionist how the slide should be oriented:  Hold the slide up to the light so that it is oriented the way you want the image to appear on the screen.  While the slide is in that position, put an easily seen spot in the lower left corner.  The photographer's name should be placed on the back of the slide.

G. Presentation of Digitally Projected Images
All digitally projected images must adhere to the applicable rules in Section II.  In addition, images for the Digitally Projected categories/classes must be provided in advance.  A separate set of guidelines that provides standards for the size, format, and submission procedures to be used for digital competitions will be maintained by the Vice-President for Competitions.

H. Judging
During the judging, audience members must not make comments to the judge concerning the images being displayed.   Any questions may be brought to the attention of the Vice President for Competitions who, at his/her discretion, may bring the question to the attention of the judge.  The decisions of the judge and Vice President for Competitions shall be final.

II. Definitions
A. Photograph
Photographs shall include image obtained using a light capturing process.  The capture may be done by a film or digital camera; or by scanners and similar light-capturing devices.

B. Color and Monochrome Prints
Color and Monochrome Prints shall include images printed with either chemical darkroom techniques or with ink jet or other printers commonly used with personal computers or directly with digital cameras.  The printing may be done either by the entrant him-/herself or by a commercial facility.  Polaroid prints are also acceptable in these categories.  Conventional prints may use commonly accepted darkroom printing techniques of burning, dodging, toning, spot-toning, sandwiching, reducing, masking, high contrast, solarizing, line prints, texture screening,  posterizing, filtering, variable contrast, and other techniques normally used in the darkroom at the time the print is exposed and developed.  Digital images may compete with traditional prints provided that the minor adjustments to them be made by the entrant him-/herself and only include the digital equivalents of the techniques enumerated above for chemical darkroom printing as well as the additional processes listed below.  Images used for digital prints may be taken by digital camera, processed onto CD by a commercial facility, or scanned from film or slides.  Techniques that are permitted for digital prints include:  color adjustment; exposure, brightness, and/or sharpening; saturation/desaturation, or conversion to monochrome or black and white; cropping, resizing, rotating as long as it is applied to the entire image rather than particular elements in the image, electronic filters that are equivalent to glass filters used on a camera (e.g., blur, neutral density, or lens flare); and eliminating dust and scratches.  In addition, minor manipulations (such as cloning to remove insignificant but unsightly items in the background) may be performed so long as they do not affect the subject of the image.   Multiple exposures digitally combined to create an effect equivalent to multiple exposures on a frame of film is also permitted; however all images being combined must be the entire width and height of the picture and made visible by reducing opacity.  Stitching of multiple images to form a panoramic print is also acceptable in these categories.

Monochrome Prints must be of one color.  For example a black and white image is eligible as it is dark grey (black) to the very clear grey (white) with the various shades of grey.  Since in printing, white is the absence of color and the white is from the paper, black and white is considered one color.  The "Monochrome" category also includes images that are toned entirely in a single color such as sepia or any single color where that color has replaced black.  Images that are partially toned are considered polychrome and must be entered in the enhanced prints category.  There cannot be more than one color in any monochrome image.  Digital images that are fully de-saturated may be entered in the monochrome category.  Duotones are not permitted unless one of the two colors is white.

C. Enhanced Prints
Enhanced Prints shall include those color and monochrome images where the computer manipulation or other processing significantly changes the original image.  Such prints include those in which the final image either (1) does not use photographic print materials and chemicals that are manufactured to make photographic prints, or (2) digitally modifies an image by exceeding the list delineated in Color and Monochrome prints above, or changes the image with enhancements including, but not limited to, adding artistic and texture filters, adding objects, creating a new image from one or more images, digital artwork, digital "coloring", and multi-layer composites (except as enumerated in B. above), or collages.  Enhanced  prints shall include hand colored prints, Polaroid transfers, and non-minor computer or digitally manipulated prints.  All elements of the image must have been created by the entrant.

D. Slides
Slides shall include only traditional film slides.  Slides may include multiple, sandwiched frames of film.    Both color and monochrome slides are included.  The slide presented must be the image that was originally captured or an exact duplicate.  In particular, a slide of a manipulated image may not be entered in this category.

E.    Digitally Projected Images
Images used for the Digitally Projected Images category may be taken by digital camera or scanned from film or slides.   There are no restrictions against manipulation of an image, however, all elements of the image must have been created by the entrant and captured using a photographic process as defined in II.A.

III. Classes/Categories of Competition

1. In the Slide, digitally projected image, monochrome print, and color print categories, there are two Classes of competition:  Novice class for entrants who are inexperienced in photography in the medium being exhibited; and Advanced class for the more experienced exhibitors.  Any member may elect to exhibit in the Advanced Class of a category.  Upon doing so, however, the member shall be permanently ineligible to compete in that category's Novice Class.
2. Within a given Category, members are automatically promoted from the Novice to the Advanced Class at the beginning of a club year if, during any previous club year, they competed in the Novice Class and (a) finished among the highest 15% of all entrants in total competition points in that category; and (b) placed first, second, or third on one or more occasions.
3.  Novice Class entries may be re-entered for competition in the Advanced Class in a subsequent year.
 
IV. Recognition
A. Awards
In each Class/Category for which a monthly competition is held, the following awards will be made:
1. Two, three or four entries; first place
2. Five, six, seven, or eight entries; first and second place
3. Nine or more entries; 25 percent of all entries, with all fractions rounded upward, will be given awards, from which first, second, and third places will be chosen, and remaining award winners will receive honorable mentions.
4. No awards will be shared.
5. Judges must make all awards specified by these rules.

B. Point System
Print and slide competition points will be awarded to all members who enter prints or slides, as follows:
1 point for each entry that does not win an award.
1 point for each entry when there are not sufficient entrants to hold a competition,
4 points for each honorable mention,
6 points for third place,
8 points for second place, and
10 points for first place.

C. Questions of Eligibility and Disqualification
It shall be the responsibility of the entrant to bring all doubtful or questionable entries to the attention of the Vice President for Competitions before a competition begins.  Failure to provide such advance notice of a questionable entry before a meeting may, at the option of the Vice President, result in disqualification.  The decision of the Vice President on a specific entry shall be final unless he/she chooses to present the issue to the membership prior to the start of the competition, in which case a voice vote of members present shall be used to decide the issue.  A decision by the Vice President for Competitions will be final for the meeting date on which it is rendered but the decision may be appealed, with prior notice, at any subsequent board or general membership meeting.

If a disqualification is determined prior to the judge's award for that class/category, the image will be removed from consideration.  The Vice President for Competitions will inform the judge of any changes that result to the number of awards to be given.  If the disqualification is determined after a class/category competition has been completed, the Vice President will remove any points  that may have been awarded for that image, however all other ribbons and points shall remain as awarded by the judge.  If a Novice inadvertently enters a slide or print in an advanced competition, the novice can request that the image be eliminated or any awards refused and still preserve his/her Novice status.  Otherwise, the entrant will be placed in the Advanced class for that category.

Any member who submits more than the maximum allowed total entries in any one monthly competition will forfeit ALL points for that month."

V. End-of-Year Competition

A. Eligibility
All entries from the monthly competitions receiving at least an honorable mention are eligible for the end-of-year competition.  Rules for monthly competitions apply, except that submissions will take place as prescribed by the VP for Competitions, judging will take place in a separate location, and results will be available at the end-of-year banquet.

VI. Other End-of-Year Awards

A. Photographers of the Year
Photographer of the Year Awards shall be given to the photographer in each class who has accumulated the most points during the competition year.  In the event of a tie in the number of points, the award shall be shared.

B. Versatile Photographer of the Year
The Versatile Photographer of the Year award shall be given to the club member who has accumulated the highest number of total points from all competition classes and must have received an award in at least three classes.

 

Approved September 2nd, 1997
Amended May 22nd, 2001
Amended April 5th, 2005
Approved March 7, 2006
Approved May 20th, 2008