Competition Rules 2007 to Present
 

Contents

  1. Checklists to Help You Prepare Competition Entries

  • Slides

  • Prints

  • Monochrome images

  • Printed digital images

  1. Categories and Guidelines for Monthly Open Competitions

  2. Trophies

  3. General Regulations

1. Introduction

Unless otherwise announced by the Council, the rules set out below will apply to all BPA Monthly competitions and Members’ Annual Exhibitions with effect from 1st September 2007.
Entries in Monthly Competitions

Each member may enter:

  • Prints up to six
  • Slides up to six

2. Checklists to Help You Prepare a Competition Entry

Slides

1. The entrant must have taken the photograph.
2. Slides should be suitably mounted between glass in 2” x 2” (50mm x 50mm) mounts or in plastic mounts as received from the processor.
3. Only the title of the image should appear on the mount.
4. The mount should be spotted in the front bottom left hand corner as shown below.
Image of Slide, spotted bottom left hand corner
5. The name of the entrant and the competition should appear on the slide box.

Notes
1. It is worth securing slides in their frames with thumb spots to prevent them slipping in transit.
2. When glass mounts are used, the image is best mounted so that the white surface of the mount faces the projector lamp during projection. This reduces the risk of heat damage to the slide.
3. Slides may be masked to enhance the composition of an image.

Prints

1. The entrant must have taken the photograph.
2. Print mounts should not exceed 16” x 20” (406mm x 507mm).
3. The minimum size for any mount is 15” (225mm) along its longer edge.
4. Since all entries are eligible for entry in the L & CPU’s Annual Competition it is important that entries comply with the L & CPU’s rules. So, please ensure that:

  1. The overall thickness of a mounted print does not exceed 4mm.
  2. The reverse side of window-mounted prints is flush finished, i.e. the image area does not protrude backwards and there are no “Velcro” fasteners or adhesive tape on the surface.
  3. Certificates already awarded for an entry are removed or covered temporarily.

5. The title of the image and the date of entry should appear on the mount. This information is usually recorded on the back of the print since inscriptions on the front of the mount are judged to be part of the image.
6. The entrant’s name should on the bag or box containing the entry and not on the print or on its mount.

Notes
1. Judges will take presentation into account.
2. Trade processed prints are acceptable in all competitions.

Monochrome Images
The Association follows the L&CPU’s definition of monochrome images:
“black and white images or toned black and white images, with or without a range of shades. If a colour has been added, the image will be regarded as a colour image.”

Printed Digital Images
1. The entrant must have made the original exposures.
2. Any modification to the original must be made under the personal direction of the entrant.
3. The final work with the exception of mounting must be executed on photographic film, photographic paper or inkjet/laserjet print material. Rules relating to digital images to be judged by projection are provided before the general
regulations at end of this document.

Note
Digital images may be entered in any monthly competition.

Monthly competitions

Monthly competitions will be held throughout the season, as convenient. The Competition Secretary and Syllabus Secretary will propose which competitions shall be organised during the forthcoming season at or before the Council meeting immediately preceding the Annual General Meeting.

The categories for each season will be announced at the preceding Annual General Meeting and listed in the Association’s syllabus.

3. Categories and Guidelines for Monthly Open Competitions

Please check that your images are suitable for the category in which you plan to enter them. Certain subjects may not be entered in some categories.

Landscape
The emphasis in this category is on pictorial content. Landscape includes pictures of the countryside, sea, sky or river
scenes. Figures and man-made features, e.g. buildings, should not dominate the scene. N.B. Images of town and cityscapes are not eligible for this category.

Portrait
In this category the emphasis is on the representation of human subjects. This may include character, figure or group studies, and candid shots as well as formal studio portraits. N.B. Animal portraits are not eligible for this category.

Record and Illustrative
This category includes any factual photograph which is non-pictorial in treatment, e.g. documentary, photo-reportage,
architecture, industrial, sports, theatre and other pure record subjects. The emphasis must be on clearly depicted, informative images from which the subject is readily apparent. Titles should be factual. N.B. Nature images are not eligible for this category.

Nature
Wild animals and birds in their natural surroundings, reptiles, fish, insects, wild flowers and plants including close-up studies are eligible in this category. Images of captive animals including those taken at a zoo are eligible. Titles should
be factual. To assist the selection of entries for external competitions, a “W” should be added to the slide frame or print mount of subjects taken in wild conditions. N.B. Images of tame or domestic animals are not eligible for this category.

General Pictorial
The emphasis in this category is on the appropriate use of lighting, shape, form, texture, composition and where appropriate colour to create a pleasing and emotive image. This category is intended mainly for subjects not eligible for other categories, although pictorial interpretations of any subject are acceptable. Images of pets and table-top are eligible for this category.
The appointed judge will interpret the pictorial content of an image and its compliance with these rules.

4. Trophies

Aggregate Trophies
At the end of each season Council also awards the three trophies listed below for the highest aggregate Advanced Grade scores gained in the Monthly Competitions.
  • The Grenfell Trophy Monochrome prints
  • The Wellington Lee Trophy Slides
  • The Centenary Colour Trophy Colour Prints

The Morrisey Trophy is awarded for the highest aggregate score in the Natural History category for the Monthly Competition and the Members’ Annual Exhibition. This covers all three media, i.e. slides, monochrome and colour prints.

Scoring

Scoring in monthly competitions will be as follows:

First place 10 points
Second place 8 points
Third place 6 points
Highly commended 4 points
Commended 3 points

Members will be awarded one point for each category entered. Commendations are awarded at the discretion of the judge in the light of the size and the quality of the entry.

5. General Regulations
1. Only full members who have paid their subscriptions may enter competitions

2. Trophies, when awarded, shall be held by the winning member until the corresponding competition during the following season, but shall remain the property of the Association. The Council may demand their return at any time. Funds allowing, the name of the winning member shall be engraved on the space provided on the trophy or plinth.

3. The Council will appoint the judge or judges for any competition or exhibition. The judge or judges may withhold any
awards except first place, at their discretion.

4. Any matters of dispute shall be referred to the Council, whose decision is binding on all members.

5. The Competition Secretary or Exhibition Secretary shall provide all judges with a copy of these rules. The interpretation of eligibility shall be at the discretion of the Competition or Exhibition Secretary. The judge will be the final arbiter.

6. The Exhibition Secretary shall have the discretion to exclude any image which he or she considers unsuitable and shall report such exclusions to the Council.

7. The Association reserves the right to make copies or reproductions of any entry submitted. Copyright of images remains with the original author.

8. The entrant of the print judged “The Best (Monochrome or Colour) Print in the Exhibition” will be invited to donate either the print or a suitable copy to the Association’s permanent collection.

9. The Annual Exhibition shall be timed so that the images entered may be considered for the Association’s entry into the L&CPU’s Annual Competition. The Council may appoint a committee to choose the entry.

10. It is a condition of entry in any BPA competition that work may be retained by the Association to represent the Association in external competitions.

11. Whilst every care will be taken, the Association does not hold itself responsible for any damage to images when not in the owner’s possession.

Rules for Projected Digital Images
Members may enter up to six images in each competition for projected digital images.

To enable easy management of entries, image data files must be:

  1. Maximum pixel dimensions: 1024 wide x 768 pixels high
  2. sRGB colour space
  3. High quality JPEG (10-12) with no limit on file size
  4. Named in accordance with the following conventions
  • Number within entry
  • Member’s number, e.g. 101 Underscore, i.e. _
  • Title
  • 3 letter Microsoft file extension, i.e. .jpg
  • Include W in filename of subjects taken in the wild.
  • e.g. 1101_lakesideview.jpg
  • 2101_fromthecarpark.jpg
  • 3101_uphill.jpg
  • 4101_downdale.jpg
  • 5101_autumncolours.jpg
  • 6101_buzzardW.jpg
  1. Submitted on a CD, DVD or USB memory stick labeled with the entrant’s name. CDs and DVD's should be finalized before
    they are submitted. CDs and DVD's will not be returned to the entrant. At present, entries may not be submitted by email.
  2. Accompanied by details of the filenames and titles of the images within the author’s entry on a written or printed sheet.

Copies of images may be retained for entry into external competitions.

Low resolution copies of images may be displayed on the BPA’s website.

All filenames must have the 3-letter extension .jpg.

Entries which do not comply with these rules will not be accepted. The author of a rejected entry will be advised of the
reasons for the rejection and how to avoid a recurrence.
You may download an Adobe Acrobat file of these rules by clicking here.