Rules and Procedures
I. Introduction.
The primary objective of the club’s competition is the further education of those who compete, rather than for individuals to garner honors; however awards exist because they help measure progress. The Club has voted to become an Exhibition Type Club rather than a Competitive Type Club. To that end, images judged that receive tie scores will result in multiple 1st, 2nd and 3rd places. Example: If there are three images tied for first place, all three will receive the first place award but second and third place will be eliminated for that competition. The number of honorable mentions will be contingent on the number of entries received for that particular category of competition. Club competition will include friendly rivalry, but should never become a more serious contest, or the purpose will be defeated. Club competition will include digital and print competitions. If a person shoots slide, he/she will convert the slide to a digital image for competition.
Competition can encourage photographers or it can stifle their ambition. Obviously, NCC wants its competitions to do the former. All competitions will operate with fairness and proper procedure, but also with a sense of humor and light-hearted fun. Not every photograph is a winner, but to the maker his or her photograph is very important. Each member can expect to and deserves to have his or her work impartially and constructively evaluated with respect.
II. Process of competition.
Digital images or Print images for each competition, will be shown, for judging (scoring by judges). An image will be shown for at least five (5) seconds. Titles and maker’s names will not be read during the judging.
Digital entries should be submitted via email by 6:00 pm on the Saturday before the meeting.
Prints will be judged using a print light box. Members should submit their entries to the competition chairperson and his/her helpers 30 minutes before the meeting begins. The maker’s name must be covered if on the front, but the maker’s name, category, and title must appear on the back of the print in the lower left corner. An assigned number will be given when the print is entered into the competition and will appear near the lower back corner. Judges will study and score the prints.
Later, after the scores are determined, all images will be shown a second time and/or all images will be displayed and their titles read. Names will be read for those photographs receiving honorable mentions or places. At this time judges or commentators will comment on the entries, when feasible.
Each member is responsible to pick up his or her entries at the end of the meeting. Prints are not the responsibility of club officers or committee chairpersons.
III. Rules of competition.
Rule 1: Members may submit an image in each of the categories of competition (further defined in the Category Definition Document) each evening when listed on the schedule [(1) Nature -- Birds (Birds Only), (2) Nature - Other (No Birds), (3) Open – this is a general category where anything can be entered including nature that has been altered or has the “hand of man” and cannot be entered into nature, (4) Assignment - subject matter listed on the website schedule (5) Creative-Altered must be obviously altered.
Rule 2: Digital images must be sent using the instructions for submitting digital images available on the NCC website.
Rule 3: Prints must be mounted on foam core size 16 inches by 20 inches and cannot include mats or be framed. Prints (before mounting) must measure a minimum of 11 inches on the short side by 14 inches on the long size and a maximum of 16 inches on the short side, and 20 inches on the long side. Signatures must be covered, but maker's name should appear on the back of the print with their title and the category entered.
Rule 4: Members may submit entries when they are not present at the meeting by sending them with a friend or email.
Rule 5: A digital image or print that has won a place in a Naples Camera Club competition once may not be submitted in an NCC competition a second time.
IV. Judging the images in a competition.
Images may be judged using two methods: 1] by three members or two members and an outside judge, and 2] by a panel of three judges who are not club members. The judges will use the scoring box during judging. The judging method used each evening will be at the discretion of the Competition Chairperson. At present time, all scoring is done by the judges on Zoom.
Guest judges: From time to time it will be possible to recruit guest judges to judge our competitions. These judges and the Competition Chair will discuss the preferred methods prior to the actual judging, to make the guest judge comfortable with the process.
Panel of judges: When a panel of judges uses the scoring box to judge the images, each judge will score the photograph 5 through 9. One of the judges will comment on each slide or print during the final showing with titles and results, if time allows. If the panel is composed of members of the club, an alternate judge will score the judging member's entry.
Club scoring: Each member can individually score the images for their own learning experiences but these scores will be solely to enhance their judging experience. Images are evaluated for photographic technique, quality of composition, interest and impact, and extra points are given for a truly outstanding and exceptional image.
V. Number of awards.
Each category exhibition (greater than 6 entries) will have first, second and third place award. The number of honorable mentions will be determined by the number of entries in the particular category as listed below. If Class B has less than 6 entries, only a 1st Place will be awarded among those judged and critiqued.
Entries - Number of Places - Number of HM’s
Greater Than 30 - 1st, 2nd, 3rd - 8
29 to 30 - 1st, 2nd, 3rd - 7
27 to 28 - 1st, 2nd, 3rd - 6
24 to 26 - 1st, 2nd, 3rd - 5
20 to 23 - 1st, 2nd, 3rd - 4
17-19 - 1st, 2nd, 3rd -3
15 to 16 - 1st, 2nd, 3rd - 2
11 to 14 - 1st, 2nd, 3rd - 1
9 to 10 - 1st, 2nd, 3rd - 0
7 to 8 - 1st, 2nd, 3rd - 0
6 - 1st, 2nd, 3rd - 0
5 - 1st, 2nd - 0
Less Than 5 - 1st - 0
VI. In the case of ties.
If the scores of two or more placing entries are the same, both individuals will receive the number of points of the place, and the next place(s) will be eliminated. For example, if two people tie for 2nd, they both receive 7 points, and the 3rd place will be eliminated. When there are ties, the number of HM’s will be at the discretion of the competition chair.
VII. Points earned in competitions for club awards.
The award points secretary will record the points earned by each member each year to discern the “Photographer of the Year”. Cumulative plateau awards (at 25, 50, 100, 200, 300, 450, 600 and 750) will be awarded to individual members. Points earned for competitions will be:
Place - Points
1st - 8
2nd - 7
3rd - 6
HM - 2
All entries - 1
Disqualified entries - 0 - Can be entered again in other competitions.
VIII. Competition awards.
All awards for a specific fiscal year (November 1- October 31) will be made at the January meeting of the following year.
Accumulated Points. Members may receive awards for their accumulated points in club competitions. Awards will be given for 25, 50, 100, 200, 300, 450, 600 and 750 points earned in NCC competitions. When a member has earned 750 points he or she will become a “Fellow” of the Club, and point records will no longer be kept. Awards may be certificates or plaques.
Photographer of the Year. One “Photographer of the Year” award will be made to the person receiving the most points in any given year. A member may not receive a “Photographer of the Year” award for two consecutive years. If the point count has this result, the person with the second highest number of points will receive the award that year. If there is a tie in points accumulated, two awards will be made.
End of Year (EOY) wins will consist of a First (1st) Place win in Open Projection, Nature Projection and Creative/Altered Projection and Open Print, Nature Print and Creative/Altered Print. We will also have a Projection Image of the Year and Print Image of the Year.
* End of Year Images. The only images eligible to be entered into the end of the year competition are images entered by the maker during the fiscal year. If the image was entered as a PRINT, it must be entered into the end of the year competition as a PRINT, with no modifications. Same for PROJECTION.