Frome Wessex Photographic Competition Rules

Please read this carefully: if your entries do not comply with the rules they may be rejected from competitions. If you need any assistance, please ask one of the committee or a more experienced club member – they'll be happy to help.

COMPETITION CLASSES
Premier Class: 18 members, by award only. 5 relegations, 5 promotions at the end of the season.
Club Class: for all other members who wish to enter internal competitions.

GENERAL RULES
1. Members may enter 1 or 2 photographs for each internal competition.
2. Only paid up members of the club can enter internal competitions.
3. Scoring system:
   • Every entry will receive a score from the judge, ranging from 15 (highest) down to 6 (lowest).
   • The judge may award the same score to as many images as they wish.
   • Both images will be scored, but only the higher score, for each member, will be registered in the league tables for the year.
   • From 2020 onwards, images which gain 15, 14 or 13 points in internal competitions cannot be re-entered for future internal competitions (excluding the Best of the Best competition).
   • Images that have placed in the top three from previous years also cannot be reused.
   • For each group there will be a 1st, 2nd & 3rd winner at the end of the season.
   • The member who has the highest points will become the club ‘Photographer of the Year’. In the event of a points tie, the member with the most 15 point scores will be declared the overall winner (we will refer to 14, 13, 12 point scores if needed).
Note: In the unlikely event that images/prints submitted for competitions are lost and not included in the competition, at the end of the season the competitor’s scores will be totalled and their average score added to their end-of-year score. For late entry of digital images, this rule will only apply if it can be proved they had been submitted by the deadline.

PRINT
All prints to be mounted using board (500mm x 400mm) and submitted on or before the hand-in date.
Members are requested to supply digital versions of the top ten images to the Print Secretary ([email protected]) immediately after the competition.
The Club purchases boards in bulk – members can buy these by contacting David Chedgy.
The backs of the mounts must show:
Competition title and date
Title of the print
Entrant’s class and FWP membership number (e.g. P131, C144)
Your name must not appear anywhere on the print or mount.
PRINT ENTRY LABELS: a sheet of labels can be downloaded here.

DIGITAL
Internal competition images must be emailed to the Digital Secretary ([email protected]) or, in the case of external competitions, to the Battles Secretary ([email protected]).

The name of the competition should be written in the 'subject' line of the email. Entries will receive an acknowledgement. The deadline for entries is midnight on the hand-in date, and no late entries will be accepted. Entries on CD, memory stick, etc, are not accepted.

Important note: Images must be highest quality JPGs, not greater than 1600 pixels wide by 1200 pixels high. In portrait format, images must not exceed 1200 pixels in height.

The club projector uses the sRGB colour space, hence you should save your images using the sRGB colour profile. Other profiles may result in incorrect display of the image.

Format for naming the image file:
The title of the image (may contain capital letters and spaces), underscore (not hyphen), membership number and class (P or C).
Example: A Beautiful Morning_144C

Note: To obtain details on preparing your images for competitions, click here. (At-a-glance guidance on sizing and naming can also be found below.)

Definition of Monochrome
Definition coordinated by FIAP / PSA / RPS (2004) and used by PAGB
A black and white work fitting from the very dark grey (black) to the very clear grey (white) is a monochrome work with the various shades of grey. 
A black and white work toned entirely in a single colour will remain a monochrome work able to stand in the black and white category; such a work can be reproduced in black and white in the catalogue of a salon under FIAP Patronage. 
On the other hand a black and white work modified by a partial toning or by the addition of one colour becomes a colour work (polychrome) to stand in the colour category; such a work requires colour reproduction in the catalogue of a salon under FIAP Patronage.

Definition of Nature
(NB: definition revised 2020)
(PAGB Nature Photography Definition, May 2020 – See http://www.thepagb.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/nature_eligibillity.pdf )
Nature means Images where living organisms are the primary subject matter. The story telling value of an Image will normally be weighed more than the pictorial quality.Version 2.2 August 2020 2 of 10

Nature includes:
Images taken with subjects in controlled conditions such as zoos, game parks, botanic gardens, aquariums and enclosures where the subjects are dependent on man for food. Scientific bands, tags or collars are permissible.

Nature excludes:
Images where the subjects are obviously domestic animals or plants. > Images where an obviously artistic treatment has been applied.
Processing of the captured image, by cropping, exposure adjustment, colour correction, noise minimisation, dodging/burning, HDR, focus stacking and sharpening, is permitted, as is cloning of image defects and minor distractions including overlapping elements.
An Image appearing to meet these criteria will be accepted as Nature. The Judges will normally assume that any Image presented to them is eligible.
Access to some biological subjects may be restricted. Where that is relevant, then Photographers warrant that they have followed relevant codes of practices and hold any necessary licences.

Guidance Notes:
Note that images already meeting the separate FIAP Definition of Nature will satisfy this less restrictive definition.
Artistic Nature, meaning photographs which started as Nature, but which have been creatively modified to show a purely pictorial image, do not meet the Nature definition. They should be entered in one of the other Classes as appropriate, and do not count towards any Nature quota restriction.
​It is not feasible to investigate adherence to the Nature definition when receiving multiple entries at an Event. Entrants should therefore expect the Organiser to consider that if an image looks like a Nature image, then it will be treated as a Nature image, even if the entrant suggests excessive manipulation. Entrants should plan their entries accordingly.
It is not desirable to have an Image excluded at short notice, before or after judging, when there is no facility for discussion. In a Nature Event or Category, the Selectors should assume that any Image presented to them does meet the PAGB Nature definition.
After judging, the Organisers have discretion to review eligibility, including calling for the original file of the image, and this is likely for any awards.