General Competition Notes

A - MONTHLY COMPETITIONS

General

Monthly competitions are usually held on the second Monday of the months January to August, unless this is a Bank Holiday or for another reason.

There are currently four separate monthly competitions:

• Open - digitally projected,

• Our photography this month – digitally projected,

• Theme – digitally projected, and

• Prints - open.

The entry limits for the competitions are shown during the on-line submission process.  Currently members are entitled to enter one image in any two competitions. All entries will qualify for points in the annual consistency awards competitions.

Judging

Judging is done by a visiting judge. In addition members are able to cast their own votes. Please refer to Procedures below for further details.

Entries

Please refer to the competition rules. Competitions are open only to honorary and paid-up members.

Procedures

All prints must be entered at the club meeting preceding the competition night. All entries must have a title attached.

Digital images must be entered online by midnight on the Monday preceding the monthly competition.

All competitions will be judged by an external judge, with images scored between 10 and 20 points.

Each competition will be accompanied by an online member vote. The voting period will run from when the digital submissions close (midnight on the Monday prior to the competition date) until mid-day on the day of the competition. This is available to all honorary and paid-up members via the competition section of the Club website(Club Competitions).

In the online member voting members assign 1st, 2nd and 3rd places to images in each competition round. 3 marks for a 1st place vote, 2 marks for a 2nd place, and 1 mark for a 3rd place vote.

The marks for each entry shall be added and the entries attracting the highest marks shall be placed 1st to 5th in order. In the event of a tie on marks, the placing shall be determined by the entry with the highest number of 1st place votes. If still equal, the number of 2nd place votes will determine placing. If still equal, entrants will be awarded equal placing and will receive equal points.

B - ANNUAL COMPETITIONS

Print of the Year (POTY) & Digital Image of the Year (DIOTY)

Annual Competitions

There are currently two annual competitions with sub-sections, which take place towards the end of the calendar year. Currently members are entitled to enter two images into each of the competitions.

- Print of the Year

• Print of the Year and Projected image of the YearColour Print of the Year
• Monochrome Print of the Year

- Projected Image of the Year

• Best Urban/Sea/Landscape of the Year (Malcolm Smith Award)
• Best People Image of the Year
• Best Sport Image of the Year (Bryan Elliot Award)
• Best Nature/Wildlife Image of the Year
• Best Travel/Street/Photojournalism Image of the Year
• Best Creative Image of the Year

C - EXTERNAL COMPETITIONS

Inter-club challenge match

Periodically the club takes part in a competition with rival clubs. Each club enters an agreed number of images and on the night, a neutral judge comments on each image and awards points for them. The club with the highest aggregate of points wins the challenge.Prior to the competition, the relevant Competition Secretary will ask members to submit images, from which a selection may be made.

Invitation Competitions

A number of clubs promote annual competitions as part of their annual exhibition and invite other clubs to participate. The rules vary but the relevant Competition Secretary will ask members to submit high quality images from which the required number of entries may be selected.

L&CPU Competitions

The L&CPU also holds a number of annual competitions open to affiliated clubs and their members. Details are announced at club meetings and via email.