Club Competition 

2019 ​Information & Rules

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Entering competitions is all part of the involvement and fun of being a camera club member!

The club has two regular competitions: the Club Competitions and the monthly Copyart competition.

Club Competitions
  • ­There are five competition rounds during the year (see competition calendar on right): four are ‘Open’ Subject and one is 'Natural History'
  • ‘Open’ means that the photograph may be of any subject. 
  • 'Natural History' is as defined by PSNZ
  • You may submit a maximum of 2 prints and 2 projected images, up to 4 entries in total for each competition round (NB not 3 projected and 1 print).
  • Those entering prints must also supply a digital file of the print for viewing at Club Night.
  • You may not enter identical or almost identical images (at competition secretary’s discretion) in both the print section and the projected image section.
  • ​The entries in the club competition are either sent away to judges who are recognized for their photographic or artistic ability, or judged by senior club members.
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Competition Grades
  • A’ Grade – This is intended for experienced photographers. It is a full competition level with points and an overall year prize.
  • ‘B’ Grade – This is a good entry point for photographers who have no previous competition experience. This grade normally receives a more lenient judging with points and an overall year prize.
  • ‘B’ grade photographers may be requested by the committee to move to the ‘A’ grade and at the discretion of the committee, points may be transferred. The yearly winner of the ‘B’ grade automatically moves to the ‘A’ grade.
  • A member with Honours distinctions (e.g. LPSNZ, APSNZ, FPSNZ) should compete in the ‘A’ grade.
  • A member who gains Honours or medals in external PSNZ competitions should also compete in the ‘A grade.​
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​Competition Entries
  • You can access the entry form for Club Competitions using the link at the top of this page. above under Competitions > Club Competitions.  This enables you to complete the form and email it to the Competition Secretary – instructions for filling it in (if needed) are here.
  • For the four Open Club Competitions and the Natural History Competition, you are asked to bring your entries in at the meeting indicated in the calendar, usually the first meeting of the month along with the entry form.
  • Click here for a list of definitions including what “Natural History” entails.
  • If you email digital files to the club secretary, always ask for a confirmation email so you know that they have been received together with the entry form. They must reach the Competition Secretary by club night.​​
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  • ​​They are then sent to the judge for critiquing and returned in time for the following month’s meeting. Here they are displayed and the judge’s comments on each entry are presented.
  • Entries are awarded either No award, Acceptance, Merit or Honours
  • Unless an entrant achieves an Acceptance, Merit or an Honours, the name of the photographer is not announced.​

Points system
  • The points that are scored are accumulated over the year in the Open Competitions decide the overall winner of the “most points” trophies. Points score in the Natural History Competition will not contribute to this tally.
Entry in Open subject competition gains:
  • No award   0 points
  • Acceptance   3 points
  • Merit   5 points
  • Honours  8 points
 
  • If, at the end of the year, two or more members are tied with the same number of points, the winner is the member with the most Honours. Where there is still a tie, the number of Merits will decide.​

Prints
  • All prints must be mounted on either a stiff piece of card or a proprietary foam backing board. In addition, if you wish, you may add the protection of a cardboard mat around your print. (Mounting board and mat board can be obtained from picture framers.)
  • The mounting board (with mat if one is used) must not exceed 16”x 20” (40.5 x 51 cm.)
  • For ‘A’&‘B’ Grade: The size of the mounting board (incl. mat) must not be smaller than 6” x 8” (15×20 cm.) There is no minimum size for the actual print.
  • The print itself should not be covered with anything – no glass or plastic.
  • Write the title of your image and the grade (‘A’ or ‘B’) on the back of your entry, but DO NOT put your name on entries. Remove any old labels, names and numbers that are not relevant to this competition. (A good way to label prints is to use ‘magic’ or ‘scotch’ tape. This lifts more easily than regular sellotape or labels and you can write directly onto it when using light-coloured mounting boards.) Indicate which way up it should be viewed by placing your title at the top center edge.
  • For ease of viewing, digital files of prints will be used for projecting on club nights.  These digital files (1620 x 1080 pixels) must be handed to the Competition Secretary with the print entries on a CD, memory stick or emailed to the competition secretary.  Submit your digital files using the online entry form. All images will however be judged as originally submitted.

​Submitting your print entries.
  • When your images are ready, complete an entry form and place it along with your entries submit them using the online entry form before clubnight. Bring your prints along to club night and place them into the collection box.
  • Place some form of protective wrapping around your prints to avoid damage, though this will be removed and entries repacked when they are sent to the judge.

Competition 

Calendar 2020

Competition 1
  • Open competition
  • Entries close 23rd March 2020
  • Results 27th April 2020
  • Judge: Alison Viskovic FPSNZ
​Competition 2 
  • Open competition
  • Entries close 11th May 2020
  • Results - 8th June 2020
  • Judge: TBA
Competition 3:
  • Nature competition
  • Entries close 8th June 2020
  • Results  13th July 2020
  • Judge: Rebecca Bowater FPSNZ
Competition 4 
  • Open competition
  • Entries close 22nd June 2020
  • Results - 27th July 2020
  • Judge: TBA
Competition 5 
  • Open
  • Entries close 10th August 2020
  • Results 14th Sept  2020
  • Judge: Brian Harmer LPSNZ
  • You can retrieve your Prints, packaging, CDs and memory sticks when you collect your entries after judging.
  • ​Your entries are handled by the competition secretary while they are being catalogued, then by the judge, and yet again by the competition secretary when they are displayed with the judge’s comments. So make sure your prints don’t fall apart.
  • Remember too that the entries are couriered in a purpose-built, hard-sided case.
  • Please note that the club cannot be held responsible for any damage or loss of competition entries.
  • The club has a policy on ownership of images which extends to the judge, which stipulates that your images may not be reproduced or distributed in any way, without your permission. The two exceptions are our website and the club newsletter. 
  • Click below for full details of NCC's policy on ownership of images.​
Projected Images
  • All digital entries to be on a CD or memory stick with no other files. Please write your name on the CD-face or clearly name your memory stick.
  • Digital entries maybe submitted by email, including entry form, to the competition secretary. Always ask for a confirmation of your entries!​
  • Your CD or memory stick will not go to the judge, so as with the prints, the judge does not know the author of the images.​
  • Digital images should be no more than 1620 pixels in width and 1080 pixels in height and must be in .jpg format. Files should be named  with your grade (See Competition Grades), ‘A’ or ‘B’, and followed by the title of your entry. but the name  cannot exceed 40 characters (including spaces and punctuation.)
  • Example: a ‘B’ grade entry entitled ‘Lazy Days’ should be named: B-Lazy Days.jpg..
  • All images in the month submitted (e.g. May) are judged as the ‘May’ Open competition.
  • Submit your entries using the online entry form
So.....now you’ve got your entries back and the judge loved them!  Congratulations! 
  • You may wish to enter them in inter-club competitions or external competitions, but sorry – once your entries have received ‘Merit’ or ‘Honours’ you cannot enter them again in a NCC club competition.
  • If your entry gets a ‘No award’ or when it’s ‘Accepted’, but you think it deserves better you are free to enter it again. This also allows you to make changes as suggested by the judge and see if that works.  Who knows, a different judge, a different point of view and you may get a much better result!
  • Category Trophies and Champion Trophies.  At the end of the year, usually October, a judge will select the winner of each of our four categories; Landscape, Portrait, Black and White and Natural History from images entered into the competitions during the year which gained an Acceptance or better award.
  • A judge will also select the Champion Digital Projected Image and the Champion Print from all the images for the year that gained an Acceptance or better award.
  • Winning Category Trophy images of DPI and prints and of A and B grade will automatically be included into the relevant categories.

Note:
  1. Prints will need to be entered again in the usual way at the October meeting.
  2. Projected images will automatically be entered as the competition secretary has these on file.
  3. There is no restriction on the number of entries, but remember that they must have met the above criteria.
  • You may choose to not enter images for the trophies. If so, please ask the competition secretary to not enter your digital projected images, before the October meeting.  you should indicate this on the online entry form when you submit your image/s for competition.
  • Trophy winners will be announced at the AGM in November.
  • Click here for a list of definitions including what “Natural History” entails.

Rules updated 8 Feb 2016

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— Marc Riboud
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