Exmouth Photo Group

Exmouth Photo Group (EPG) organises a number of internal competitions during the club 'year' (September - August). All members are encouraged to take part in competitions with the aim of improving their photographic skills.

 

During our Winter season (September to April), we have a series of four “Regular” competitions, a one-off “Set Subject” competition, and a one-off “Panel” competition. For these competitions, points are awarded for different levels of excellence. At the end of the Winter season, trophies are awarded to members receiving the highest total numbers of points. In addition to these competitions, there is an informal “Chair’s Challenge”, for which points are not awarded.

 

The next five Sections present the rules for these competitions followed by a Section outlining the requirements for preparing, naming, and submitting print and digital entries to the competitions

​

General Rules

 

No image may be submitted more than once in the Regular competitions.

 

All images must be solely the work of the member, and additional elements such as clip-art or internet image are not allowed.

 

AI (Artificial Intelligence) use

No computer generated pictorial image content can be used. The key principle is that all photographic elements in an image must be  photographed by the author.  E.g. A sky can be changed for another one also photographed by the author, but not for one created by AI or downloaded from another source. AI can be used to sharpen, to cut out and to assist with cloning and any other editing, providing that it does not create something new that wasn't photographed by the author.

​

It is implied that all members give their permission for EPG to use any competition image/s on the EPG website, for external competitions and for publicity (including both conventionally published and electronic formats).

 

'Regular' competitions

 

The four Regular competitions are held at roughly equal intervals through the Winter season, the dates being given in the club programme.  Images for these competitions are divided into four categories: colour prints, mono prints, digital colour images and digital mono images.   The club invites external judges to critique the entries in each category and determine whether each image merits an award, and what level of award should be given. 

 

Members may submit no more than Three entries in each Regular competition. 

 

No more than Two entries may be made in any one Category.

 

Entries must be submitted at least two weeks before the date of the competition, to the timescale determined and advertised by the Competition Secretaries. The requirements for the preparation, naming, and submission of entries are detailed in a later Section.

 

The award levels and numbers of points given are as follows.

 

Judging in these competitions is by the “Gold-Silver-Bronze-HC” system. Judges are asked to make awards to 20% - 30% of the total entries in each category, at their discretion, and also make a single “Best Overall” award. Scoring shall be as follows:

​

'Best Overall' award – 1 extra point;

'Gold' – 7 points;

'Silver' – 5 points;

'Bronze' – 4 points;

'Highly Commended' – 3 points;

All other Entries – 1 point.

Annual trophies are awarded to members with the highest aggregate numbers of points in each of the three categories.

 

Should there be a 'tie' in any category, the result shall be determined by calculating the total number of 'Gold' awards achieved, with the winner being the member with the larger number of 'Golds'.   Should there still be a tie, the total number of 'Silver' awards shall be calculated similarly; should the tie still continue, then the number of 'Bronze' awards shall be calculated. 

 

Should there still be a tie, each member shall 'share' possession of the trophy equally for the duration of the year.

 

Set Subject competition

 

The Set Subject competition is usually held in December (see the club programme). This competition normally consists of three Set Subjects, with members asked to submit one image in each of the three subjects.   Entries must be submitted to the schedule advertised by the Competition Secretaries, usually at least two weeks before the date of the competition.

 

All entries are digital, with no division into colour or mono categories.

 

An external judge will critique the entries in each Subject and determine whether each image merits an award and what level of award should be given. The award levels and numbers of points given are as follows:

 

Judging is by the “Gold-Silver-Bronze-HC” system.  Judges are asked to make awards to 20% - 30% of the total entries in each Subject at their discretion, and also make a single “Best Overall” award.

Scoring shall be as follows:-

 

'Best Overall' award – 1 extra point;

'Gold' – 7 points;

'Silver' – 5 points;

'Bronze' – 4 points;

'Highly Commended' – 3 points;

All other Entries – 1 point.

 

A trophy in memory of John Stredwick (Past President) is awarded to the overall winner, i.e. the member with the highest total number of points in this competition.

 

Ties shall be determined as for Regular Competitions.

 

The requirements for the preparation, naming, and submission of entries are outlined in a later Section.

 

Panels Competition

 

A “Panel” consists of four, five, or six images on a related subject or theme, forming a coherent and ha}rmonious whole.  Images for this competition are invited for two categories - prints (mono or colour)  and digital images (mono or colour )

 

The Panel competition is usually held towards the end of the Winter season.  An external judge will critique the images in each category and make awards using the “Gold-Silver-Bronze-HC” method.  The judge will critique each individual image and the overall arrangement and artistic impact of the whole Panel.

 

Members may enter up to Three panels in total, distributed between the two categories but only two panels per category.

 

Judging is by the “Gold-Silver-Bronze-HC” system.  Judges are asked to make awards to 20% - 30% of the total entries in each category at their discretion, and also make a single “Best Overall” award.

 

Scoring shall be as follows:-

 

'Best Overall' award – 1 extra point;

'Gold' – 7 points;

'Silver' – 5 points;

'Bronze' – 4 points;

'Highly Commended' – 3 points;

All other Entries – 1 point.

 

The requirements for the preparation, naming and submission of entries are similar to those for the Regular and Set Subject competitions, but with some important differences, as noted later.

 

 

Chair’s Challenge

 

This is an informal competition for the pleasure of the participants and no awards are made.  Rather, it offers all members an opportunity to display examples of their photography in a non-critical environment.

 

Two subjects are set by the current Chairperson of EPG, these being announced at the start of the winter season.  The competition will usually be held at the same meeting as the Annual General Meeting, at the end of the winter season.

 

The Chairperson will talk about the images in accord with photographic norms and personal subjectivity.

 

Members may submit Two entries in this challenge.  The distribution of entries between the two subjects is at the choice of the member.

 

Entries must be submitted at least two weeks before the date of the competition, as determined and advertised by the Competition Secretaries.

 

Preparation, naming, and submission of print and digital entries

 

Preparation of print entries

 

Prints must be mounted, and maximum size of the mount board is 50cm x 40cm.  Format (portrait or landscape), board colour, aperture / print size, etc is to the choice of each member.

 

Preparation of digital entries

 

Digital images must be submitted as high-quality jpeg files.  The colour profile should be sRGB, because other colour profiles (e.g., Adobe RGB) may not project correctly.   The horizontal and vertical dimensions of a digital image must not exceed 1600 pixels and 1200 pixels respectively.   Note that the limit of 1200 pixels always applies to the vertical dimension, even if the height of your image is greater than its width.

 

Naming of entries

 

Every submitted image must have a title and the length of the title must not exceed 25 characters. This title forms part of the file name of a digital image and is written on the back of the mount board of a print (see below).

 

In addition, every image must have:

• The priority letter (A or B*), then

• the EPG competition number of the photographer (with a leading zero if it is less than 10), then

• the title of the image. (e.g. A09 Tree Frog)

* Note that single entries to a category must have an ‘A’ priority letter because all ‘A’s are sorted together etc.

 

In addition, every image must carry the EPG competition number of the photographer, forming part of the file name.

 

All entries for competitions with multiple categories (e.g., Regular Comps) shall also include a note of which category the image is entered for.

 

Due to occasional excessive number of entries in a competition (I.e., more than can be satisfactorily judged in an evening), the Competition Secretaries may have to exclude some entries.  To ensure fairness, every member submitting multiple entries in any competition must include in the title the letters 'A' or 'B' to indicate their order of priority.   Should some entries be excluded as above, all entries marked as 'B' s would be excluded.

 

A standard scheme is required for the file names of digital submissions. This scheme consists of the priority letter A (or B), the member’s competition number, followed by a space, followed by the title, and if the competition number is less than 10, it should include a leading zero.

​

For example, if your competition number is 6, and the title of your first image Is “Durdle Door”, then the file name will be A06_Durdle Door. If you are submitting a second image to a given category of a competition, then they should be distinguished by adding the letter B before the competition number.  For example, of the member having competition number 6 submits images entitled “Durdle Door” and “Orcombe Point” to the digital category of a Regular competition, then the file names would be A06_Durdle Door and B06_Orcombe Point with no spaces between the No. and Title.

​

For print submissions, the same scheme should be used by writing the distinguishing letters A or B, the member’s competition number and the title on the back of the mount board.

 

To ensure impartiality of judging, entries must not bear the member’s name nor any other potentially identifying marking.

 

The format of titles on prints should therefore be:

Priority             Member Nr      Title                               Category

Example 1 :      A99 _ Summer Sun                Colour.

Example 2 :      B08_   Shadowland                 Mono.

​

The format for digital images should be:

Priority              Member Nr      Title                             Category

Example 3 :      A02_Exeter Lights               C

Example 4 :      B69_Mountain Storm          M

​

The exception to this convention is for the Panel Competition.  

This format has to be:- 

Priority              Member Nr     Panel Sequence Number       Title                            Category

Example 5 :      A99_                 0 (assembled panel)               Exmouth Streets        C

Example 6 :      A99_                1 (first print)                            Exmouth Streets        C

Example 7 :      A99_                2 (second print)                       Exmouth Streets        C

​

​