Pontefract Camera Club Competition Rules – (updated December 2024)
The club holds numerous competitions throughout the year
These take the form of internal club competitions and competitions with other local camera clubs.
We also have the opportunity to submit entries to the Y.P.U for possible inclusion in their annual exhibition. Whilst not a competition, the rules on mount sizes etc. do apply.
The following sets out the rules and guidelines for submission of entries to all competitions.
There are two main sections;
A Rules applicable to all submissions.
B Details of the various competitions including specific rules applicable to those competitions.
The purpose of these rules is not to discourage members from entering competitions but to provide a clear understanding of the requirements needed. Where appropriate, we have given reasons for specific rules, which we hope will help to provide clarity.
Our Club rules reflect those of the Y.P.U. (Yorkshire Photographic Union) and will be updated as and when necessary.
A Rules applying to all competitions (unless stated otherwise)
General
- The Club’s competition year runs from | January to 3l December.
- All images should be entirely the entrant’s own work.
Entries must be taken with a camera, phone camera, scanned film or a flatbed scanner may be used to capture objects such as flowers. - The entrant must own the copyright of any image submitted.
- Entries for all competitions must be received by the Competition Secretary no later than fourteen days to allow sufficient time for the images to be catalogued and forwarded to the Judge.
- In the case of competitions with other clubs all entries must be received by the date requested by the Competition Secretary.
- Entries will not be accepted on the night of the competition.
- The Committee and/or the Competition Secretary reserve the right to exclude any entry that does not comply with these rules.
- The same entry may be used in the Medley Competition and just one of the Annual Competitions either Print or Projected Image.
Any entry used in the Medley Competition or Annual Competition should not be entered into that same competition again.
- The rules of all competitions may be revised and updated by the Pontefract Camera Club Committee.
Prints
All prints shall be mounted and be accompanied by a digital copy of the image.
The maximum size of mounts shall be 500mm x 400mm. However, a print can be any size up to maximum of 500mm x 400mm in which case it would be flush mounted i.e. on a borderless mount.
The maximum overall thickness of mount and print shall be 4mm
The member’s competition reference number shall be clearly shown on the back of the mount.
All Print entries should have a ‘Title’ clearly shown with the entrants competition number.
It is the entrant’s responsibility to ensure that that the top of the print is obvious.
Projected Digital Images
The maximum image size shall be 1600 pixels wide × 1200 pixels high for images in landscape mode. The maximum governing dimension for images in portrait mode is 1200 pixels high.
The member’s competition reference number shall be clearly indicated when submitted to the C.S.
Images should be in JPG and RGB format with sRGB colour space. Images with layers should be flattened.
Digital images should be titled as shown below.
The file names of D.P.I. should follow the following format:
Title _members competition reference number
Example Red Kite_510.jpg
B Competitions and specific rules
Internal club competitions:
All internal competitions will also refer to Rules To All Competitions above.
1,Medley Competition.
The Medley Competition consists of four rounds held throughout the calendar year.
Members may enter three prints and or three projected images in each of the four rounds.
If there is a high entry number the Competition Secretary may restrict the number of projected images to two per member in the Medley round.
The print entry should also include a digital copy for inclusion on the club website.
Prints should be mounted on thin card, the recommended and maximum mount size is 50 x 40 cm.
(Competitions with other clubs and entry to the Yorkshire Photographic Union Exhibition the mount size has to be 50 x 40 cm.)
Projected Images should be ipg files a maximum size of in landscape format 1600 x 1200 pixels or in portrait format no more than 1200 pixels high.
The same print entry should not be used as a projected image or the same projected image a print in any Medley rounds.
Prints or projected images should be submitted to the Competition Secretary by the required date, as notified to the club members. Each entry will be marked out of 20 by the Judge.
There will be no limit on the number of 20 marks awarded in each round. The winner of the Medley Print Competition will be the member who has been awarded the most total marks in the four rounds.
The winner of the Medley Projected Image Competition will be the member who has been awarded the most total marks in the four rounds.
2.Annual Monochrome Print Competition.
A competition open to mounted monochrome prints only.
Certificates will be awarded for the first, second, third entries and further awards as determined by an external judge.
Members may submit up to four entries.
3.Annual Colour Print Competition.
A competition open to mounted colour prints only.
Certificates will be awarded for the first, second, third entries and further awards as determined by an external judge.
Members may submit up to four entries.
4.Annual Projected Images Competition.
A competition open to digital images, which will be projected via computer through the club’s digital projector.
Images can be in either colour or monochrome.
Certificates will be awarded for the first, second, third entries and further awards as determined by an external judge.
Members may submit up to three entries.
5.Frequently Asked Questions.
Can I submit the same projected image or a print into different rounds of the Medley Competition?
No-only one entry slot for each projected image or print is allowed in the Medley Competition.
Can I submit a print in one round of the Medley and its projected image into another?
No only one entry of the image is allowed in the Medley Competition.
Can I submit the same print or a projected image into both the Medley Competition and the Annual Print or Annual Projected Image competition?
Yes-an entry used in the Medley Competition may be used in the Annual Print or Projected Image Competition, but not in both Annual Competitions.
Can I submit the same entry into both the Annual Print and the Annual Projected Image Competition?
No – the same entry can only be used in one of the Annual Competitions either print or projected image.
Can I use Clip Art or Stock photography in any of my entries?
No – Clip Art or images from Stock photography are not your own work and should not be used even if only a small part of the image.
Can I use Artificial Intelligence (A.l.) in my entries to competitions?
No-A.l. should not be used to create part of or fully complete images.
Please see further guidelines below.
Pontefract Camera Club Competitions Rules – Supplementary Information
Inter-club competitions
Our club entries for all External Competitions are selected by the Selection Group requested in good time to be processed and transferred to the external club or Judge.
The Four Clubs Competition
Annual print competition with Normanton, Wakefield, Castleford.
Each club takes turns to host the competition.
Open subject with twelve prints being submitted by each club
Print and Projected Image Competition with Batley
Open subject with twelve prints and twelve projected images from each club.
Entries for the Y.P.U. Annual Exhibition Entries will be subject to the rules of the YPU.
The rules are available from the YU website (http://ypu.org.uk)
Please do not use Al to ‘Generate Images’.
Software companies such as Adobe Photoshop now have the ability to generate an image using a combination of a vast array of image banks and machine learning, known as Artificial Intelligence (Al) image generation.
Please remember that Adobe are a commercial organisation and their clients include numerous types of outfits – Publishers, Newspapers, Studios, Advertising agencies, Web designers, Film and Television industry, etc….
Camera Club members make up a very small proportion of their sales.
Example below is a photo of Nostell Priory.
Original Image.
What can Al do – for example put in a better foreground?
An area to the left is selected and then typed in the Image Generation section of Adobe Photoshop “White Horse eating grass” and the result is below.
The white horse has not been photographed or even seen by the photographer.
Image changed with Artificial Image – Generation in Photoshop.
The club rules state that all images must be taken with a camera, or an object scanned on a flatbed scanner such as flowers.
The Pontefract Camera Club Committee have agreed that image generation use in software should not be used for an image or any part of an image in club competitions. This decision is in agreement with the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain.