Competitions & Rules

Rules

Club members can choose to enter at one of two levels - Intermediate or Advanced, subject to the following rules:

1. New members, or existing club members, can join either group by notifying the Competition Secretary.
2. Existing Intermediate members can join the Advanced Group by notifying the Competition Secretary at any time.
3. Existing Advanced members who wish to join the Intermediate Group must apply to the Competition Secretary giving suitable reason for their proposed change in status. This will then be put before the Committee for consideration.

It has been noticed that new members can feel intimidated when entering images against the more experienced members of the club and expect to face fierce criticism by the judge as a result. This does not happen; judges make constructive comments designed to help and encourage members.

Once pictures are entered, the Intermediate Group images will be identified when preparing the entry list for the judge. The judge then takes note of this, and makes allowances for the member’s lack of experience. At the end of the season, the Intermediate member with the most points will be awarded a trophy. An Intermediate member cannot win the best overall image in a competition, as their group is judged separately.

It is important that all competition entries conform to the following rules:

1. The maximum age of any PDI or Print submitted is 5 years.
2. Previously placed entries that were given 1st, 2nd, or 3rd places will not be accepted.
3. To enter a competition, a member must have paid their subscription fees. However, there is no fee for entering a competition.
4. PDIs or Prints must be handed to the competition secretary by the "Hand In Night". PDIs must be submitted on a USB.
No late entries can be accepted as all information needs to be collated before it can be given to the judges for evaluation. Your cooperation in this matter is greatly appreciated.

Images must be entirely the work of the Photographer. In composite images, all component images must meet this requirement.
For the avoidance of doubt, use of images from any other source including, but not limited to, royalty free image banks and clipart are not permitted.

PDI Entries

The maximum number of entries submitted by an individual member, per competition, is three, and these must be supplied as JPEG or JPG files.
Images must be resized to fit within a 1600 x 1200 pixel window.
If the image is in Landscape format it should be resized so that it is 1600 pixels wide.
If the image is in Portrait format it should be resized so that it is 1200 pixels high.
Any picture area can be used, as long as it fits into a 1600 x 1200 window.
The Resolution of the image doesn't matter, as long as the pixel dimensions are correct.

Naming of Images

Images should be named as follows:

Title - space - 'A' for Advanced or 'M' for Intermediate - space - membership number.

Example: Black Steam Engine A 54
Or: Black Steam Engine M 99

There is no need for anything else.

Print Entries

Prints, including the mount, must be no bigger than 50cm x 40cm.

You can enter up to 3 prints.

Please do not write anything other than the Title on the back of the print. Write it clearly in the middle at the top.

Also hand in a SEPARATE PIECE OF PAPER with your name, membership number, whether you are in the Advanced or Intermediate Section, and the titles of each print entry.

Members failing to comply with these rules will be taken outside and shot!

Scoring

The points awarded for the internal record of members’ success are shown below. Points only apply to competitions held by the club.
Whereas every care will be taken of competition material submitted, neither the Club nor its Officers can be held responsible for any damage to the material as this could have occurred anywhere.
Subjects for the competitions to be held in the ensuing year are selected from suggestions forwarded by Members and the final choice is made by the Committee.

Open PDI, judged by Linda Bell. Hand-in 01/10/2025.
On the Beach PDI, judged by Jill Bunting. Hand-in 29/10/2025.
Open Print, judged by John Smith. Hand-in 26/11/2025.
Reflections PDI, judged by Dave Jones. Hand-in 14/01/2025.
Transport PDI, judged by Dave Custance. Hand-in 11/02/2025.
Buildings & Bridges Including Dereliction PDI, judged by Sue Clark. Hand-in 11/03/2025.