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With the exception of December, the Plano Photography Club (PPC) conducts monthly competitions to encourage members to practice their art and stimulate a thoughtful, creative approach to improving their photography. Members may submit up to two image entries to each monthly competition. For each month's competition, a guest judge critiques all entries and awards both Judge's Points and Place Points (i.e., 1st Place, 2nd Place, 3rd Place and "Best of Show"). The results of the competition, along with the judge's comments and critiques on all entries, are presented at the next PPC meeting. For example, entries to the January competition are submitted in January and the results presented at the February meeting.
Members begin each PPC competition year (May through April) with zero points and accumulate both Judge's Points and Place Points throughout the year. End-of-year awards and Beginner level promotions are based on total Judge's Points received throughout the year. Nine of the eleven competitions in the PPC competition year are devoted to images in a Digital format (i.e., a JPEG file), and two are devoted to images in a Print format (i.e., a printed photograph). A fixed subject is assigned by the PPC Board for six of the competitions, while the five remaining competitions are open (i.e., no fixed subject assignment). The PPC Board consists of the PPC Officers.
For image entries in a Digital format, PPC utilizes a Competition Site for electronic entry submission. Specific instructions for submitting entries are available in a downloadable Competition Site Instructions Portable Document Format (PDF) file. Image entries in a Print format are physically submitted at the PPC meeting for months with a Print format competition.
Do you have an image that you think is pretty good but you would like someone else's opinion before you enter it in the PPC competition? Club members may take advantage of a simple and free way of getting an image critiqued by Master level photographers by sending their image to Larry Peterborg. Larry will anonymously send your image to two or three master photographers and return their critique. Please ensure your images observe the Image Guidelines below.
The Competition Calendar, along with more details on Image Guidelines and the Competition Process can be found below.
Note all competitions listed below are for images in a Digital format unless otherwise noted. A historical record of the competition subjects from prior PPC competition years is available in a downloadable Historical Record Portable Document Format (PDF) file.
2010-2011 PPC competition year:
- May 2010: Opposites
- June 2010: Open
- July 2010: Diagonals
- August 2010: Open
- September 2010: Photojournalism
- October 2010: Open (Print format competition)
- November 2010: Reflections
- December 2010: No competition
- January 2011: Cemeteries
- February 2011: Open
- March 2011: Panoramics (Print format competition)
- April 2011: Open
2011-2012 PPC competition year:
- May 2011: Planes, Trains and Automobiles
- June 2011: Open
- July 2011: Shadows and Silhouettes
- August 2011: Open
- September 2011: To be announced
- October 2011: Open (Print format competition)
- November 2011: To be announced
- December 2011: No competition
- January 2012: To be announced
- February 2012: Open
- March 2012: To be announced (Print format competition)
- April 2012: Open
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PPC members may submit one or two images to each month's competition. All entries must conform to the Image Guidelines and the subject as defined for the given month's competition (when applicable). Detailed descriptions of many of Club's subjects are available in a downloadable Description of Competition Subjects Portable Document Format (PDF) file.
- Any Image that has been awarded 1st Place, 2nd Place, or 3rd Place in any previous PPC competition is not eligible for submission. This includes images that are substantially similar to previously entered images that had placed 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in any previous PPC competition.
- All image entries must originate as a photograph created by the entrant, i.e., images may not be merely graphic art created on a computer.
- Processing of an image may be done in the camera or using post-processing techniques. Added design elements e.g., graphic art, must also be produced by the entrant.
- Images composed solely of other people's artwork (e.g., a wall mural or painting) are not acceptable. If other's artwork is included in an image, the photographer must contribute additional compositional elements, such as unique lighting.
- The subject of an entry in a month with a fixed subject assignment must conform to the assigned subject in order to receive the maximum number of points and/or avoid disqualification (see Judging below). The content of an entry for a month with an open competition can be any subject of the entrant's choosing
- Images that depict the desecration of religious symbols are not permitted in any PPC competition.
- Images that show more female nudity than a bikini would show, or more male nudity than a swimsuit would show are not permitted in any PPC competition. Note see-through fabrics are considered the same as exposed skin.
Images may be derived from various sources including film negatives, film slides, digital cameras, or other devices that produce a photograph-like image such as a scanner.
The following requirements apply to images in a Digital format (only):
- Images must be submitted electronically to the Competition Site. Entries for a particular month's competition may be submitted beginning the 1st day of the month through the last day of the month (unless otherwise noted on the Competition Site).
- Details on file naming and image titling are outlined on the Competition Site. Note only the Image Title appears when either the judge views the image or when the image is presented during PPC presentations - neither the file name nor the entrant's name appears. The judge may consider the suitability or appropriateness of the Image Title. The entrant's name or other identifiers must not appear in the Image Title.
- While specific requirements can be found on the Competition Site, entries should have a file size of 500K or less and must be in a JPEG file format with 1024 max pixels in width, 768 max pixels in height. Note, however, the Competition Site automatically resizes images down to within the maximum allowed dimensions. Resolution (e.g., pixels per inch) does not matter and is not used.
The following requirements apply to images in a Print format (only):
- Images must be physically submitted before the end of the PPC meeting to be eligible for that month's competition.
- The entrant's name, level, and the entry's title must be indicated. The top of the image should also be indicated. In months with a Print format competition, pre-printed labels are provided by PPC and are available at the PPC meeting. Note only the Image Title is revealed when either the judge views the image or when the image is presented during PPC presentations.
- Images must be mounted but not framed. A top mat is optional.
- The physical dimensions of the submitted entry must be no larger than 16" x 24". Actual images must be no smaller than 64 square inches and no larger than 16" x 24" (if not matted).
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In a given PPC competition year, members may compete in one of three levels:
- Beginner: Learning the basic operation of the camera. Learning the basic concepts of composition, exposure, lighting, and post-processing of images.
- Advanced: Comfortable with the technical aspects of the camera. Knowledgeable to proficient in the concepts of composition, exposure, lighting, and post-processing techniques for creating images. May be skillful in more than one genre of photography, for example, landscape, portrait, macro, photojournalism, still life, etc.
- Master: Can teach others the concepts of composition, exposure, lighting and post-processing of images. Has provided significant service to PPC as an active officer. Continues to provide service to PPC as, e.g., an active teacher, tabletop host, or activity leader. Possesses the skills necessary to provide meaningful critique of others' images. Skillful in several genres of photography (e.g., landscape, portrait, macro, photojournalism, or still life).
New members can choose, upon joining PPC, to compete at either the Beginner or the Advanced level. Members are encouraged to compete based on photography skills (no sandbagging, please). Once a member has selected a level, they must remain at that level for the remainder of the PPC competition year (May through April).
Members in the Beginner level who earn 35 or more Place Points in a PPC competition year are automatically moved to the Advanced level in the next PPC competition year. Beginners, who earn fewer than 35 Place Points in a PPC competition year, may choose to either remain in the Beginner level or move to the Advance level.
Promotion to the Master level is by invitation of the PPC Board. Judge's Points, Place Points, overall artistic merit, and service to PPC are all considered for promotion.
PPC searches outside the club for photographers, who are highly respected, recognized in a particular area of photography, or otherwise have judging credentials. While judging is done within accepted guidelines, it should be noted that judging photographic images is very subjective as individual judges have different experiences, perspectives and aesthetic values. Judges' names may not be published in advance of the competition.
- The judge may select 1st Place, 2nd Place, and 3rd Place images and up to three Honorable Mentions. The judge has sole discretion in deciding which places to award, if any, including honorable mentions.
- In a monthly competition with a fixed subject assignment, the judge's scoring should reflect the appropriateness of images to the assigned subject. The judge also has sole discretion in disqualifying an image that he or she deems does not adequately meet the assigned subject. Additionally, the Contest Officer may also disqualify any entry that violates the Image Guidelines anytime before it is presented to the judge (see Appeals below).
- The judge awards a total of between 6 - 15 Judge's Points to each entry based on its own merit and not in competition with other images. Each of the three levels (i.e., Beginner, Advanced, or Master) is also judged independently of other levels. Judge's Points are awarded for interest (2 - 5 points), composition (2 - 5 points), and technique (2 - 5 points).
- Place Points are awarded for 1st Place (10 points), 2nd Place (6 points), 3rd Place (3 points) and "Best of Show" (1 point). No Place Points are awarded for Honorable Mentions.
An entrant may appeal a disqualification made by the Contest Officer. There is no appeal process for a disqualification by a judge - or an appeal process for judge's scoring. Upon disqualification, the Contest Officer notifies the entrant and allows the entrant to withdraw the entry, withdraw the entry and submit an alternate entry, or appeal the decision to the PPC President. If the PPC President upholds the disqualification, the image must be withdrawn. As no alternative images can be submitted once judging begins, if an entrant is uncertain about whether an image meets the Image Guidelines, it would be advisable to submit the entry as early as possible to allow time for possible substitution.
Monthly and yearly recognitions given to members include:
- 1st Place images are published in PPC's newsletter (The Flash). Other images that place are published at the editor's discretion.
- "Photographer of the Year" is awarded annually to the photographer who earned the most Judge's Points (i.e., the sum of both Digital format and Print format Judge's Points) for the closing PPC competition year. In case of a tie, each of the tied winners receives the award.
- "Digital Image of the Year" is selected by a judge from all Digital format images receiving 1st or 2nd Place throughout the closing PPC competition year.
- "Print Image of the Year" is selected by a judge from all Print format images receiving 1st or 2nd Place throughout the closing PPC competition year.
- Photographers in each level with the most Judge's Points (i.e., sum of both Digital format and Print format points) for the closing PPC competition year are also recognized.
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