GSACC Competition Rules
A downloadable 2010 PDF version of the rules is available for download now.
FOR ALL CATEGORIES
All reasonable care will be exercised in handling the prints, slides and digital media (such as CDs, jump drives and memory cards) submitted by the members, but the club cannot assume any responsibility in the event of loss or damage. Entries without titles are ineligible in our competitions and therefore will not be accepted for competition.
Slides are used only in local competitions. The Gulf States Camera Club Council does not accept slides.
By virtue of submitting an entry, the entrant certifies the work as his own and permits the Greater San Antonio Camera Club to reproduce all or part of the entered material free of charge for publication and/or display in media related to the Greater San Antonio Camera Club.
This will include possible low resolution posting on our website. The Greater San Antonio Camera Club assumes no liability for any misuse of copyright. It is strongly advised that makers of portraits obtain a signed model release.
All prints or projected images may be acquired either by film or digital imaging and may be manipulated, either in the darkroom or by using a computer program, and printed either commercially, in the darkroom, or with a computer printer. See the Category Notes section of this guide for specific rules regarding manipulation for nature and photojournalism prints and projected images. Entries must be submitted to the Scorekeeper by the beginning of each competition meeting. No entries will be received after 7:30 p.m., so that competitions may begin in a timely manner. The deadline for digital entries for GSACC’s regular projected images is noon on Monday of competition week. Special contests (field trips and scavenger hunts) usually generate more entries and require earlier deadlines. Deadlines for these contests will be announced at meetings, in the Flash, and through e-mail.
PRINTS
PRINT CATEGORIES
1. Pictorial Prints Color
2. Pictorial Prints Monochrome
3. Nature Prints (Color and Monochrome together)
4. Photojournalism Prints (Color and Monochrome together)
5. Assignment Prints (Color and Monochrome together)
PRINT ENTRY FORMAT AND SUBMISSION OF PRINTS
All images must have been exposed by the entrant, but may be developed and printed by either the maker or commercially.
The matting and mounting of all prints must be the same dimensions (Height times Width).
When the backing is smaller than the mount, the prints will not stay on the ledge that holds the prints on display for judging. Prints must be a minimum of 80 square inches.
The Greater San Antonio Camera Club provides a special label which members must use on the back of all prints entered in competition. This label will be placed on the back of the print in the upper right hand corner so when the print is held up for correct audience viewing, the person holding the print will be able to read the name and title of the print. Use the same maker’s name on all of your entries. Download label here.
We also have a new version of the label for you to download that will work on Avery 8163. Please download it here.
Participants should bring their prints to the competition meeting. The scorekeeper will provide sign-up sheets for each category. It is the maker’s responsibility to ensure that their entries have been properly labeled, placed in the correct categories, and recorded on the corresponding score sheets. Participants should print clearly on the score sheets, as the scorekeeper and Flash Editor must be able to read the sheets. Any print not recorded by the start of the meeting will not be considered for competition, so come early enough to get your prints entered. Remember, there may be others waiting to enter prints as well.
HANDLING OF PRINTS FOLLOWING COMPETITION
Following the competition, all winning prints will be retained by the Gulf States print competition chairmen. Participants should collect all remaining prints. Though care is taken in the handling of prints, GSACC assumes no responsibility for any prints that are left in storage at the Lions Field Adult Center.
MONOCHROME DEFINITION FROM GULF STATES
Black & White print competitions are for prints that have only a range of shades of gray from white to black. No color is allowed. However, toned prints, such as sepia, are allowed where the entire print is toned. Partial toning is not allowed.
SLIDES
SLIDE CATEGORIES
1. Pictorial Slides
2. Nature Slides
3. Photojournalism Slides
4. Assignment Slides
SLIDE ENTRY FORMAT AND SUBMISSION OF SLIDES
In all slide categories, color and monochrome images are judged together. Slides are used locally, but are not used in Gulf States.
Please mark your slides to assist our projectionist and scorekeeper. The spot goes in the lower left-hand corner of the slide mount when the slide is held in the proper viewing position (as it should appear when projected on the screen). The title goes to the right of the spot upside down. Your name and address should be at the top of the slide, but can be on the other side when the slide is a vertical format. Short titles are preferred for slides.
All slides must be individually handed, by category, by the maker, to the person recording the slides for the evening. Until the slides are recorded and placed in the right tray, the maker may not leave the check-in table. Any slide not recorded by the start of the meeting will not be considered for competition, so come early enough to get your slides entered. Remember, there may be others waiting to enter slides as well.
HANDLING OF SLIDES AFTER COMPETITION
GSACC’s slide competition chairman will retain the winning slides for use in GSACC’s yearend competition. Participants should collect all remaining slides. If there are images that the slide chairman feels would do well in Gulf States, the chairman may ask the maker to scan the slide and create a digital version that can be used in Gulf States. GSACC assumes no responsibility for any slides that are left in storage at the Lions Field Adult Center.
DIGITAL
DIGITAL CATEGORIES
1. Pictorial Digital
2. Nature Digital
3. Photojournalism Digital
4. Assignment Digital
DIGITAL ENTRY FORMAT AND SUBMISSION OF DIGITAL IMAGES
In all digital categories, color and monochrome images are judged together.
Digital entries for all categories should be sent via e-mail to the following e-mail address:
All digital entries should arrive no later than noon on the Monday before the competition.
This allows the digital chairman time to organize the images for the competition.
Digital images must be a minimum of 1024×768 pixels in order to be properly projected on the screen. Use a file name for the image which indicates the category and color, or B/W. Example: P_C_LM_Church.jpg
Use P for Pictorial, N for Nature, A for Assignment categories, PJ for Photojournalism, C for Color, M for Monochrome, your initials, and the Image title name. Please note the _(underscore) which is not a – (dash). In the case of two people having the same first and last initials then three initials must be used: i.e. LJM for Lance J. Meyer. In special contests, file names are generally the subject letter, followed by an underscore and the participant number. Example: Subject A on the list is a building, and the contestant number is 101: A_101.
Digital participants should make sure that their image files are properly titled. If the files are not labeled correctly by the maker, they will not be used. The competition chairman will not guess which category the maker intended to enter.
CATEGORY NOTES
ALL CATEGORIES
Photos of another artist’s drawing and/or painting that feature the drawing/painting as the primary subject will not be accepted. Photos with drawings and/or paintings by other artists must have other elements that are more dominant. Photos that feature another artist’s drawing/painting as the primary subject are unacceptable because such images violate the original artist’s copyright.
ASSIGNMENTS are listed in the yearbook and in the GSACC Flash (our monthly newsletter). Entries for the assignment categories must have been exposed after the publication of the assignments. Assignment entries must be in the same format as other images for that month’s competition (prints for print competition months and slides or digital images for projected image months). The Assignment Chairman will make the final determination as to whether or not an image qualifies for the Assignment category.
NATURE subjects may be taken anywhere and anytime, but must otherwise conform to the following definition of nature (from PSA and GSCCC).
Nature photography is restricted to the use of the photographic process to depict observations from all branches of natural history, except anthropology and archaeology, in such a fashion that a well-informed person will be able to identify the subject material and certify to its honest presentation. The story-telling value of a photograph must be weighed more than the pictorial quality. Human elements should not be present unless, on the rare occasion where human elements enhance the nature story, they are unobtrusive. Photographs of artificially produced hybrid plants or animals, mounted specimens, obviously set arrangements, derivations, or any form of photographic manipulation that alters the truth of the photographic statement are ineligible, with the exceptions of detailed micro or macro photographs and scientific banding on wild animals. Short descriptive titles are recommended for nature pictures; they are helpful when titles need to be read. FYI: Virtually all dogs, household cats, horses, cows, domestic fowl (chickens) and many yard flowers are hybrids, therefore ineligible.
PHOTOJOURNALISM entries shall consist of images created to tell a story or action through the use of pictures. Unlike newspaper and magazine photojournalism, which have the aid of a supplemental news story or text, camera club entries must stand alone and tell the story without the aid of a title or added text. The viewer should be able to see the news value of the photo without having a description or an explanation of the photo.
Photojournalism entries shall have informative content and/or emotional impact, including human interest, documentary and spot news. Images should tell a story.
The journalistic value of the photograph shall be considered over pictorial quality. Photographs must represent the truth. No manipulation can be used to alter the subject matter. Situations which are set up for the purpose of photography are unacceptable in photojournalism competition. A static picture of an object shall not be considered for photojournalism.
No elements may be moved, cloned, added, deleted, rearranged, combined or changed in any way that affects the integrity of the image content. No manipulation or modification is permitted except resizing, cropping, selective lightening or darkening, and restoration of original color of the scene. No special effect filters can be added or applied either before or after image creation. Sharpening is allowed.
Judges may give an image a score of “0” (zero) if they believe an image does not qualify for the photojournalism category. If one judge gives a “0” score, the other two judges’ scores will be averaged for the third score. If two judges give a “0” score, the image shall be disqualified. Titles of photojournalism images will be announced after the images have been judged.
We ask members who participate in competitions to serve as judges at least twice during a calendar year. When an image that was taken by a judge appears during the competition, that judge will not score the image and will give it a “0.” An average of the other two judges’ scores will be used to determine the third score. For example, if an entry by Judge 1 appears, Judge 1 will give the image a “0” while Judge 2 and Judge 3 score the image. If Judge 2 give the image 6 points and Judge 3 gives it 6 points, the third score will also be 6. If the average results in a half-point, the third score will be rounded up. For example, if Judge 1 gives the image 0 points (the image was taken by Judge 1), Judge 2 gives the image 7 points and Judge 3 gives the image 6 points, the average will be 6.5 (13 divided by 2). The third score will be rounded up to 7.