BEAULIEU CAMERA GROUP
INTERNAL COMPETITION RULES 2011
Print and projected image competitions will be held throughout the year. There
will be several open subject competitions and one set subject competition,
also Print and Projected Image of the Year Competitions. Rules are only amended during a competition year in exceptional circumstances: significant changes are ratified at the December AGM.
Competitions
1. In 2011 there will be four open subject print competitions and four open subject projected image competitions. These will be held on different evenings. There will be one Set Subject Competition
(set subject for 2011 “Our English Heritage”) which in 2011 will be for prints. The Print and Projected Image of the Year Competitions will be judged on different evenings. At competitions external judges will discuss and assess entries and “Seals” (awards of merit) will be given.
Eligibility
2. Entry to competitions is open to all paid up members. Entries must be the work of the entrant, sometimes referred to as the “author”. Digitally produced entries must be based on original images
taken by the entrant using a camera; use of imported images which are not the work of the author is not permitted. Monochrome and colour entries are judged together, there is no differentiation. Similarly, there is no differentiation between work processed commercially and that processed by the entrant, either in a darkroom or digitally.
Classes
3. Members will be in the same category (Group) for both print and projected image competitions and seals awarded in both types of competition will determine in which Group the member should compete.
All competitions will run in two classes “Group 1” and “Group 2”. A new member will not necessarily start in Group 1; the Competition Secretary with at least one other committee member will assess
the new member’s work, and also take into account any track record in other camera clubs, as entry into a higher group may be more appropriate. If any member feels that it would be more appropriate for them to be in a different group for 2011 they should advise the Competition Secretary.
Awards of Merit
4. Promotion from one group to another depends on the attainment of awards of merit in either medium. Awards of Merit (Seals) will be given to as many pictures as a judge deems worthy of one. The number awarded will vary according to the standard presented and the opinion of the judge on the night.
Movement from Group One to Group Two
5. Movement from Group 1 to Group 2 requires a member to attain six Seals within a competition year. Having attained the qualifying number of Seals the member will enter the next competition in the current year in the higher group.
Voluntary Group Change
6. If a member in Group 2 fails to gain an award of merit within a competition year, then they may voluntarily move down to Group 1 in the next competition year. The member wishing to move down a group must advise the Competition Secretary before the night of the competition.
Subjects
7. Unless otherwise advised, there is no set subject. When a set subject competition is held, the judge will take adherence to the subject into account. Entries for the set subject must be new images, not previously entered in internal Beaulieu Camera Group competitions.
Entries
8. At each competition evening a member may enter a maximum of three prints or three digital images. However, only two of the three images may get judged - see rule 9 below. A print or digital image may only be entered twice into open subject competitions, unless it is given a Seal in its first competition in which case it may not be entered again, except to take part in the Print or Projected Digital Image of the Year Competitions. An entry in the set subject competition may be entered again in a subsequent open subject competition provided it did not get a Seal at the first showing.
9. If on a particular night there is a higher number of entries than can reasonably be assessed in the time available, then it may be necessary to restrict entries to two per member. As a precaution members are required to label their entries “A”, “B” and “C”.
“C” labelled entries for Group 2 will be separated out on arrival. Before judging starts a decision will be taken as to whether or not there will be time to include the “C” images for judging. “C” images not judged may be entered in later competitions as “A” “B” or “C”. For digital image competitions correctly sized entries MUST BE SUBMITTED AT LEAST 7 DAYS PRIOR TO THE COMPETITION to bcgcom@me.com (guidelines for digital competitions available on request).
Titles
11. All entries must have titles. Titles will be read out as each image is brought before the judge, but expect the image to be judged as an image per se, as if it does not have an explanatory title. To avoid the risk of confusion between different people’s images please do not use over-simple titles e.g.”flower” and use a clearly different title for each of your images. In the case of images where the picture is of a place e.g. landscape or building, please either incorporate where it is in the title or write in brackets after the title. This is to help us with image identification and improve labelling at exhibitions. It would be helpful if titles could either be typed or in capital letters.
Prints
12. Prints must be mounted for ease of handling and viewing. Although the minimum picture size excluding mount is 18cm x 12.5cm (7” x 5”), a minimum size nearer A4, say 28cm x 19cm is preferred. The maximum permitted size, including mount, is 50cm x 40cm. Any prints selected for use in either the SPF Salisbury Exhibition or the SPF Print Championship must be 50cm x 40cm including the mount.
The title of the picture and the entrant’s name must be clearly written or labelled on the back of the mount. Also, please ensure that backing card is securely taped to the mount. Print and Projected Image of the Year Competitions
13. At the end of the competition year all entries that have received an award of merit in the open and set subject competitions will be shown at the “Print and Digital Image of the Year Competitions”.
If the total number of qualifying entries exceeds 80, the judge may undertake
a pre-selection process to reduce the number of commentaries to a more manageable
level. Entries will be judged in the two groups and will be entered in the
group in which they originally attained the seal, even if the member has since
moved to the higher group. In this competition the winning group 1 image will
go forward to be judged again in Group 2. Note that it is images which get
“promoted” to a higher group in the “Print and Digital Image
of the Year Competition”, not the author.
