Competition Information

From September 2012, Animals Category was removed afterwards by club vote

Foresters Camera Club
Competition Information
Revised & amended: September 2012
Page 1 of 7
GENERAL INFORMATION
Competition will be conducted during the first meeting of the month from October through
April. Only dues-paying members may compete in the monthly competitions. If we work
together, our competition nights will run smoothly. Out of consideration for the judges,
meetings must start on time. To insure promptness, all entries must be submitted by 7:15 PM.
No entries will be accepted after this deadline. In addition, the President will attempt to keep
the business meetings short. Food and beverages will be served before the meeting is called to
order.
RAIN DATE
In the event that a competition meeting is cancelled, the president will make every effort to
reschedule the meeting for the following week – the second Tuesday of the month.
COMPETITOR CLASSES
Club members will be assigned to a competitor class based on their expertise and competition
scores:
• Class A will consist of the most proficient club members.
• Class B will consist of members with intermediate photographic skills.
• Class C will consist of new members with novice skills.
Class assignments are permanent for the current club season. Advancement to a higher class
will be based on the member’s average point total and will be announced at our end of year
awards banquet by the Foresters Scorekeeper. A club member will be moved to the next
higher class if the member’s average point total for the year is equal to, or greater than, the
lowest average point total in the next highest class.
If a member wishes to move down in class, such request must be made in writing to the
Executive Board, which will review the request and render a decision. Averages will be based
on no less than six (6) entries in the Small Color Print class. Since the other competition
categories are already open to all classes (A, B, and C), only Small Color Prints will be considered
when compiling averages

COMPETITION CATEGORIES
For each category, the maximum number of entries per member, per competition is two (2),
with a maximum for the club season of twelve (12). Images may be entered in the following
categories which will be judged at all competitions:
• LARGE COLOR PRINTS: This is a general category open to all classes. All entries in this
category are judged together with no differentiation between Class A, B, or C.
• SMALL COLOR PRINTS: Small Color Prints will be judged in Classes A, B, & C. Each class
will be judged separately on its own merit. Awards and Honorable Mentions will be
granted in each class.
• ANIMALS: Animals will be a separate category of small color prints in which the primary
subject of the image is an animal. Animal prints will be judged together with no
differentiation between Class A, B, or C.
• LARGE MONOCHROME PRINTS: This is a general category open to all classes. All entries
in this category are judged together with no differentiation between Class A, B, or C.
• SMALL MONOCHROME PRINTS: This is a general category open to all classes. All entries
in this category are judged together with no differentiation between Class A, B, or C.
• SPECIALS: This is a special category of Digital Projected Images open to all classes. The
images entered into this competitive category must conform to the special topic of the
month with the main subject of the image clearly representing the special topic. All
entries in this category are judged together with no differentiation between Class A, B,
or C.
• DIGITAL PROJECTED IMAGES (DPI): This is a general category open to all classes. All
entries in this category are judged together with no differentiation between class A, B,
or C.
In all print categories, images obtained by different methods will be combined. Prints produced
by traditional film or digital sensors will be grouped together without regard to darkroom or
computer enhancements or alterations. For the sake of the CACCA delegates who must choose
print entries, entrants must indicate any special methods used to create, enhance, or alter the
image. This information must be recorded on the back of the board so that the image can be
placed in the correct CACCA competition.
ENTRIES IN ABSENTIA
If a member is unable to attend a competition but would like to enter images in absentia, it is
that member’s responsibility to arrange for another member to enter those images. The
member entering images for the absent member must notify the Image Coordinator prior to
the competition

MAKE-UP ENTRIES
Two (2) make-up entries for each category are allowed per month from November through
April, provided that the entrant participates in a minimum of four competitions. These entries
must be clearly marked and announced to the judges as “make-ups for point scoring only, not
for honors.” If the Image Coordinator or one of the Image Assistants fails to make this
announcement, the entrant must do so from the floor.
Due to unusual circumstances, qualified members of the club may need to fill in for competition
judges. Since judges may not submit work to a competition they are judging, they must
withdraw their entries prior to competition and enter them as make-ups in the subsequent
competition. Unlike other make-ups, judges’ make-ups shall be eligible for honors.
RE-ENTRY
There are two (2) conditions under which an image may be judged more than once.
• If a member believes that a non-winning entry has special merit, it may be re-entered
one other time in the same category in a subsequent competition, providing that the
initial score was twenty (20) or below.
• Once an image has competed, even if it has won an honor, it may be entered in one
other category during the current or any subsequent season.
SAME SUBJECT MATTER
A print similar to a previously submitted print and judged in the same category is ineligible.
Similar is defined as almost identical in subject, composition, props, lighting, or technique
whereas anyone viewing the entries together would decide that they are nearly the same,
except for very minor changes.
SPECIFICATIONS FOR PRINTS
Prints are classified as either SMALL or LARGE.
• A small print is any print mounted on and not extending beyond the edges of an 11” x
14” board.
• A large print is any print mounted on and not extending beyond the edges of a 16” x 20”
board.
All prints must be identified by affixing a completed Foresters Camera Club label in the upper
left corner on the reverse side of the board. The entrant must record the following information
on the label: name, date, category of entry, and title of the image. Prints may be maker-made
or commercially made

SPECIFICATIONS FOR DIGITAL PROJECTED IMAGES
DPI images must be submitted to the DPI Coordinator by the deadline specified. The best
method is e-mail, though other methods of submission may be used. Late submissions will be
rejected. Image width must be no more than 1024 pixels and the height no more than 768
pixels. Files are to be JPEG format.
PRINT ENTRY FORMS
Both parts of the form must be filled out completely, correctly, and legibly, or the entries on
that form will be disqualified. The form includes the entrant’s name, date, title for each entry,
and appropriate check marks indicating the proper category. There can be only one form
submitted per competition category. The form must be whole, not cut in half. A separate form
must be filled out for make ups, and the word “MAKE UP” must be stamped on both halves of
the form. Make-ups submitted by judges must be marked “JUDGE’S MAKE UP” and placed with
the regular entries, except Specials must be placed with other make ups.
The Image Coordinator will enter scores on both the upper and lower half of the form and
record Awards and Honorable Mentions in the appropriate spaces. Following the competition,
one half of the form will be returned to the competitor for his/her records. The other half of
the form will be given to the Scorekeeper. It is the responsibility of the entrant to verify the
accuracy of the scores and bring any discrepancies to the attention of the Scorekeeper within
72 hours of the competition. Otherwise, the score will stand.
REQUIREMENTS FOR HONORS
For honors to be given there must be a minimum of three (3) entrants and five (5) entries in the
category. Otherwise, only points will be awarded.
MONTHLY WINNERS
The club will acknowledge with honors a minimum of 20% of the entries in each category,
provided that the minimum number requirements have been reached. Acknowledgements will
be divided into two groups – Awards and Honorable Mentions (HMs). A Print-of-the-Month
(POM) shall be selected from the Awards group. Judges will select approximately 10% of the
total entries in each category for Awards and approximately 10% of the total entries in each
category for Honorable Mentions. Variances from these percentages may occur at the
discretion of the judges. For instance, in the event of multiple high scores, judges may give
more Awards than the stipulated 10%. As long as the minimum is reached, the club allows the
judges leeway

The target numbers of Awards and Honorable Mentions, based on the number of entries in a
category, will be as follows:
Number of image entries Awards Honorable Mentions
5-10 1 1
11-15 2 1
16-20 2 2
21-25 3 2
26-30 3 3
JUDGING METHOD
Three (3) judges, usually CACCA members from other clubs, will view, judge, and award the
entries.
The judging will be conducted as follows:
Judges will use scoring machines equipped with a number display. Each of the three (3) judges
will assign a number score of “0” to “9” for each image as it is displayed. The three (3)
individual scores are totaled and assigned to the image. Total points for an image range
between “0” and “27,” most images scoring in the range of “16” to “23.”
Any image that receives a score of 25 or more will automatically be retained and receive an
Award recognition.
The 20% receiving the highest scores will return for a second round of judging. However,
oftentimes the number receiving the highest scores will be less than 20% of the entries. In
those instances, another round will be conducted from entries with lower scores. These will be
passed through for review by the judges to increase the number of entries and achieve the
target 20%. If the number of entries receiving the highest scores is more than 20%, an
elimination round will be conducted to achieve the target 20%.
Once an acceptable percentage of images have been selected, a process called “IN and OUT” is
used. The judges are shown each entry again to determine if it should remain in the
competition or be eliminated. As the entry is presented, the judges vote with a “1” or “In” to
keep the image in the competition or a “0” or “Out” to eliminate the image.
• If all three judges select “1,” the Scorer will call “three in” and the image is accepted for
the next round.
• If two judges vote “1” and one judge votes “0,” the Scorer will call “two in” and the
image is accepted for the next round

• If one judge votes “1” and two judges vote “0,” the Scorer will call “one in” and the
image is eliminated.
• If all three judges vote “0,” the Scorer will call “out” and the image is eliminated.
After a review of the remaining entries, further rounds of “IN and OUT” may be necessary to
attain the target numbers for Awards and Honorable Mentions.
PRINTS OF THE MONTH
After the regular judging of the entries, all Award winning entries will be shown to the judges
again so that they may award Print of the Month (POM). The “IN and OUT” process will be
used to determine the POM from each competition category.
PRINTS OF THE YEAR
This competition will be conducted on the first Tuesday in May using an outside panel of
judges. All club members may submit up to four (4) images from each category that were
previously judged during the current club season. These images need not have earned Awards
or Honorable Mentions. There will be one winner in each competition category. Print of the
Year (POY) will be presented at the annual awards banquet or other suitable occasion.
END OF YEAR HONORS
Cumulative scores will be kept by the Scorekeeper, who will tally and publish the standings
periodically throughout the year. After the April competition, the cumulative scores will
determine the top two (2) competitors in each category. However, in order to be eligible for
one of the top two (2) positions, a member must have submitted the maximum allowable
number of images for that category, which is twelve (12).
COMPETITION COMMITTEE
The Executive Board will serve as the Competition Committee.
CHALLENGES
An entry may be challenged orally during the competition. It also may be challenged in writing.
The written challenge must be presented to a member of the Competition Committee within
seven (7) days of the competition. The committee member receiving the written challenge will
meet with the rest of the Competition Committee to review the facts and render a decision.
The entrant and the challenger will be notified of the Committee’s decision. In the event that a
member of the Competition Committee has entered the challenged image, the entrant shall not
be allowed to vote on the final resolution of the challenge.
ENTRIES HELD FOR PSA AND CACCA COMPETITIONS
Suitable print and DPI entries may be selected and held for PSA & CACCA Interclub Competition.
Permission from the entrant is implicit, unless otherwise stated.

EXCEPTIONS FOR ENTRY
A competitor may submit an image that has been judged at another camera club to a monthly
competition at Foresters Camera Club, unless that image has been entered at CACCA Interclub
Competition.
ALTERATIONS AND AMENDMENTS
Any of the foregoing rules of competition may be altered and amended by a majority vote of
the membership present.