Photo Challenge Rules for 2020-2021

1. The purpose of the Photo Challenge is to inspire, educate, and help develop photographic skills for all of our club members. It utilizes competition, comment, and varying subject matter to reach these goals. Time is allowed after judging for the judges to offer constructive comments on every entry.  If time permits, the three winners in each category are encouraged to take questions from the members regarding their winning image.

2. Members may enter up to two (2) images. Members must pre-register and upload their images to our website (kendallcameraclub.org/Events/Upcoming Events/Select a Photo Challenge to Register) no later than 11:59 pm on the Tuesday prior to the Photo Challenge night. Online pre-registration and file uploading is mandatory. Photographs submitted AFTER the deadline will not be accepted. Each member will still need to bring his or her printed photos to the competition.

3. In compliance with the Photo Challenge’s purpose to inspire, educate, and help develop the photographic skills for all club members, members submitting photographs for judging must be present during the judging. This allows the member to respond to questions from judges and fellow members. Each member will be allowed only three (3) proxy submissions (where someone else submits their photos for them) if the photographer cannot be present for the Photo Challenge. Thereafter, during the photo challenge year, their photographs will not be accepted for judging unless the member is present. Extenuating circumstances may be considered if submitted to the board prior to the photo challenge date.

4. The Photo Challenge is held on the second Thursday of each month at our designated meeting place.  Pre-Registered entries from paid-up members are accepted and checked in between 6:45 PM and 7:15 PM. Judging begins shortly thereafter.

5. Competition is held in two categories: Categories: Groups A and B

Group A: Primarily consisting, but not limited to, advanced, semi-professional, and professional photographers
Group B: To consist of upper-intermediate, intermediate, hobbyist, and beginning photographers

Members will choose the category they wish to compete in for the coming year.  New members will choose a category upon joining the club.  For the purpose of end of the year awards, it is suggested that photographers stay in that category for the duration of the KCC Photo Challenge competition year.

Group A members cannot switch to Group B unless approved by a majority vote of the executive committee.

Group B members can transfer to Group A at their own discretion.  However, anyone changing categories during the current competition year will forfeit all bonus points accumulated while in their previous group.
Any Group B member who receives 70 or more bonus points (as defined in Section 14) during the competition year will automatically be moved to Group A for the next year’s competition. 

6. In addition to Open Photo Challenges, some of the Photo Challenges will be themed and accompanied by a description of that theme. For the benefit of the judges, the theme and its description will be prominently displayed during the Photo Challenge. This description is not intended to define a genre of photography but rather to provide the intent of the “assignment” for that month’s Photo Challenge. Entrants should carefully consider whether their image(s) meets the theme and description. Entries that do not meet the theme will not be scored as high as those that do (see #13) and may not be entered into another Photo Challenge (unless they are withdrawn) even if the entry would have better met the theme of that subsequent Photo Challenge. If, prior to the beginning of judging, the Photo Challenge Committee notices that an image might be non-compliant with the theme, they may communicate this observation to the photographer so as to afford them the opportunity to withdraw their entry. Substitution of withdrawn entries are still bound by the pre-registering and file uploading deadline.

7. Photographs must be an original work of the entrant. This includes the capturing and post-processing of the image.  All tools, including the post-processing software, must be controlled by the entrant. Photographs may, however, be printed by a professional service.  Once entered, an image may never be re-entered in another Photo Challenge competition. “Original” work is defined as the photograph with the camera file number. Once submitted that file number cannot be re-submitted in a cropped or otherwise modified version. Members are encouraged to follow the intent of this rule and to NOT circumvent it by simply submitting another image of practically the same scene taken at practically the same time even if it is a different file number.

8. Before the competition begins, any member may challenge the acceptability of any entry by voicing an objection with the Photo Challenge Committee.  The Photo Challenge Chairman or Committee will decide acceptability of the challenge.  The entrant may then withdraw the photograph.  Any withdrawal may be entered in a subsequent Photo Challenge after any necessary adjustments are made.  Non-compliance with the theme of the Photo Challenge is not grounds for challenging the acceptability of an entry. Instead, judgment as to whether or not an image complies with the theme will be done by the judges who are instructed to consider compliance with the theme when determining the score of an entry (see #14).

9. All entries must be photographs which may include prints made in a darkroom, with a printer, or other photographic copy machines.  All images must be printed on photographic paper and mounted on material such as mat board or foam core board. In order to preserve other member’s photos, prints must be flat, unframed, and free of any metallic, wood, canvas, or other materials not stated here.  Prints and mats must also be free of the photographer’s name or other identifying information.

10. Reasonable care will be exercised in the handling of entries.  By entering any club competition, entrants acknowledge that the Kendall Camera Club bears no responsibility for loss or damage during handling, transport, storage, or exhibition of entries.  All entries remain the property of the photographer.

11. In order to fit on the photo turner, all entries must be no larger than 20” vertical x 24” horizontal and no smaller than 8” x 8”. Mats may be no larger than 20” vertical x 24” horizontal and no smaller than 8” x 8”. Unusual sized or shaped entries are acceptable but their maximum dimension may not exceed 20” vertical x 24” horizontal and their minimum dimension must exceed 8”. To ensure correct viewing, the word “TOP,” or an arrow indicating the top, should be written on the top back of each print along with the category (A or B), the entry’s title, photographer’s name, and date. For data entry purposes, titles should be kept reasonably short. The title will be announced before judging.  All untitled entries will be announced as “untitled”.

12. Entries will be displayed prior to judging, and the judges may preview the images.  Members shall refrain from discussing any entries with the judges until after the conclusion of the Photo Challenge. However, if a judge needs clarification about an image, s/he will be able to ask the photographer questions during the judging of the entry. The photographer may decline to answer and allow the judging of the entry to continue on its own merits as displayed.

13. Judging is done by a panel of one to five people, appointed by the Photo Challenge committee, from qualified persons outside the club.  The order of displaying the images for judging is random and determined by computer and the Photo Challenge committee. Entries are judged on the impact, composition, originality, technical execution, picture title, and compliance with the assigned theme.  Mats may be judged as part of the presentation of prints.   A judge should abstain from voting on a photograph if s/he has had any contact with the image prior to Photo Challenge Night.

14. Scoring: Each entry is scored 60-100 points by each judge, and the average scores of 80 and above will be announced along with the name of the photographer. For those images scoring less than 80, only the score will be announced. The score will reflect the average including up to two decimal places.  The judges will score the images to meet the following standard:

100 - 95	Superior (a near perfect image)
94 - 88	Excellent (a well-done image)
87 - 80	Good (above average image, but could be improved)
79 - 70	Average
69-60	Acceptable

Judges shall be advised in the briefing prior to the commencement of judging that images that do not meet the given theme should not receive a score higher than Average.  Since compliance with the assigned theme is often a subjective matter, this is not a steadfast rule. However, judges are expected to consider compliance with the assigned theme when scoring as stated in #8.

15. Awards: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place will be chosen by the judges from the top five (or more, if ties exist) scored images.  Bonus points will be awarded to the winning images:

Best of Show  - 15 points
Second Place  - 10 points
Third Place     -  5 points
 

16.   An annual awards ceremony is held the fourth Thursday in September to honor winners of the past year’s competitions.

17. For the purpose of annual awards, the Photo Challenge year consists of the twelve competitions starting in August and running through July of the following year. Members in categories A and B may submit up to nine or half of their entries that scored 80 or more points during the previous year (whichever is greater).

18. All submitted photos in Groups A and B will be judged by a panel of at least three outside judges.  

19. From all submitted photographs, the judges will pick the “Best Photograph of the Year” for each Group.

20. From the remaining photographs, the judges will determine the following annual awards for each Group:

Best Monochrome Print
Best Nature Print

If the Best Photograph of the Year is a monochrome print, the judges will choose a “Best Color Print” from the remaining photos instead of a “Best Monochrome Print”.

21. From the remaining photographs, the judges will determine the following special recognition awards for each Group. The judges may decide not to award any of the categories if they believe that the qualities of all entries do not merit an award.

Best Abstract Print  
Best Photojournalism or Street Print
Best Architectural Print 
Best Portrait Print
Best Different Perspective Print
Best Sports or Action Print
Best Fun Print    
Best Still Life Print
Best Landscape Print   
Best Wildlife Print

The executive committee reserves the right to add awards to or remove awards from the annual competition. 

22. For Group A, “Photographer of the Year” is the member who has the highest accumulated scores on their top sixteen entries (of a possible 24) for the past competition year.  For Group B, the “Photographer of the Year” will be the member with at least twelve entries who has the highest accumulated score of their top twelve images.  Should no one in Group B have twelve entries, the person with the highest accumulated score shall win.  In both groups, extra points will be added to all scores for each “Best of Show,” Second, and Third Place they have received during this period as stated under #14, Scoring and #15, Awards.

23. “Best New Photographer” award: This award is given to the new (first year) member who has the highest accumulated score on their top eight entries for the past competition year.  It is clear, if you joined in May or later, that acquiring the minimum number of entries will not be possible.  Therefore, if you joined after February, you will be considered to be a new member for the following year.  This gives the new members time to see what Photo Challenges are like, and how they are judged.  All former members are excluded from the “Best New Photographer” award.

24. Awards will be given at the end of the year for Best Photo in Service of the Kendall Camera Club. This is a digital competition. Members will enter their photos by uploading them to the KCC website. To qualify for these awards, photos submitted must have been taken at an event at which the member represented KCC. The member will be allowed to edit the photo prior to submission to the competition. Each member will be allowed to submit one entry from each event in which he or she met the above requirements. Awards will be given for First Place, Second Place, and Third Place. The judging will be done by a named judge, who may or may not have served as one of the judges for the end of the year competition.

25. Any rule that does not affect the points received may be amended by the executive committee at any time during the year, as long as a 30-day notice is given to the members.