competition rules
Definitions
Picture: The visual representation of the external form of a person or thing.
Photograph: A picture recorded by a camera.
Image: A picture, derived from a photograph, that may or may not have been manipulated in some fashion.
Competitor: A member of the Seven Sisters Camera Club, entering one of 7SCC’s competitions.
PDI: A projected digital image.
Print: A printed image.
Ability levels
Intermediate
A member who understands their camera controls and how to compose a photograph, but is still refining their technique.
Advanced
A member who has command of their camera and can compose a pleasing photograph to club standard. Members of this group would expect their work to do moderately well at federation level.
DIGITAL IMAGES
IF IN ANY DOUBT PLEASE CONTACT THE DIGITAL SECRETARY
Projected Digital Image Rules
1. Images to be sized to 1600 x 1200 pixels, with 1200 being the longest side on portrait images.
2. Images will be projected using the profile sRGB, it is suggested that you save your image to this profile for correct colour representation.
3. Images should be saved as jpegs and no larger than 2mb (10-12 quality). See the foot of this page for the step-by-step instructions on how to size your PDI for this competition.
4. Images should be titled as you wish to see it appear on screen and they should be number in order of preference i.e. 01 Sunflower in Bloom
5. Images should be saved in a folder with your name as its title, then your images saved inside that folder as per rule 5 i.e. Joe Blogs (folder title) 01 Sunflower in Bloom (image title).
6. If the individual competition has an entry too large for the one evening then the last image as per your preference will be dropped, any dropped image would be eligible for entry into another competition.
7. PDI images should be submitted using the Photo Entry system as explained below.
8. There will be 2 classes: Intermediate and Advanced
Projected Digital Image PORTFOLIO Competition Rules
You may choose any 6 subjects from a given list of 12, and submit 1 PDI for each of your chosen subjects. All your images must be recent and not previously seen at club competitions. The images do not need to link in any way (as with the print panel competition).
Entries should be made using the Photo Entry system
Size as for other PDI competitions (i.e. no more than 1600 pixels wide x 1200 pixels high, in sRGB colour space and as a jpeg).
Your images will be shown one at a time and then all together to show your complete portfolio. The judge will comment upon and mark your portfolio as a whole. At the end of the competition 1st, 2nd, 3rd, Highly Commended and Commended will be awarded. The competition is open to all members and abilities.
Please choose 6 options from the subjects listed below:
1. Creative CRE
2. Dereliction DER
3. Landscape LAN
4. Macro MAC
5. Monochrome MON
6. Natural History NAT
7. Night Photography NIG
8. Portraiture POR
9. Record REC
10. Sport SPO
11. Still Life STI
12. Street Photography STR
Your images should be titled as follows: 01 Image Title 3-LETTER IMAGE SUBJECT (eg LAN) .jpeg, i.e. 01 Rainy Day LAN.jpeg, and numbered 01 – 06 to indicate the order in which you would like your images shown. Title in lower case and 3 letter subject in Upper Case.
PDI Resizing for Competitions
Step by Step Guide to Producing your Digital Image Entries
The following instructions assume that you are using Photoshop and the Windows operating system; however you can apply them to almost any image editor of your choice.
1. Open ‘My Documents’ folder, and from the menu select file new folder, or ‘Ctrl Shift n’, and name it (your name) (competition) (images).
Example Tim Downs PDI 25 09 20
2. Close the Documents folder.
3. Open Photoshop.
4. From the menu select File> Open and then navigate to the first image that you wish to include in your submission, and open it.
5. From the main menu selected Image> Image size. Then change the Width and Height to suit the maximum required dimensions of 1600 Pixels (Max Width) and 1200 Pixels (Max Height), click ok.
Note: Landscape crops should be max 1600 Pixels wide
Portrait crops should be max 1200 Pixels in height. You do not need to crop your image to precisely 1600×1200
6. From the main menu select File >’Save As’ and then:
a. Select the folder you created in step 1, as the folder to save to.
b. Rename the file as (Picture Number underscore title of the picture)
Example; 01 Lion 02 Mountain Stream etc……. ********PLEASE – NO NAME OF THE AUTHOR IN THE TITLE********
c. From the Format field choose JPEG (.jpg) and click SAVE.
d. In the JPEG options box that appears, choose ‘Quality’ 12 (Maximum) then click OK
7. Close the file.
8. Now follow steps 4 through to seven to create your other images.
9. Use the Photo Entry system (Guide below) to submit your images
Please note profile is sRGB, it is suggested that you save your images to this for correct colour representation, and the size should be no larger than 2mb (10-12 quality)
Set Subject Competition
There will be two distinct competitions this year each with two subjects.
One will be for Prints and the other for PDIs
Members will be able to enter one image in respect of each subject or two images for a singular subject.
The judge will be briefed to comment if the image conforms with the set subject and mark the image accordingly.
The competition will be an Open class, i.e. not Intermediate or Advanced.
Images should be recent, i.e. taken in the last year.
Prints must be mounted 500x400mm and PDI’s sized to a maximum of 1600 wide x 1200 high.
Images should be submitted a week before the competition – or earlier:
Prints should be handed to the Print Co-ordinator with a copy of the image submitted through Photo Entry for showing on competition evenings.
PDI’s should be sent to the PDI Secretary, via the Photo Entry system 1600 pixel wide for landscape format and 1200 pixels high in respect of portrait format
Photo Entry Guidlines – Step by Step Guide to submitting images for competition
All SSCC members are given access to a site called PhotoEntry so you can easily upload and manage any photos you wish to enter in our club PDI competitions.
How to access PhotoEntry
After registration, new members are sent an email titled “Seven Sisters Camera Club PhotoEntry System”.
When you receive the email, it will contain three important pieces of information:
1. A URL to click which will take you to the PhotoEntry system, URL means the Website address. https://photoentry.uk/
2. Your user ID
3. Your temporary password to gain access
If you click the link and login with the supplied credentials, you will immediately be required to enter a new password. You will need to use your new password each time you access the system — don’t forget it!
(You can change your password at any time by clicking your name shown in the top right-hand corner of the browser screen)
How to submit images
Once logged in, the only actions required are for you to submit PDI images for whichever SSCC Competition you wish to enter. The process is as follows:
First click on the relevant link for this season (e.g., 2021–22 Competitions), and this will then display the competitions coming up – normally starting with the 1st round of the PDI Competition.
The big blue button will allow you to see all your entries from current competitions, as well as your scores.
If the status of a competition is open, you can click on the competition name to submit or view your entries. Note the closing date is 1 week before the competition, which is the last date on which entries may be submitted You have until 11.59pm on the closing date to upload your images however we recommend you upload your images a few days before the closing date in case you encounter any issues.
You can also see the requirements of the competition, including file specifications. The screen also shows which class (club, intermediate or advanced) you are in. If this is wrong, please email tim.downs@sky.com so we can correct this for you.
Guidance on image specifications for all competitions is provided on the SSCC website (see the competitions page).
In PhotoEntry, if you click on Add New Entry (assuming you haven’t already reached the maximum number of entries allowed) you will first be required to supply a title for your entry. This will be the title that will be displayed in a PDI Competition; for prints it should exactly match the title you write on your print. You cannot leave it blank.
There is also a separate optional field for you to record any information about your entry – this remains private to you.
Then click Add This Entry to proceed to the next screen to upload your image.
On the next screen click Choose JPEG to browse your local computer for the image file, which should already have been formatted to the required spec and saved with a .jpg extension.
Having chosen a file, (the filename itself is completely irrelevant), you can then click the Upload Image button to complete the process. You should then see a screen showing the analysis of your image.
If your file exactly meets the specification, then you will see the word OK (in green). You’re done! Warning Messages
Pay attention to any text that appears in orange. Your image has been accepted but this is a warning that your file did not exactly meet requirements. Common warning messages are explained below; you can always resubmit the file after making any changes.
The symbols at the right side of the box allow you to edit the title, replace the file with another, or just delete the entry.
Warning Messages (in orange) • Image too small – speaks for itself, the actual image dimensions are shown. You should replace the image with a larger version to meet the spec.
SSCC now have a new projector for this season and the resolution has gone from 1400 x 1050 pixels to 1600 x 1200 pixels, the maximum size for a portrait in height is 1200 pixels.
This new resolution means we don’t have to get members to resize images for external competitions.
• Missing colour profile, should be sRGB IEC61966-2.1
• Incorrect colour profile Adobe RGB (1998) – this is also quite common and can mean that some colours will not display as you expect. You will need to convert your image to the sRGB IEC61966-2.1 colour space if you know how, to ensure accuracy. If you need help with this, please ask me, and I will help you to submit your entries.
• Image resized from low resolution upload – this means your image was slightly smaller than required, but it may well have lost quality in the process.
• Title
Click on Add New Entry: Unfortunately, photoEntry will not allow you to use an underscore, and will be replaced with just a space.
So, your title will be, example: “01 Eastbourne Pier”
next image:
“02 Beach Life”
Please title your image file the same as the one you used to Add New Entry.
Warning Messages (in red) It is possible that an image you submit cannot be accepted as it does not meet the necessary requirements. You will see an indication of this with a message in red. You will be told what is wrong and you must edit (or change) and re-submit your image accordingly.
After your images are submitted
Once you have successfully supplied all your images there is nothing more to do You can always replace or delete your submissions at any time before the competition close date. Whenever you revisit the site, you can review your entries for any competition that is still open or see the results from past competitions.
Questions?
If you have any problem using the system, please email me with details of the problem. We have tested the process on a variety of platforms including Windows PCs, Macs, and iPad – it requires only a working internet connection and a browser.
IF IN ANY DOUBT PLEASE CONTACT THE PRINT SECRETARY
Print Competition Rules
1. Members may enter up to 2 prints per competition, into an open subject competition.
2. Prints to be numbered 1 and 2, to show order of preference. Should we receive too many prints, we may have to drop the second prints.
3. Prints to be handed to the Print Co-ordinator by the previous meeting to the competition.
4. Members to submit a PDI of each image with title via the Photo Entry system to allow a projected image to be shown on competition night for the convenience of the audience. The images may later be used on social media and on the website.
5. All prints to be labelled (labels from Print Co-ordinator or print your own) as follows: Name: No.: Title: Class: Date:
6. Labels in bottom left hand corner (most external competitions require labels in top right). The placement of the label will determine the orientation of the print.
7. Prints to be mounted in/on boards 500 x 400mm. Mount colour is at the discretion of the photographer. All prints must be backed with specialist mounting tape (this can be purchased from the club if required); no masking tape to be used as this may become unstuck and cause damage to other Members’ photos.
8. Prints may be home or commercially printed.
9. Prints will be marked out of 20 by a visiting judge.
10. There will be 2 classes: Intermediate and Advanced.
Print Panels Competition Rules
The print panel competition will be split into two sections.
There will be a 3 print panel and a 6 print panel competition.
The 3 print panel is only open to Intermediate members
The 6 print panel is open to anyone.
A panel should in some way link, either by telling a story or be on a theme.
Members may enter 1 panel.
Prints should be mounted on 500 x 400mm mountboard to allow display on the Club’s display stands. (This does not apply to the 2022-23 competition which was delayed)
THE CLOSING DATE IS ALWAYS THE MONDAY BEFORE THE COMPETITION UNLESS THE
CO-ORDINATOR SPECIFICALLY AGREES OTHERWISE.