(Select items 3, 6, 7 and 8 for information on new Digital Projection format.)
(Note concerning Digital Photography: In 2004, the Eastern Maine Camera Club formally accepted digitally produced photographs into our monthly competitions. Photographs from digital cameras or from film cameras that are scanned to digital files may be entered into the black & white or color print competitions, or into a new category devised specifically for digital images called “digital projection.” See the digital photography rules, below, for more details, or click here for the complete statement of our acceptance of digital photography into competitions.)
Any club member whose dues are paid up for the current club year (September to May) may enter photographs into one of our competitions.
Seven times each club year (September to May), on the third Thursday of the month, the EMCC holds its intraclub photo competition. The one exception is when we have a Christmas party on the first Thursday in December, with no second meeting and no competition for that month. The meeting and competition schedule will return to normal in January. See the club calendar for a meeting and competition schedule.
All members may submit photos in each of the following categories: up to two color slides, two color prints, two black-and-white prints, and two digital projection image files.
Photos must be taken by the member. If the member can't attend, his or her photos may be submitted by another member.
Competition topics—The subject matter for each competition will either be "open" or an assigned topic. "Open" means that any subject matter in good taste is acceptable. The assigned topic will be on specific subject matter that is determined by vote of the membership and will vary from year to year. The assigned topics for the following year will always be announced near the end of the current club year. An image that does not fit in the assigned topic will be disqualified from the competition, but may be entered in another competition at a later date. Topics in the past have been things like Farms, Landscapes, People, Flowers, Still Life, and Fall Color.
Black & White competitions each month will always be open, regardless of the assigned topic.
Color print, color slide and Digital Projection topics:
The first and last competitions each year (September and May) will always be open.
The topic of the second competition each year (October) will always be "nature." Images submitted in the nature category should not show any evidence of "the hand of man." This includes, but is not limited to, such things as cut grass, cultivated flowers, bird feeders, roads, buildings, or jet contrails in the sky. Exceptions are banded birds and animals whose natural habitat are man-made structures; e.g. barn swallows.
The topics for the remaining four competitions each year will be assigned.
Photos of pictures (paintings, lithographs, photographs, etc.) that represent the entire or predominant subject of the composition are not eligible.
Entrants should submit photographs taken recently (within the past two years).
Photographs may not be entered for intraclub competition more than once. Different compositions of the exact same subject are discouraged. Exceptions to this would be photographs that show, for example, seasonal changes or aging of the subject.
The same photograph may not be used in more than one format, except for black & white. For example, an image that originated on a slide may not be used as either a color print or digital projection image, but it could be converted and used as a black & white photo. An exception to this might be if the image were so heavily manipulated that it essentially became a different image, it could be entered in the digital projection category.
Black & white and color prints may be printed either by the photographer or by a commercial lab.
At this time, digitally produced slides will NOT be allowed into competition.
You can view the topics for the current club year by clicking here to see the club calendar of events. You will also see definitions for the topics at the bottom of the calendar, or by clicking on the topic names in the calendar. New topics for the next club year may be announced first on the "Breaking News" page.
PRINTS
All prints must be mounted and/or matted. No frames! The name of the photographer must appear on the top of the back of the print. An ID number for each print will be given to the photographer prior to the competition and must be written in the upper left corner on the back of the print. No writing should appear on the front of the print or mat.
The minimum dimensions for prints (the photograph, not the mount) is 5X7 inches. The maximum size is 16 X 20 inches including the mat, if any. Panoramic images must also conform to the maximum long dimension of 20 inches. There is also a snapshot category (3.5 X 5, 4 X6, etc.) in which mounting is not mandatory.
SLIDES
The usual format for color transparencies is 2 X 2 inches. Other sizes, cropping or glass are acceptable as long as normal projecting is unhindered.
The name of the photographer must be indicated on the slide. Also, a thumb spot must be placed in the lower left corner as shown in the diagram below to assist in orienting the slide correctly in the projection tray. The competition entry ID number given to the photographer prior to the competition should be written next to the thumb spot. You could also just write the ID number with a circle drawn around it in place of the thumb spot. Note: the thumb spot must be on the side not facing the screen.
DIGITAL PROJECTION
Since images will be projected with a digital projector, they will need to be prepared properly for projection. All images submitted for the DP format must have the following properties:
Color space set to SRGB, not Adobe RGB. If you shot the photo in Adobe RGB, you must convert it to SRGB.
Size set to 1024 pixels wide by 768 pixels high. This means that a photo with a horizontal format should be at most 1024 by 768 pixels, depending on how it is cropped. If the photo is a vertical format, it should be at most 767 pixels wide by 768 pixels high, again depending on how it is cropped. For example, a photo with a typical 4X6 aspect ratio in horizontal format would be sized to 1024 pixels wide by 683 pixels high. The 4X6 ratio in vertical format would be 512 pixels wide by 768 pixels high.
All photos submitted must be in JPEG format (.jpg file extension). You should save them at a high quality level of 8 or 9. Jpeg quality is usually presented as an option when you save the file.
The file name must include the competition date (formatted as yyyymmdd), photographer's name, and a brief title, in that order; e.g. 20070920_Sally Arata_Moose Chasing Mary.jpg
Several terms that are used in these rules must be defined to ensure understanding of the Club’s rules concerning digital photography, and avoid unnecessary disqualification of images submitted for competition.
“Digital image” or “digital photograph”—For our club’s purposes, this refers to any photographic image that exists as a digital file in a camera or in a computer during any part of its creation. This includes both images captured in a digital camera and images captured on film that are then scanned into a digital file that can be enhanced or manipulated on a computer.
Image Quality—This refers to two of the criteria that we use in judging images for our competitions:
1) Composition–The skillful or artistic placement of the subject and related elements within the frame at the time of exposure (i.e. when the shutter button is pressed).
2) Technical–Correct exposure, accurate focusing, sharpness, good use of depth-of-field, color balance, etc. In other words, for our purposes, image quality is the summation of those image properties that show the skill of the photographer in using his/her equipment, regardless of the subject matter.
Image Content—All of the physical elements within the frame of the image. This includes the actual subject matter, any extraneous elements, the spaces between each of the elements, the shapes of the elements, and the colors and tones specific to each element.
Digital Manipulation of Images—The alteration of either image quality or image content through the use of computer programs such as Adobe Photo Shop, Corel Paint Shop Pro, etc. The types of manipulation that will be acceptable in the Club’s competitions will be discussed in the Competition Rules, below.
Prints—Digital images may be entered to compete alongside traditional film images in the Color Print or Black and White Print categories, provided they meet the criteria for Acceptable Digital Image Manipulation as described below. Generally speaking, this will mean you may ONLY manipulate the image quality, but NOT its content.
Slides—At this time, digitally produced slides will NOT be allowed into competition. Film based slides are the only format we have where both the image quality and content are fixed at the time of exposure. This makes the use of original slide images the most effective way to judge a photographer’s skill with a camera, and as such should be retained as a traditional method of teaching and promoting basic photographic skills.
Digital Projection—Members may submit their most creatively manipulated images, as well as straight, basically optimized digital images, in the Digital Projection category. Essentially, Digital Projection will become an "anything goes" format for the purpose of showcasing everyone's skills in digital photography. Again, I want to stress that this is a format for all digital images, whether they were captured on film or with a digital camera, and whether they have been heavily manipulated or not.
Acceptable Digital Image Manipulation:
Regardless of the computer program or specific digital tools used, there are two rules of thumb you can consider when trying to decide what is appropriate manipulation of a digital image. Referring to the above definitions; 1) If the manipulation only alters the Quality of the image, it is probably OK, as that does not fundamentally alter the truth of what the image represents or what the photographer actually saw at the time of exposure. 2) If the manipulation alters the Content of the image, it is usually NOT acceptable because that changes the reality of what the image shows and what was in front of the photographer at the time he took the picture. So, for example, you may improve on the image exposure or sharpness, but you may not “put a moose that wasn’t already there in the middle of a stream.” The only exception to this will be the standard practice of cropping to remove or reposition elements within the frame. Following is a guide as to what digital tools are OK and are not OK for manipulating images submitted in the regular print competitions:
Tools that are OK to use (except as noted):
· Brightness/contrast adjustments and color balance adjustments may be made, as may selective darkening or lightening of areas of the photograph (dodging and burning). The emphasis should be on realism and the result should be as true to the original as practical. You should only use these tools to enhance an image like you would when selecting normally available films, filters used to correct (not alter) color balance, or the application of traditional darkroom techniques.
· Sharpening tools are OK.
· Cloning/airbrushing tools may only be used to remove miniscule processing artifacts, such as produced by dust, but not to add features that were not captured by the camera or to move or remove unwanted features that were captured.
· Cropping is OK.
· Stitched panoramic images are allowed in this revision of the rules.
· Desaturating a color image to make it black and white is OK, provided the desaturation is complete and not selective.
· Removal of “red eye” as a result of a flash exposure is OK.
Tools that are NOT OK to use (except in the Digital Projection category):
· No use of perspective correction tools is allowed. Any perspective correction must be done pre-exposure through camera movements or PC lenses.
· Composites of more than one image are not allowed, except for panoramic images as noted above. In other words, the image should be the result of a single exposure (shutter release) by the camera.
· Colorizing a black and white image is not allowed.
· Cut or Copy and Paste tools are not allowed (except for the removal of processing artifacts as discussed under cloning, above).
· No tools that artificially add artistic effects or otherwise alter the content of the image are allowed. These include, but are not limited to:
o Tools that add flare patterns, starbursts, or other artifacts that normally occur in-camera at the time of exposure.
o Blurring tools.
o Grain enhancing tools.
o Tools that change the texture or shape of objects.
o Tools that add 3-D effects.
o Tools that add illumination or reflection effects.
Before The Competition
Prints and Slides (see below for digital projection images)
Each member entering photographs into one of the monthly competitions must provide format and title information about their images to the Competition Chairman/Scorekeeper no later than 9:00 PM on the Wednesday night before the competition. The most preferred method for doing this is to fill in the on-line competition entry form by clicking this link — Competition Entry Form. You can also use the link in the Left Window Pane on the EMCC Home Page.
When you enter your photo titles in the entry form, the form will display a set of identification numbers for you to write on your prints and slides. These ID numbers will be important in identifying the sequence your images will be shown to the club. You must write the numbers in the upper left-hand corner on the back of each corresponding print and in the lower left corner of your slide mounts as shown in the FAQ about photo preparation, above.
If for some reason you are having trouble using the online entry form, you can email the following information to the Competition Chairman/Scorekeeper:
Date of the competition.
Photographer's name
Photographer's email address
The format of each image (B&W, Color Print, or slide)
Some identifying title for each image. If you don't have a specific title in mind, use something like untitled 1, untitled 2, etc. Just make sure you write that title on the back of your print or on your slide mount.
If you don't have access to email, you can also call the Scorekeeper at 989-5044.
Digital Projection
All images submitted in the Digital Projection format (maximum of two per member) must be emailed to Joel Holcomb (jcholcomb@gwi.net) no later than 9:00 PM on the Wednesday night before a competition. Before you email the images, please enter your photo titles using the Competition Entry Form to get your file names. If you are having trouble with your email, but you have successfully entered your photo titles on the entry form, you can bring your photos to the competition on a CD or jump drive. If this happens, please call the scorekeeper to let him/her know that you need to bring your images in this way. If you have not been able to use the form either, call the scorekeeper no later than 9:00 PM the night before the competition to give him/her your photo information.
On the Night of the Competition
Bring your prepared prints and slides to the competition 10 to 20 minutes before the meeting is due to start.
Prints should be placed right-side up in bins that are on tables at the front of the room. The bins will be marked with the print format that goes in them (B&W or Color). Put them in order in the bins, using the competition ID number you wrote on the back of the prints. The sequence of prints in each bin will be checked before the competition starts.
Put your slides in the provided projection tray, also on one of the tables at the front of the room. Put them in order in the tray using the competition ID number you wrote on the slide mount. If you need assistance in orienting the slides in the tray, ask the scorekeeper or any other club member who is available.
Members who are entered in the Digital Projection competition will usually not have to do anything on the competition night. Their images should have been emailed to the scorekeeper before the competition (see above). The only exception will be if your email or Internet connection was down, and you called the scorekeeper the night before the competition to make other arrangements.
1. All members may participate as judges, provided they have completed a short course in “How To Score” given by the recording secretary or another of the senior members. Five judges will be chosen at random from the members in attendance before the beginning of the competition.
2. Judging will be based on the Kodak method of assigning a score from 3 through 9. The idea of this method is to score 1 to 3 points for impact, 1 to 3 points for composition and 1 to 3 points for technical aspects. The score for a “good” or “average” image would be 6. Click here for a more thorough description of this scoring method.
3. Bear in mind, also, the emphasis of the photo to fit the assigned topic of the month. If the photo is judged to not fit the assigned topic, it will be given a score of DNQ (Does Not Qualify), but may be entered in another competition at a later date.
4. The Competition Chairman will tally the scores and announce the winners on the night of the meeting. Ribbons will be awarded to 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and honorable mention at the following meeting.
5. Scores will be recorded for each competition. The winners of the entire competition season will be determined from the cumulative totals of these monthly scores. Overall winners for the year will be awarded ribbons in these individual categories: color slides, color prints, black and white prints, digital projection, highest scoring photo of the year, most improved, and photographer of the year.