NOTE: On a trial basis, Light & Shadow will hold three competitions and one program every 2-month period. During this trial, each member may submit ONE entry per category per competition.
On July 13, 2010, the categories are: PRINT: Monochrome, Color, Nature, Creative. Digital: Monochrome, Color, Nature, Creative.
At our monthly competitions an outside judge critiques our images and awards placements to the winners. Visitors are invited to enter their work for the judge’s comments, but are not eligible for placement. Once a month, competition is held for prints and projected digital images. In projected digital competition the following categories are used: pictorial, photojournalism (PJ), nature, creative and travel. Print competitions are classified into monochrome, color, creative, nature and photojournalism (PJ). Prints and projected digital images in monochrome, pictorial, and creative categories may be manipulated with a variety of techniques: digital, hand coloring, emulsion transfer, and so forth. Manipulation is not allowed for in the photojournalism, nature, and travel categories. Winners at our club competitions then move on to the bi-monthly competition at Central Coast Counties Camera Club Council (6 C’s).
Competition Calendar
Competition is held the second Tuesday of every month except December. Competition starts prompty at 7:30 PM and all entries must be submitted by 7:30 PM.
* Monochrome and color prints and pictorial digital projected images are always included.
Schedule for 2010 with the additional * categories.
| Date | Digital Categories | Print Categories |
|---|---|---|
| Feb 9 | Nature and Creative | Nature and Creative |
| Mar 9 | Nature and Creative | Nature and Creative |
| Apr 13 | PJ and Travel | PJ |
| May 11 | PJ and Travel | PJ |
| Jun 8 | Nature and Creative | Nature and Creative |
| Jul 13 | Nature and Creative | Nature and Creative |
| Aug 10 | PJ and Travel | PJ |
| Sep 14 | PJ and Travel | PJ |
| Oct 12 | Nature and Creative | Nature and Creative |
| Nov 9 | Nature and Creative | Nature and Creative |
Entry forms and Pre-Registration
For competition entry forms, choose print: PDF
or Word Doc.
Digital projected images: PDF
(To download: Right click on the link and choose
“Save Target As”)
Members are encouraged to pre-register prints and digital images online. An entry form (print label) for each print and digital image is still required. The pre-registration system can produce labels for prints.
The digital competition entries can be e-mailed to as late as 3:00 PM on the day of competition (see below for requirements.) This is the preferred way to enter digital images, but late entries may also be brought to the competition on USB flash drives (preferred) or CD-ROM.
Preparing Prints for Entry
Prints must be mounted on a material stiff enough so that the print will stand on its own. Art supply stores carry mount board and foam core mounting materials in various thicknesses. Be careful not to get poster board; it is not stiff enough. Framing with wood, metal, plastic, or glass is not permitted. The print mounting must be 16 x 20 inches or smaller so that it will fit in the lighted display used in competitions and in the boxes used to transport winning prints to interclub competition.
A print entry slip (see above), must be attached to the back of the print. Please make sure to securely tape the label on two opposing sides so that it does not flap about.
During competition, prints are stacked on top of each other. Winning entries eligible for interclub competition are also stacked, often for weeks at a time. Make sure that nothing on the back of your print can damage another print. Loose tape, for example, can come off your print and stick to the front of the print stacked below it.
Preparing Digital Images for Entry
George W. Ziegler, our digital projected images vice president, has prepared a PDF with full instructions for submitting digital projected images.
Images must be entered in JPEG (.jpg) format. Current requirements (subject to change) for image size is no more that 1050 pixels in the longer dimension. The largest possible image would be a square 1050 x 1050 image. Any combination of height and width are allowed, as long as neither is larger than 1050 pixels. Larger images will be downsized. Files should be no larger than 4 megabytes.
The file name should contain information that indicates the club from which the image originated, the category in which entered, and the first eleven (11) characters of the title (without spaces), with each component separated by a “-”. A properly named file follows this format:
[Club Initials]-[Category]-[Image Title].jpg
The Light and Shadow Camera Club initials are LS. Therefore a properly named file from Light and Shadow entitled “Wild Mallard on Local Pond (Anas platyrynchos)” and entered in the nature category would be:
LS-NAT-WILDMALLARD.jpg
The categories are:
| PIC | = | Pictorial |
| NAT | = | Nature |
| CRE | = | Creative |
| PJ | = | Photojournalism |
| TRV | = | Travel |
The maker’s name or initials should not be placed in the title. The entire title is not required in the file name. Use the first eleven (11) characters of the title without spaces. The complete file name and maker’s name should be placed in the metadata; the title in the “Title” field (e.g. “Wild Mallard on Local Pond [Anas platyrynchos]”) and the maker’s name (e.g. “Ima Photographer”) in the “Creator” field.
Categories
Below is a brief description of the image categories. We try to follow the guidelines set by the Photgraphic Society of America (PSA).
Pictorial (monochrome and color prints and pictorial digital images)
Pictorial entries are open to all subjects. In this category photographic composition and impact are of paramount importance.
Nature
Successful nature images will reveal how the subject interacts with its environment. For example, a bird with nesting material in its beak is preferred to a simple portrait of a bird. The hand of man should not be evident in a nature shot unless it is germane to the nature story being told by the image. Cultivated plants, domesticated animals, pets, etc., do not qualify as nature images. Non-living nature topics (rock formations, clouds, etc are permitted.
The species (scientific/Latin) names are encouraged but not required.
Photojournalism (PJ)
Successful PJ shots most often tell a human interest or news story, like those you find in your local newspaper. Here, as in the nature category, the pictorial composition is secondary to the story being told.
Travel
Successful travel images capture the essence of a place that could be a traveler’s destination. Composition and pictorial quality must be used to reveal the characteristics of the locale. The descriptions on this page are guidelines for our monthly competitions. The complete rules may be found in a hardcopy document, the club’s “Operating Policies.”
Copyright © 2007
Light & Shadow Camera Club
