General Rules
Identification
and General Eligibility of Entries
All prints should bear a title, the author's name
and the name of the society clearly marked on the reverse of the mount.
Similarly, slides should bear a title, the author's name and the name of
the society. Digital Images must be
submitted using a file naming convention whereby the first group of letters
denotes the author’s initials, this to be followed by the title of the image.
Titles will be used as a record of the entry, so special care must be
taken if the author wishes to use the same title on different entries even if
entered for different competitions. The
usual practice is to add a sequence number as part of the title, for example Spring
Pasture and Spring Pasture 2. The
Competition Secretary will not include the sequence number in communications
with the judge unless two images in one competition bear the same basic title.
All photographic work entered must be original to
the author. It must not be a copy of
someone else's photograph or artwork even when used as an element in a collage,
whether generated photographically or using digital imaging techniques.
This rule is included to protect the copyright of the author.
A photographic work may be used only once in its submitted form for each
competition. A derivative may be
used later as may a presentation in a different medium, for example a slide and
a print, but both should not be submitted at the same time for the same
competition. Entries judged by the
Committee to be almost identical will not be accepted for the same competition.
Rules Specific to Prints
Prints, including mount, must not be larger than 20" by 16". No minimum size is specified, but as a guide, it is usual for the print area to be at least 80 square inches.
Prints must be mounted on substantial card, usually
with the card forming a border. Whilst
it is the print that is being judged and not the mount, shabby mounting does
detract from the quality of the print and is likely to let down even a good
print. Always choose a mount that is
in sympathy with your print. Fashions
come and go, but monochrome prints are commonly presented on black, grey, white
or silver mounts. Careful and
sympathetic mounting is particularly important if the print is to be considered
for inclusion in a Sileby panel (see below) where one odd mount in the group of
six prints can severely detract from the overall impression.
It is not unknown for prints and their mounts to be accidentally damaged
in transit. Whilst every effort is
made to minimise damage, authors should be aware of the possibility and should
not submit anything irreplaceable. The
possibility of damage should be taken into account when deciding upon a mount
style and construction.
Monochrome
prints are defined as those with as many shades of grey as the author wishes.
Additionally, a print may be given an overall tint and still be
considered as monochrome.
When selected areas are coloured, even when a single colour is used, the
print will be considered to be in the colour print category.
Rules Specific to Slides
In order to be categorised as a "slide", the image must have been originally captured on the piece of film that is submitted for competition. This rule is intended to exclude slides produced from a digital file. The Committee reserves the right to scan slides for the purpose of digital projection in certain competitions. Such scans will be made sympathetically with a view to obtaining the best possible result.
If it is necessary to crop the image at the mounting stage, this may be done using aluminium kitchen foil, folded to produce a clean edge and sandwiched in the mount with the transparency. If cropping produces a significant shift of the image on the screen, it is better to centre the image and mask on two sides.
Rules
Specific to Projected Digital Images
Digital images must be submitted on CD and named as
outlined above. For internal
competitions, they should be prepared such that the width of the image does not
exceed 1280 pixels and the height does not exceed 1024 pixels.
Formats are limited to JPEG and TIFF; those related to specific image
manipulation applications, such as PSD, are not acceptable.
Note that rules for certain external competitions may vary from these.