Stevenage Photographic Society
Competition Rules
Revised at EGM 13th November 2006
Monthly Competitions
1. Each monthly competition shall be divided into two sections, print and slide. Each section shall be divided into two classes – Novice and Advanced.
2. Entry to either class is governed by the following rules:
2.1 The novice class is open to those who have not previously won first prize in one of our monthly competitions or won the “Photographer of the Year”, or, “Portrait Photographer of the Year” competitions.
2.2 The Advanced class is open to any member, but once admitted to this class, members cannot subsequently enter the Novice class.
2.3 Entrants must stay within their class throughout the year.
3. Up to three entries in the selected class of the print competition and three entries in the selected class of the slide competition, are permitted in each monthly competition. Each entry must have a title for future identification purposes.
4. Prints may be in colour or monochrome and of any size. Prints entered in the Advanced class must be mounted. The author’s name and class must be clearly shown on the back of the print. Mounts must be made of cardboard, (or similar mounting material), and unframed. The mounting must be such that the mounted prints may be stacked or mixed without fear of damage to other entries. The author’s name must be clearly shown on the back of the print. If desired the front of the mount may display a title.
5. Slides may be in colour or monochrome. Each slide must be spotted correctly for projection and must bear the author’s name and class. It must also have a title, recorded on the member’s competition entry form.
6. For each monthly competition, entries must be received by the competition secretary by 7.45 pm on the evening of the competition. In order to encourage new work, the source, (film or digital image,) must not be more than 24 months old.
7. In each monthly competition, points will be awarded on a scale of 1 to 10 in half point increments, for each photograph. The member will be awarded one point for each entry.
8. Prints and slides entered in a monthly competition may not be entered in any subsequent monthly competition. The winner of each class, in each section, will be the member with the highest number of points, determined by totalling up the entry points gained, plus the points awarded, (in that section and class during the session), less the three lowest scores. A no-entry will be counted as a nil score and can be dropped. In the event of a tie, the award will be shared.
Annual Competitions
9. There are three annual competitions:
The Portrait Photographer of the Year, The Photographer of the Year and The Arthur Ash Trophy. The Jim Lucas Trophy is also awarded annually.
9.1 The Portrait Photographer and the Photographer of the Year competitions have separate sections for print and slides.
9.2 The Arthur Ash Trophy is for prints only.
9.3 The Jim Lucas Trophy will be awarded for the best print or slide selected from the entries in the Photographer of the Year Competition and from any print or slide scoring a 10 in the year’s monthly competitions.
10. The entry for either the Portrait Photographer of the Year or The Photographer of the Year competitions shall consist of six prints and/or six slides, but not a mixture of both. Each photograph must have a title. Special rules apply to The Arthur Ash Trophy competition (as described in paragraph 18).
11. Entries will not be accepted if they have been entered in any of these competitions in previous years, or if they are more than 24 months old.
12. Entries in the current season’s “Portrait Photographer” or “Arthur Ash Trophy” competitions are eligible for the current “Photographer of the Year” competition.
13. With the exception of “The Arthur Ash Trophy”, the annual competitions are aimed at encouraging the photographer to demonstrate his/her skill in the use of lighting, composition, and varying subject matter. All of these will be taken into account when choosing the winner.
14. Prints may be in colour or monochrome and of any size. They must be mounted. Mounts must be made of cardboard, (or similar mounting material), and unframed. The mounting must be such that the mounted prints may be stacked or mixed without fear of damage to other entries. The entrant’s name must be clearly shown on the back of the print.
15. Slides may be in colour or monochrome. Each slide must be correctly spotted for projection and must bear the author’s name. It must also have a title, recorded on the member’s competition entry form.
16. For the annual competitions, the Competition Secretary must receive entries before the published deadline.
17. Special Rules for “The Arthur Ash Trophy”:
17.1 The entry shall consist of a panel of six prints with a common theme and may be in colour or monochrome, (but not mixed).
17.2 The prints must all be of the same size and be within the following limits:
Minimum size – 10 inches by 8 inches; maximum size – 16 inches by 12 inches.
17.3 All prints are to be mounted. Mounts must be identical in overall size, colour, and material.
18. Additional Internal Competitions
Additional competitions with specific rules, may be introduced on a trial or “one-off” basis. These with be “for fun” competitions, designed to explore specific themes and mediums; eg. Black and white, digital etc. The results will not count towards any of the usual club trophies, but the competition may have their own trophy or prizes.
19. Inter-club and Federation Competitions
The entry conditions for these are usually set by the original organisers. In order to maximise the Society’s chances of success in these competitions, the committee shall have the power to specify entry requirements such as the minimum picture and mount size, when their experience suggests that this would be to the Society’s advantage.
20. Society Membership, Copyright and Judging
20.1 For all competitions, entrants must be paid-up members of the Stevenage Photographic Society for the year in which the competitions are held.
20.2 Entrants must hold the copyright of their entries.
20.3 Whenever possible a single judge, who is not a member of the Society, will be appointed for each competition. In the event of an external judge not being available, or not turning up, the committee will appoint three Society members to act as a panel of judges.
General
21. The Society accepts the use of digital images in all competitions and exhibitions. The use of copyright-free materials as part of the final image is precluded.
22. The committee may at its discretion, appoint a competitions sub-committee to select the entries for an external competition. The Competitions Secretary may then request the use of an entry from another competition for submission to an external competition but it will only be entered at the discretion of the sub-committee.
23. It is part of the role of the Competitions Secretary to correctly interpret and apply these rules and ensure that the competitions are fair to all members. If entries are submitted that fail to meet the rules, then the Competitions Secretary has the right to reject the entry, after consultation with the Chairman, (or another committee member if the chairman is not present), and the entry will be void.
24. Members who have entries rejected may appeal to the committee in writing within 14 days of the competition. The committee will either uphold the decision, and the entry will score no points, or reject the decision, re-instate the entry and award it ten marks. The committee’s decision will be in writing and will be final.
25. No alterations or additions to these rules shall be made, except by majority vote at the Annual General Meeting, or a Special Meeting called for the purpose. Any proposals for change are to be submitted in writing to the Hon Secretary at least 21 days before the meeting. He will arrange from them to be published on the Notice Board.
Amendments to previous issue:
The rules have been rewritten to include a number of requirements not previously covered. Among them is a tighter control on print mounting techniques to reduce risk of damage.
Accepted by majority vote at a Special Meeting held on Monday 13th November 2006
DL King
