STOURPORT CAMERA CLUB COMPETITION RULES
January 2023 onwards
Contests
1. There will be 3 digital competitions each year: 2 for colour images and 1 for monochrome images.
All images will be scored, by an external judge, out of 20. The total marks of all digital entries for each member across the year will be added together to determine the overall winner for the year. In the event of a tied score the number of first places will break the tie.
2. There will be 3 print competitions each year: 2 for colour images and 1 for monochrome images.
All images will be scored, by an external judge, out of 20. The total marks of all print entries from each member across the year will be added together to determine the overall winner for the year. In the event of a tied score the number of first places will break the tie.
3. There will be 4 critique nights each year; 1 for each of the following types of images; colour digital; colour print; monochrome digital and monochrome print. An external judge will discuss the images but there will be no scoring as the night is not competitive. The judge may indicate their favourite image(s) at the end of the night.
4. The dpi of the year will be open to any image that has been entered in a dpi competition; dpi critique night; club critique night; rolling competition; flower or landscape competition.
An external judge will decide 1st; 2nd and 3rd places. Highly Commended and Commended may be awarded at the judge’s discretion.
5. The print of the year will be open to any print entered in a print competition, print critique night or club print critique night.
An external judge will decide 1st, 2nd and 3rd places. Highly Commended and Commended may be awarded at the judge’s discretion.
6. A number of Rolling Competitions (R.Cs) will be held each year.
These will be for digital images only. MEMBERS ARE RESTRICTED TO ONE ENTRY EACH MONTH. The competition will be judged by member vote. These are themed competitions; the theme will be published in the club programme for that year.
7. There will be a contest for a panel of four related dpi images.
Images may be monochrome or colour or mixed. DPIs should be titled and numbered to indicate the required running order. The competition will be judged by member vote.
8. There will be a contest a panel of five related images. (Five on one Board)
This contest is for dpi images only. Five related images must be presented as a single dpi. Images may be monochrome or colour or mixed. The competition will be judged by member vote.
9. An AV competition.
The maximum duration of the AV is 6 minutes. The competition will be judged by member vote.
10. Trevor Brookes Flower competition.
The competition, for dpi images only, will be judged by member vote.
11. Colin Peters Landscape competition.
The competition, for dpi images only, will be decided by external judge.
12. In addition there will a number of evenings where members may bring along images to talked about and discussed solely by members. These are non-competitive and their purpose is to enable members to consider how their images are reviewed by other photographers.
Presentation of images for competitions.
These rules apply to all club competitions.
a) The maximum size of digital images is 1600 px horizontal by 1200 px vertical and in JPEG format, sRGB colour space.
b) Images should be titled: 01_Title_Author
eg: 01_Camera Snap_Happy Snapper
c) There are no restrictions on the size of printed image but they must be mounted on a board of maximum size 20” by 16” (500 mm by 400 mm). Commercial printing is allowed provided that the image was not manipulated during the commercial printing process.
d) Images should be titled on the reverse: Title and Author
eg: Camera Snap Happy Snapper
e) A digital file of the printed image should be sent to the competition secretary.
Eligibility rules
a) There are no restrictions on the age of images entered in club competitions however the author must hold the copyright to all aspects of the image. The use of any form of stock imagery is not allowed.
b) Each member may submit a maximum of three images at each event unless otherwise stated in the rules.
c) Images should be labelled with numbers one to three. In the event of a large number of entries, and at the sole discretion of the competition secretary, all images numbered three may be omitted.
d) An image may be entered once into a club critique event; once into a rolling competition; once into an externally critiqued event and once into an externally judged event. A further entry may be made, as appropriate, into dpi or print of the year.
e) Monochrome and colour versions of an image are considered to be the same image. Thus, if a monochrome print is entered into a club critique night it would not be eligible for entry into another club critique night as a colour version.
Handing in entries.
Members must submit entries one week prior to the competition night to enable the competition secretary to process and prepare the work. Digital images should be on a memory stick.
Please ensure that your name is clearly marked on the memory stick.
External Competitions.
The club encourages all members to be active in external competitions including battles with other clubs; inter federation competitions and exhibitions both at home and abroad.
The club hopes that members will allow any image submitted in club competition to be used in inter club competitions to represent the club. Members are encouraged to submit other images which they feel appropriate for potential inter club selection. This would not affect the entry of the image into club competitions and critique nights.
Members retain the copyright to their images and may withdraw any and all images from inter club competitions by informing the appropriate competition secretary.
Club statement on images generated by Artificial Intelligence.
Stourport Camera Club are committed to the production of images using light capture and processed by the photographer. As such we support the statement by the Royal Photographic Society on the use of AI in the generation of images. We have copied this statement below and acknowledge the RPS as it’s author.
RPS guidelines on the use of AI for members
1. The RPS remains committed to the principle that photographs should be the original work of the creator(s), so entirely generative images, or images with material elements entirely generated by AI will not be permitted for Distinction submissions, exhibitions and competitions. What constitutes material in this context is a grey area, and something the RPS will continue to explore with its creative community.
2. The RPS will continue to accept the use of algorithmic processing in-camera or in post-processing software, which supports digital photography for Distinction submissions, exhibitions and competitions, on the condition that photographers are clear and open where such tools have been used. The RPS will trust in the integrity of its community but in certain circumstances may request further evidence in the form of RAW files or EXIF data, data, accepting that such evidence may itself not be definitive.
3. These principles and guidelines are effective for the remainder of 2023 only and do not constitute a final, fixed position; they will evolve as AI capabilities change and understating increases.