MONTHLY CLUB COMPETITIONS

Competitions are held monthly with images being submitted on the first meeting of each month starting in May with final submissions in February. The results of the judging are shown at first meeting of the month following the submission.

The monthly competitions are open to any photograph for May, July, September, November and January. Special topics are assigned the other five months. See Contest Topics here.

Images for the end-of-the-year competitions are submitted in March and there is no submittals in April.

ACCEPTANCE OF RULES
Submission of prints or projected images in a monthly club competition implies acceptance of all the following conditions.

ESTABLISHMENT AND CHANGE OF RULES
These rules were established and approved by the Executive Committee and are subject to change by the Executive Committee, as warranted.

GENERAL COMPETITION REQUIREMENTS AND ELIGIBILITY
Any member is eligible to enter competitions. The photographer must have shot all images submitted for competition. Prints can be made by a lab, providing that there is no further manipulation or adjustment made by said entity.

The subject for each monthly competition may be open or a special topic. The special topics alternate with open competitions and are listed in the back of this yearbook and here.

A member may enter a maximum of one projected, one monochrome (black and white) print and one color print in each monthly competition. A photographer may not submit the same image in projected, monochrome and color print formats in the same monthly competition. All images that a member submits for competition in a given month, whether projected or print, must be different.

A print or projected image that has placed 1st, 2nd or 3rd in any monthly club competition is not eligible for re-entry in future monthly club competitions in the same category, but may be entered in a different category. That is, a print made from a winning projected image, or vice versa, is defined as a different image in a different media and, therefore, is eligible for future competitions. Any projected or print image may be entered in club competitions no more than three times. If the photographer has taken many exposures of the same scene, subsequent images in the same format will be considered duplicates and not eligible for competition.

COMPETITION CATAGORIES

• Color Prints

See instructions for preparing submission.

• Monochrome Prints

The definition for monochrome prints follows PSA rules. If the monochrome print is produced from a color digital file, it must be completely de-saturated or converted to grayscale. One color tinting of a print is permitted, i.e. sepia. Prints may be enhanced by adding a single color. See instructions for preparing submission.

• Projected Images

Projected images are submitted in digital format. The source may be a digital camera image or a scanned negative, slide or print. See instructions for preparing submission.

COMPETITION CLASSES

Projected Images and Color Prints
· Class M - Masters / Accomplished photographers
· Class A - Advanced photographers
· Class B - Beginner and intermediate photographers

Monochrome Prints
· Class A/M:  Advanced and master photographers.
· Class B - Beginning and intermediate photographers.

New Members
New members may begin in either Class B or Class A when first entering competitions. Once the class is chosen, the photographer remains in that class for the remaining club year.

Advancement
Members currently competing in Class B may elect to compete in Class A at the beginning of the new club year in May. The club executive committee may also recommend that certain photographers move to Class A for the new club year. The member may choose to remain in Class B for one additional year when so recommended.

Competing in Class M or A/M is by Executive Committee approval only. The chairpersons of projection images and print submit recommendations for advancement the Executive Committee at the end of each club year. The executive committee reviews and approves worthy photographers for advancement to Masters Class. The member may choose to remain in Class A for one additional year when so recommended.

Although mid-year advancement is generally not permitted, anyone advancing from one class to another class during the club year may carry forward any points accumulated to date.

Once the member moves up in class, he/she cannot move back down.

Annual Review of Classification
After the last competition of the year is judged in March, the Print and Projected Image Chairs shall review their respective results of the year’s competitions and submit recommendations for member advancement to the Executive Committee. Recommendations for advancement will be based on the photographer’s consistent production of high quality work as evidenced by average score and winning record in monthly competitions. Final approval is by the Executive Committee.

PREPARATION AND SUBMITTAL OF IMAGES FOR COMPETITION

Preparing Color and Monochrome Prints
Prints must be mounted. The print or mount may be up to 16”x20” in size, but no smaller than 5”x7”. The title, printer’s name and competition class must be on the back of each print in the upper right-rear corner. No adhesive can be exposed on sleeves or on tape used to secure images to mounts and mats. It is recommend putting your name on sleeves in case they get separated from print. Prints not properly mounted and marked will not be eligible for competition. Photographers in Class M must make their own prints. See Digital Imaging below for additional information.

Preparing Projected Images
The submitted projected images must comply with the following requirements or they will not be eligible for competition.

• Maximum image width is 1024 pixels.
• Maximum image height is 768 pixels - regardless of the image’s orientation (portrait or landscape).
• Image format is JPG/JPEG.
• Maximum image file size is 600 kilobytes (KB).
• Image file naming convention is maker’s initials in upper case followed by the image title in lower case and the jpg extension, e.g. PB_the four horsemen.jpg

For detailed information on preparing projected images using various photo editing programs, click on

• Photoshop or other
• Photoshop Elements
• Picasa

DIGITAL IMAGING

Digital imaging is defined as any manner of creating images directly with a digital camera and/or digitally processing images derived from negatives or slides with or without additional digital manipulation to produce a single image. All elements of the final image and any digital manipulation performed on such images must be totally of the submitter’s own creative efforts and may not embody, in any form, digital imagery derived from other software/sources, no matter how it’s manipulated.

A digital image file representing the image so created may be transformed into a slide, print or negative through the services of a “service bureau” or comparable activity; however, there must be no further manipulation performed on the image by the service bureau in the creation of the slide, print or negative. The exception being that photographers in Class M must make their own prints.

Projected images and prints generated through the use of digital technique as so described shall be judged in all respects the same as images derived through tradition techniques. It is the content of the image that shall be evaluated and not the process by which it was created. Images so created may be submitted in all levels of Dallas Camera Club competition and need not be identified as to the process of creation.

PHONETIC SPELLINGS FOR DIFFICULT NAMES AND PLACES

If your name is often mispronounced, please include a phonetic spelling in paranthesis next to your name on the back of prints or slides or email message. Also, if the name of your image includes a non-English word, help the judges by placing a phonetic spelling next to that word. This will uphold the integrity of your work by having your name or your image's name correctly pronounced.

NUDE PHOTO POLICY

Photographs of nudes will not be accepted in any competition or contest of the Dallas Camera Club. Other photos may also be disqualified by the Print or Projected Image Chair on the grounds of distastefulness.

JUDGING AND AWARDS

Entries will be judged by a single judge or panel selected by the appropriate Chairperson and will be scored according to PSA approved International Exhibitions Rules. Competitions are based on a maximum of 15 points. Certificates will be awarded for each category and classification as follows: 1st place, 2nd place, 3rd place and one honorable mention. There can be only one award for each place in each category; however, in instances of few entries, it is possible that an honorable mention, a 3rd or even a 2nd place may not be justified.