Internal Competition Rules

INTERNAL COMPETITION RULES & HOW TO ENTER - updated February 2020

Abbreviations Used:

PDI - Projected Digital Image (a digital file);

N&EMPF - North & East Midlands Photographic Federation.

Internal Competition Rules
    1. Images entered must be entirely the work of the photographer. Composite images are permitted provided all component images meet this requirement.
    2. Close-copied images are not in the spirit of club competitions. They are discouraged by the DCPC committee and may be disqualified from Club competitions. Whilst we are all inspired by the work of other photographers, there is a grey area where inspiration in creative images carries over to close copying. Close copying is where, to a reasonable person, the submitted image appears identical in all important respects to an image previously created by another photographer, whether published or not. (For clarification: photographs taken at well-photographed locations, or photographs of models taken in a studio under accepted lighting conditions and poses, are not considered close-copying; whereas copying the original creative idea and the essential elements of a deliberate arrangement of objects would be).
    3. Plagiarised images are not allowed.
    4. Competitions are open only to paid-up members.
    5. Images may be used in a maximum of ONE monthly competition and ONE annual competition. An image, which has been used as part of a panel competition, however, may subsequently be used in ONE monthly competition and ONE annual competition.
    6. An image must be perceived as a single 'picture' or image. With the exception of the Digital Panel competition, groups of distinct 'pictures' are excluded.

Notes for Guidance
    1. Any questions regarding these rules should be addressed to the Internal Competition Secretary.
    2. The criteria for internal competition entries will be published for both competitors and those judging the competition.
    3. The judge’s decision is final but the DCPC Committee will resolve any disputes or other competition issues. The DCPC Committee’s decision is final.
    4. It will be assumed that PDI images used in monthly or annual competitions may be placed on the DCPC website image gallery unless a member specifically requests otherwise. The images displayed on the DCPC website gallery will be watermarked and significantly reduced in size and will not yield useful images if printed. Displayed images may also include member names and associated photography distinctions. Selected images over the course of a year will be used in the Club's programme booklet and again contain associated member names and photographic distinctions.
    5. Competition dates can be found in the DCPC programme booklet and on the website.
    6. Submission of an entry will signify acceptance of these rules.
    7. Details of how to enter Club competitions and associated image scoring by invited judges, collective Club trophies and awards are detailed below.


How To Enter and Competition Awards

General
    1. Entries must be with the Internal Competition Secretary no later than midnight on the Friday prior to the evening before the competition date. Images arriving after this time will NOT be accepted unless the Competition Secretary has agreed in advance to accept a late entry.
    2. Entries should be sent as .jpg attachments converted to sRGB colour profile to the Internal Competition Secretary email: dcpccomp@gmail.com
    3. All PDI files must be titled as follows: Title in capitals followed by the word 'by' followed by the photographer's name in normal type e.g MY PICTURE by Joe Bloggs
    4. Please do not "fill-in" any unused area of the PDI with black to complete the image file to a maximum size of 1600 x 1200 pixels (see PDI Competitions (1) below).
    5. Titles must be stated in the email main text with, where appropriate, whether it is a Theme or Open entry. Titles should be kept as brief as possible.


PDI Competitions
    1. With the exception of the Digital Panel competition, PDI's must be sized to a maximum of 1600 x 1200 pixels and be in .jpg format. This means in landscape format the maximum width is 1600 pixels by up to 1200 pixels high. In portrait format the maximum height is 1200 pixels. Please do not "fill-in" the unused space with a black background.
    2. For the digital panel theme monthly competition, the requirement is a minimum of THREE separate images in a single PDI image file. The PDI file must be 1920 x 1080 pixels in size.


Print Competitions
    1. The club will project a PDI of print entries for the benefit of those sitting further back in the room. The judge is asked to judge the print, not the PDI. A PDI of print entries must be sent to the competition secretary (see General above).
    2. These PDI files should be formatted, sized and titled as for PDI competitions (see above).
    3. Prints must be handed in before 7.15pm on the night of the competition. Prints arriving late will not be accepted. This is to give the judge time to look through them before the start.
    4. Prints must be mounted, and mounts must be exactly 50cm x 40cm. Print minimum size is 23cm for the longest side. The photographer's name and the print title must be clearly printed on the reverse of the mount. No titles or photographer's name may appear on the front of the print/mount.
    5. Commercially produced prints are acceptable providing the original image is the work of the entrant.


Annual PDI Competition
    1. The Annual PDI competition will comprise one Open subject competition.
    2. Up to 3 PDI's may be entered per member. However, to enable effective management of the PDI numbers, you must indicate which is your third choice PDI. If the entered PDI numbers are too high, your third PDI will NOT be used.
    3. The competition will not be scored and the judge will select a winning image by elimination. Further Highly Commended and Commended awards may be selected at the judge's discretion.
    4. The winner will receive an award to keep.


Annual Print Competition
    1. The Annual Print competition will comprise one Open subject competition.
    2. Up to 3 prints may be entered per member. However, to enable effective management of the print numbers, you must indicate which is your third choice print. If the entered print numbers are too high, your third print will NOT be used.
    3. The competition will not be scored and the judge will select a winning image by elimination. Further Highly Commended and Commended awards may be selected at the judge's discretion.
    4. The winner will receive an award to keep.


Monthly PDI Competitions
    1. There will be 4 monthly PDI competitions a year.
    2. A separate document 'Competition Set Themes with Descriptions and Scope' can be found on the club website. It lists the themes for each competition along with guidance to their scope and definition. This information is also given to the judge.
    3. Members may enter a maximum of two PDI's in the Open section and a single PDI in the Set Theme competition in each of the monthly PDI Competitions.
    4. The images will be scored out of 20 by an invited judge.
    5. The scores for each member's Set Theme and Open images (highest score to count in the case of two Open entries) will be added together to give a total for the evening. At the end of the year the three highest monthly scores will be aggregated to find the Best PDI Photographer of the Year.


Monthly Print Competitions
    1. There will be 4 monthly Print competitions a year.
    2. A separate document 'Competition Set Themes with Descriptions and Scope' can be found on the club website. It lists the themes for each competition along with guidance to their scope and definition. This information is also given to the judge.
    3. Members may enter a maximum of two prints in the Open and a single print in the Set Theme competition in each of the monthly Print Competitions.
    4. The Mono competition will have no separate Open section. On that evening, members may enter a maximum of three Mono images.
    5. The images will be scored out of 20 by an invited judge.
    6. The scores for each member's Set Theme and Open images (highest score to count in the case of two Open entries) will be added together to give a total for the evening. In the case of a Mono competition, the best two member's scores to count. At the end of the year the three highest monthly scores will be aggregated to find the Best Print Photographer of the Year.


PDI Photographer of the Year
    1. Each member's highest three monthly PDI scores will be aggregated to find the winner. The winner will receive an award to keep.


PRINT Photographer of the Year
    1. Each member's highest three monthly PRINT scores will be aggregated to find the winner. The winner will receive an award to keep.


Joe Vowles Trophy
    1. Each member's highest six monthly scores will be aggregated to find the winner of the Joe Vowles Memorial Trophy. This will be held for one year. The winner of the trophy will also receive a separate award to keep.
    2. The late Joe Vowles was a founder member of our club and his widow donated this trophy to the Club in his memory.


Most Improved Photographer
    1. This will be awarded to the photographer with the most improved aggregate score over the previous club season, where the previous club season has at least six monthly entries.