Bangor and North Down Camera Club, BNDCC, Northern Ireland,UK.
Promoting and developing all aspects of photography through example, discussion and competition.

The Competitions Subcommittee’s rationale was to standardise, simplify, and produce one set of rules that would cover all our competitions. In addition; they aimed to make the new rules easy to understand, and be published on one A4 page.

The Competitions Sub Committee recommends that ‘the Exhibition’ should stand alone and outside these new standardised rules. It was felt that ‘shoe horning’ the Exhibition to comply with these new rules would ruin the purpose and the very nature of the Exhibition. The main reasons are as follows:
* Due to the nature of the Exhibition, larger sizes of images and mounts are allowed,
* The Exhibition does not allow for points to go towards the ‘Photographer of the Year’,
* Re entry of previous winning entries is allowed for the Exhibition, but not for the other competitions.

The Competitions Sub Committee considered including a new competition for either Audio Visual, or Digital Galleries, but decided that there was not enough interest at this time. Both of these areas should be reviewed next year by the subcommittee. In addition they recommend that these new rules, and whether the Exhibition should remain a separate competition, should be reviewed for 2008/2009.

Summary of the proposed main changes:

1. The way images will be submitted for competition, and the way images will be judged.
2. Club Competitions and NIPA Selection are to be merged. They will be known as Competitions 1 to 5 and will mirror the NIPA Rounds 1 to 5. The judging for Club Competitions and the selection for NIPA will be carried out by the same judges at the same time.
3. The number of allowable entries by each competitor has been reduced to 3 in Colour, 3 in Monochrome and 3 in Slides, in each competition.
4. Competition 6 is the ‘Animals’ or Audrey Argue Trophy.
5. Competition 7 is the Panels or Techniques Trophy.
6. All competitions will have two levels; Foundation and Advanced. Within each level there are two categories; Colour and Monochrome. The only exception to this is Competitions 7, ‘Panels’, which due to their nature have slightly different rules.
7. The ‘Intermediate’ level for the Exhibition has been removed. Members should assess their knowledge, skills and experience and place themselves in ‘Advanced’ or ‘Foundation’.
8. A formal approach to moving from ‘Foundation’ to ‘Advanced’ will apply to all competitions and the Exhibition If a ‘Foundation’ member achieves a winning place (1st, 2nd or 3rd) in particular category 3 times; then they will automatically move to ‘Advanced’ for that particular category. This will be monitored by the Competitions Secretary.

Mark Allen; Competitions Secretary, Chairman Competitions Subcommittee.
Competitions Subcommittee: Harry Pettis, Glorija Perry, David Roberts, John Bennett.

Competition	Entry Deadline:	Judging:	Outside Judge
Club/NIPA (Round 1, Open)	14.9.07	21.9.07	Bob Brien
Club/NIPA (Round 2, Circles)	12.10.07	19.10.07	Peter Wilkins
Club/NIPA (Round 3, Open)	16.11.07	23.11.07	Brian McKenna
Club/NIPA (Round 4, Sports)	11.1.08	18.1.08	Stanley Matchett
Panels	1.2.08	8.2.08	Terry McCreesh
Club/NIPA (Round 5, Open)	15.2.08	22.2.08	Colin Ross
Audry Argue (Animals)	7.3.08	14.3.08	Michael Brown

• Entries should be submitted to the Competitions Secretary, at the Club premises, before 10 p.m. on the date in question.
• Please take some time to carefully read the Competition Rules, if you have any questions please contact the Competitions Secretary
• ‘Open’ means any subject of your choice.
• ‘Circles’ is open to your interpretation.
• ‘Sports’ is self explanatory.
• ‘Panels’ means six images linked by a common theme, the subject of which is open.
• ‘Animals’ is self explanatory.

Bangor and North Down Camera Club,
Competition Rules 2007/2008

 

The aim of the Club is to
promote and develop all aspects of photography
through example, discussion and competition.

 

How to enter:

1. Check the Club notice board and web site for details of the next competition. Entries must be submitted, at the Club, by 10.00 p.m. on the Friday before the competition. [Please note: no late entries will be accepted.]

2. Prints can be up to A4 in size and do not have to be mounted; however you may wish to support the photo with a piece of card. They can be mounted up to 16” x 12”.

3. On the back of each entry please include your membership number (not your name), your level ‘Advanced’ or ‘Foundation’ and the competition number. [Please note: if a ‘Foundation’ member achieves a winning place (1st, 2nd or 3rd) in ‘Colour’ or ‘Monochrome’ 3 times; then they will automatically move to ‘Advanced’ for that particular category.]

4. You may submit up to 3 entries for ‘Colour’, up to 3 for ‘Monochrome’ and up to 3 'Slides' in each competition round. [Please note: members should not enter the same image in Colour, Monochrome and Slides in each competition round.. Sepia, etc is Monochrome, but a Monochrome image with even just one bit of colour will be deemed a ‘Colour’ image].

5. Photographs should be recent and not previously entered in the same competition (competitions 1 to 5 are regarded as the same competition).

6. For panels, six images (up to A4) on mounts (maximum 16” x 12”) on a theme decided by the author. There will also be a digital presentation version of the panels. Digital images should be less than 1MB per jpeg and not exceed 1024x768.

7. The Exhibition is different and separate rules will be issued prior to the event by the Exhibition Secretary.

How the competitions will be judged

1. The entries will be judged at the camera club premises, between 6.30 and 7.45 p.m.

2. Judging will be carried out by a panel of 3 judges. Bangor Camera Club will provide two judges (who do not have any entries in the competition) and the chair of the judging panel will be an outside judge.

3. Each judge will, independently, select their short list of 4 entries, (from each category in turn). This will create a manageable overall short list. Each judge will then, independently, award points (1 to 5, with five being very good) for each of the short listed entries in the following criteria:

‘Immediate Impact’, ‘Composition’, ‘Control’, and ‘Image Quality’. (See below, Advice and Guidance for Judging' to see how this will work)

4. The number of points awarded by each judge, for each entry, will be totaled. There will be a 1st, 2nd and 3rd for the highest points in each category (e.g. Adv Col, Adv Mono, Fnd Col, Fnd Mono) and a template has been prepared to assist the judges (see page 4). [Please note: a member may only have two winning entries in each category, Colour or Monochrome. In the (unlikely) event that a member wins 1st, 2nd and 3rd (within Colour or Mono) then the 3rd place will pass to whoever came 4th. In the event of a tie, the chair will place the ordering, after consultation with the other two judges.]

5. On the competition evening all entries will displayed, and to provide feedback to those short listed - the total mark awarded by the judges will be included on the rear of such entries. [Please note: all winners will be expected to produce a jpg version of their image for the web site.]

6. In competitions 1 to 5, the top 8 images (by way of points awarded by the judges) will be selected for NIPA, including the two foundation images with the highest points. [Please note: entries selected for NIPA, must be properly mounted before being entered into NIPA. The Competitions Secretary can provide more information, if need be. ]

7. In competitions 1 to 5, the winners will receive points that will go towards the ‘Colour Trophy’ and ‘Lindsay Orr Trophy’ (Mono): 1st place 5 points, 2nd 4 points, 3rd 3 points, all short listed entries will get 1 point.

8. In all competitions, the winners will receive points that will go towards the ‘Photographer of the Year award’: 1st place 5 points, 2nd 4 points, 3rd 3 points, all short listed entries will get 1 point.

Bangor and North Down Camera Club: Competitions Advice and Guidance

The aim of the Club is to
promote and develop all aspects of photography
through example, discussion and competition.

Thank you for volunteering to judge our competition. Bangor and North Down Camera Club have brought together our ‘Club Competition’ and our ‘NIPA selection’ into one competition and judging session. This is just one of three ways that we want to promote and develop all aspects of photography. You will either be an outside judge, or a member of the Club (who does not have any entries in this competition). You are now being asked to ‘judge’ this competition in a way that may not be familiar to you, but this is how we want to do it. We feel that this approach is open, transparent and fair. All entries will be judged on its merits, there should be no difference between what is a good ‘Club photo’ and what might be considered a good ‘NIPA photo’. All Club members have been informed that this is how, we as a Club, intend to judge our competitions. This is how it works:

Stage One

The Competitions Secretary will display all the entries for each category (e.g. Starting with Foundation, Monochrome)

• You are asked to; independently and without consultation, select four images as ‘your’ shortlist. [At this stage you should consider whether the entry meets the criteria set out for the competition. If it doesn't then it cannot be included in your shortlist.]
• You will give your shortlist to the Competitions Secretary, who (after receiving the personal short lists from the other judges) will remove all entries NOT short listed. (This will produce all entries ‘short listed’ by the 3 judges.)

Stage Two

You will then, independently and without consultation, award points for each image, 1 to 5 (with 5 being very good) using the four criteria set our below – and using the provided pro-forma.

The criteria are:

• Immediate Impact: The essence that captures, and retains, a viewer’s interest.
• Composition: The appropriate arrangement of elements in the scene. For example: simplicity; rule of thirds; the use of lines, patterns, abstraction, lighting, balance, framing, etc.
• Technical Control: The appropriate choice of lens, depth of field, texture, sharpness – to the scene.
• Image Quality: The overall quality of image; its printing, choice of paper.
  

Bangor and North Down Camera Club accept that the four criteria may overlap somewhat, and that your interpretation of the criteria may be different to others. This is not a problem, all we ask is that you to consider the points awarded in the round, as the club intends to use the ‘totaled’ points awarded as feedback to all those short listed.

Stage Three

The Competitions Secretary will total the results; and 1st, 2nd and 3rd will be based on overall highest points awarded. [Please note that the Club has decided that an individual may only have two winning entries in each category, so in the unlikely event that one individual wins 1st, 2nd and 3rd, then the 3rd place will pass to whoever came 4th. In the event of a tie, the outside judge will place the ordering after consultation with the other two judges.]

The above: Stages 1 to 3; will be carried out for each category, i.e. Adv Col, Adv Mono, Fnd Col, Fnd Mono.
NIPA Selection

Bangor and North Down Camera Club have merged ‘Club Competition’ and ‘NIPA Selection’ into one competition. As a result, the top 8 entries with the highest marks, (i.e. 4 in Colour and 4 in Mono) will go forward to NIPA. [Please note: in the unlikely event that the top 8 does not include at least two foundation images, then the two foundation images with the highest points will be selected, and the two images (of the top eight) with the lowest points will be deselected.]