Competition Rules

Waikato Photographic Society Inc – Competition Rules

Reviewed November 2019

Print and Projected Images Competitions
Annual Competition
A Grade Star Awards
Drewery Cup Photojournalism Award
- (a) HS James Memorial Landscape Competition
- (b) Margaret Macdiarmid Memorial Landscape Competition
Rounthwaite Service Award

Print and Projected Images Competitions.

1. The committee will establish the competition timetable and indicate which competitions qualify towards the annual aggregate points awards. The competitions shall consist of ten monthly rounds held from February to November each year.

2. There are three grades:

A Grade (experienced photographers).
Intermediate Grade (some experience, but not at A Grade level)
Novice Grade (inexperienced photographers).

Entry into Novice Grade competition will be accepted from competitors who:

(a) have been approved by the committee to compete in the Novice Grade, or
(b) have not previously competed in Intermediate or A Grade competition, or

(c) have received less than six Honours awards for entries submitted in Novice Grade competitions.

Promotions:

From Novice to Intermediate – Six Honours awards in Novice Grade.
From Intermediate to A Grade – Six Honours awards in Intermediate Grade.

Promotions between grades will be made at the end of the competition year and will be announced annually at the Annual Awards event in December.

3. The Media shall be Prints and Projected Images (Slides and Digital Images).

4. There shall be Open and Set Subject categories. The committee will determine the set subject topics. The judge/s will decide if an entry falls within the set subject.

5. Entries must be accompanied by a completed entry form and shall be restricted to a maximum of FOUR images per round which can consist of:

A maximum of TWO prints, and

A maximum of TWO projected images provided that multiple images on one mount or digital file shall count as one image.

6. All competition entries must comply with the following conditions:

(a) All images must have been taken by the competitor, but may be processed professionally.

(b) There is no size limit on prints, but for mounts that exceed 40cm x 50cm (16” x 20”) the competitor will be responsible for the delivery of the print to and from the judge/s. Prints shall not be framed.

Slides must be suitable for projection in the Society’s standard projection equipment.

Digital images shall be jpeg, no more than 1620 pixels wide and 1080 pixels high.

(c) Although titles are optional, each entry must be clearly identified. Multiple ‘No Titles’ require clarification. For prints the title may be written on the front or back of the print. For slides the title shall be along the top of the slide as held for projection. For digital images, the title shall be included in the file name. (This form of labelling will then comply with competition entry form.) The entrant’s name must not appear anywhere on a print or projected image where it may be seen by the judge.

(d) All slides must be spotted with the spot in the lower left-hand corner when the slide is held upright for hand viewing.

(e) Images exposed at a club demonstration may not be used for club competitions. For the purpose of this rule a demonstration is a situation in which the subject and lighting, etc., are arranged and preferred camera position and/or exposures are indicated by the speaker with little or no skill being required by the photographer in these respects. This condition does not apply to other outings or meetings where the individual photographer has full choice of subject, lighting, exposure, etc.

(f) No image may be entered twice in club competition except:

i) The resubmission of an image that was not accepted in a competition.

ii) An image that is entered into a Society annual award

iii) An image that the committee has agreed can be resubmitted.

(g) In submitting a previously “not accepted” image for a second time, the entrant may take advantage of the judge’s suggestions for improvement.

(h) All entries shall be accompanied by a clear and legible entry form showing the name of the worker, the grade and type of competition and category entered. Separate entry forms are required for prints and projected images. Where the entry is a resubmission, the entry form shall be noted to that effect.

(i) All entries must be handed to the competition secretary prior to the closing date for the competition, which shall be announced in the club newsletter. Submissions received after that date will not be accepted for assessment except in the absolute discretion of the competition secretary.

(j) Judging of the competition shall be undertaken by a person or persons appointed by the committee. The Judge/s for each competition will be instructed by the committee as to the specific criteria for the competition. The specifications are also to be communicated to club members through the club newsletter prior to the competition.

Annual Competition

There shall be the following annual competitions open to financial members and the following awards shall be made in December from up to six entries submitted during the current competition year (February to November) from each medium.

PRINTS

A grade Champion colour – EYRE Trophy
A grade Champion monochrome – HUNT Cup
Intermediate Champion colour – HORNE Trophy
Intermediate Champion monochrome – ASTLE Cup
Novice Champion colour – GOOSEN-COOPER Cup
Novice Champion monochrome – MORAN Cup
Champion Nature Print – DELVES Cup

PROJECTED IMAGES

A grade Champion colour – COOPER Cup
A grade Champion monochrome
Intermediate Champion colour – SLATER Cup
Intermediate Champion monochrome
Novice Champion – MACDIARMID Cup
Novice Champion monochrome
Champion Nature Projected Image – WYCHERLEY Cup

ALL MEDIA ALL GRADES

Champion Portrait – DESGRANGES Cup
Champion Landscape – BRUCE HOLMES Trophy
Most Creative Image – IRENE A COOPER Cup
Photojournalism – DREWERY Cup
Landscape Memorial Prints – H S JAMES Cup
Landscape Memorial Projected – MARGARET MACDIARMID Cup

POINTS PRIZES

A grade aggregate colour prints – VIKO Trophy
A grade aggregate mono prints – LORIMER Cup
A grade aggregate colour projected images – GAYLARD Cup
A grade aggregate mono projected images
Intermediate aggregate colour prints – GALE Bowl
Intermediate aggregate mono prints – A L FOW Cup
Intermediate aggregate colour projected – PATERSON Trophy
Intermediate aggregate mono projected
Novice aggregate colour prints – MILLS Cup
Novice aggregate mono prints – LARSEN Cup
Novice aggregate colour projected images – JONES Cup
Novice aggregate mono projected images

Points towards the yearly aggregate competition shall be:

Non-acceptance 1 point
Acceptance 2 points
Commended 5 points,
Highly Commended 10 points
Honours 15 points
Plus ‘Set subject’ accepted entry 5 points

The committee may change the points allocation for any competition.

In the event of a tie, the award goes to the member with the most Honours in the year. If the same numbers of Honours have been awarded then the award will be shared.

Entries in annual competition will be judged to a high standard and no award will be made in any year if, in the opinion of the judge, a sufficient standard has not been reached.

A Grade Star Awards

Stars will be awarded to financial members as follows, (for Honours awarded in any media in the Society’s A Grade competition):

Bronze Star – on attaining six (6) Honours in Club Competition.
Silver Star – on attaining a further nine (9) Honours (15 total).
Gold Star – on attaining a further twelve (12) Honours (27 total).
A bar to the gold medal – on attaining a further 27 Honours (54 total).
A have been approved by the committee to compete in the Novice
Grade, or – on attaining a further 27 Honours, etc. There is no time limit placed on earning the Honours.

Drewery Cup Photojournalism Award

The award will be known as the DREWERY CUP and will be competed for annually, to encourage members to develop an interest in photojournalism and to increase their skill in this aspect.
The cup will be awarded for the best image, or for a set of not less than three (3) or more than six (6) images in the same media. Sets must illustrate a specific theme.
Prints may be of any size, and may be attached collectively to a singlemount of any shape, but not exceeding 40cm x 50cm (16” x 20”). The mount may be arranged so as to fold. Slides may be of any size up to 6cmx 6cm (2¼2) and should be correctly spotted for projection. Slide setsshould be numbered in sequence. Digital images must conform to the WPS specifications (see 6 (b), page 3).
Each set must be clearly captioned, indicating its theme. In print entriesthis should be on the face of the mount. For projected image entries, twocopies of the captions must be provided, preferably typed and double-spaced.
Entries will be judged by a person experienced in photojournalism. Such person need not be a PSNZ Panel Judge.
Entries will be judged to a high standard and no award will be made in any year if, in the opinion of the judge, a sufficient standard has not been reached.
If two images in a set are so similar as to be considered by the judge as repetition inconsistent with the theme, the second image shall be disregarded when assessing the set.
Not more than three (3) sets or three (3) individual images over all media may be submitted by any one member.
Images entered in this competition are also eligible for entry in the monthly competitions.

(a) H.S. James Memorial Landscape Competition

(b) Margaret Macdiarmid Memorial Landscape Competition

H Stanley James ARPS joined the Society shortly after its inception in 1937. His service to the Society and to photography in New Zealand, as exhibitor, lecturer, judge, and on committee were outstanding. He was president of the Society, an international exhibitor and had a great liking for and expertise in landscape photography.

Margaret Macdiarmid, who became a member in 1959, also contributed generously to the success and friendliness of the Society through exhibiting, lecturing, judging and on committee. She, too, served as president, exhibited internationally and had a great liking for and expertise in landscape photography.

The names of the competition, which shall be open to all members of the Society regardless of their grading, shall be the HS JAMES MEMORIAL LANDSCAPE COMPETITION and the MARGARET MACDIARMID MEMORIAL LANDSCAPE COMPETITION.
As the object of these competitions is to stimulate diversity of photographic interests and to foster landscape photography in particular, an entry shall comprise three (3) colour or monochrome projected images (Margaret Macdiarmid Memorial Landscape Competition) or three (3) colour or monochrome prints (HS James Memorial Landscape Competition), portraying three diverse subjects, one, and only one of which must be a landscape. No more than three (3) sets in each competition may be submitted by any one member.
Images entered into Waikato Photographic Society monthly competitions prior to the previous year’s Memorial competitions, or entered into the previous year’s memorial competitions, shall not be eligible for current entry. They need not have been entered in the current year’s monthly competitions, but they may be entered subsequently.
All images must have been exposed by the entrant. Prints may be commercially processed and may be of any dimensions but mounts must be no larger than exceed 40cm x 50cm (16” x 20”). Slides may be trade processed, must be in standard 5cm x 5cm (35mm) or 6cm x 6cm (2¼2) mounts and must be correctly spotted for projection. Digital images must conform to the WPS specifications (see 6 (b), above).
Judges shall be selected from the PSNZ Panel of Judges.
If, in the opinion of the judge/s, any image of any set is not of sufficient merit, then that set shall be ruled out, as it is desired that a high standard be obtained throughout. Should the judge/s consider in either competition that no set qualifies for an award, then in the competition concerned no award shall be made in that year.
The committee shall have the power to alter these rules as and when necessary.

Rounthwaite Service Award.

This is a service award presented by Arthur and Floris Rounthwaite. In determining a suitable recipient for this award they have suggested that preference be given to active photographers. However, as a service award, it is to be awarded to a club member who has provided outstanding service to the club. As examples, it might be awarded to a person who has promoted photography for beginners or in schools, been involved in the promotion of a regional or national convention, or whose committee work has been of special impact.

Nominations in writing, supported by a brief citation, must reach the Secretary, Waikato Photographic Society, PO Box 495, HAMILTON, by November 25th each year.

Mike Piercy Memorial Award

This award was withdrawn from competition in 2001.