[Link to MEMBER LEVELS]

Revision Date: February 17, 2010

Levels – Novice, Amateur, Advanced Amateur, and Master

Divisions – Prints, Slides, and Digital 

Prints – 4 Levels, Digital – 4 Levels, Slides – All Levels Combined

1. Competitions are open to current LPA members.

2. Entry fee $3.00 for each member for each contest.

3. Maximum of 3 entries per competitor per contest. This will include digital, slides and prints. Example: 3 slides or 3 prints, or 2 slides and 1 print, or 2 prints and 1 slide or 2 digital and 1 print.

4. Prints must have one minimum dimension of at least 9”.

5. Maximum mount board size in Novice, Amateur, and Advanced levels are 16” x 20” and 17” x 24” in the Master level. Panoramic prints may be up to 320 square inches in area in Novice, Amateur, and Advanced levels and up to 408 square inches in the Master level.

6. Prints must be mounted. Foam core is recommended, but mount board will be accepted. Borders on mount boards are acceptable.

7. Mattes and frames are NOT accepted.

8. The back of each print will have the photographers name and the title of the picture. Each slide will be identified by title and the photographer’s name on the mount, no stickers. Slides must have a dot on the lower left corner of the mount when viewed properly.

9. An image that has won 1st, 2nd or 3rd in any past LPA competition may not be re-entered. HM’s may be re-entered.  New work is encouraged.
All entries will be judged at the level in which they are entered. The issuing of ribbons will be left to the discretion of the judge. Ribbons will not be given if the judge does not feel the entry is deserving of an award. Ribbons may be awarded for 1st, 2nd, 3rd and HM’s, and the decisions of the judges will be final. Judges will be selected by the Chairperson.
When a competitor wins two first place ribbons in a given category since they started competing at LPA, they will be moved to the next higher level for the next competition year. Winning the “Year End” competition does not count as winning a second blue ribbon. Moving up to next level is “Mandatory” only once a year. You can choose to move up to the next level at anytime with the concurrence of the Competition Chairperson.

10. A new member may select the \ level they wish to start in, or voluntarily move to a higher level, with the concurrence of the Competition Chairperson.

11. The Competition Chair will update the MEMBER LEVELS list when new members join and member levels are changed.

12. A “Year End” competition will be conducted annually at the June meeting. First-place winning photographs from each of the 4 levels and three  divisions will compete for an end-of-the-year trophy/award.  Only one trophy/award per person per division will be awarded. Ties for “Year End” will be determined by a run-off vote. If a person has won first-place ribbons in more than one level, they will compete in the higher level for the end-of-the-year trophy. The judging method for this competition will be decided by the Competition Chairperson. The Winners List is maintained at:  http://www.lpaphotography.com/logon1/Members/Winners.htm.

13. The level the photo won in, is the level the photo stays in, regardless of the level of the photographer for the year end competition.
 

 

Digital Competition Rules
 

1.   File type: JPEG
2 Levels: Four - Novice, Amateur, Advanced Amateur and Master (same as for prints)
3. File size: at least 100 KB, but not more than 4 MB
4. Digital images must be received by the Tuesday before the competition (one week ahead). Enter your images at http://www.lpaphotography.com/digital. No Late entries will be accepted. Recommendations for optimum viewing:
- Set JPEG compression to ‘high’ or ‘maximum’
- Set the maximum dimension to 768 pixels for best viewing on the club's projector
- Set color to sRGB to best match the color gamut of the club's projector
- Note: All entries, whether in vertical or horizontal format, will be viewed to fit the display monitor. As such, entries presented in the horizontal format will show up larger on the screen.

Image upload and logon instructions (pdf)


For technical information contact Lee Garner or Paul Craft
 

Image Upload Instructions (pdf)

For logon info contact Paul Craft

Photo Competition Class Definitions

1.   ABSTRACT - Experimental, special effects, infrared prints, (excludes Creative).

2.   ACTION - Motion being portrayed as the dominant theme.

3.   ANIMALS -Animals depicted as the main theme (excludes birds).

4.   CLOSE UP - Photographs of small subjects or close up views of sections of large subjects.

5.   CREATIVE - Creative is defined as altered reality. This definition includes alterations utilizing: colored lights and gels, blacklight, mylar, sandwiches, projected images, double exposures, zoomed images, litho, birefringence, and computer manipulation. The appropriateness of the technique selected is considered in judging. Once a manipulated image has received an Award or an HM in any LPA competition, the base original image may not be re-used with another manipulation.

6.   DESERT SCENES - Depicting the environment, plants, animals and birds of the southwestern deserts. Excludes desert wildflowers.

7.   DESERT WILDFLOWERS - Close-ups and landscapes dominated by desert wildflowers.

8.   FLOWERS - Single or multiple blossoms of one or more plants, excluding Desert Wildflowers

9.   HUMAN INTEREST- Human Interest images depict a person or persons in a interactive, emotional, or unusual situation, excluding sports action. The picture must include a person or persons (no implied person) No sports action as main subject (no recreational or organized sport activity) (Reality Base - see note below)

10.  NATURE - Something that exists in nature: An insect, butterflies, leaves, etc. (includes birds and fish). No man made objects.(Reality Base - see note below)

11.  PHOTOJOURNALISM - Photojournalism images shall consist of pictures or sequences with informative content and emotional impact, including human interest, documentary and spot news. The journalistic value of the photograph shall be considered over pictorial quality. In the interest of credibility, photographs which misrepresent the truth, such as manipulation to alter the subject matter, or situations which are set up for the purpose of photography, are unacceptable in Photojournalism. (Reality Base - see note below)

12.  PICTORIAL - Picturesque scenes such as landscapes, seascapes or scenic views.

13.  PORTRAIT - Portrayal of a person or persons.

14.  STEP INTO THE PAST - Historic sites, buildings, antiques and relics of the past.

15.  STRUCTURES - Man made objects such as buildings, bridges, lighthouses, etc. EXCLUDES VEHICLES.

16.  TRAVEL - Images taken outside the Antelope Valley that represent travel, such as buildings, people and their customs, etc.(Reality Base - see note below)

17.  VEHICLES -Any type of vehicle (car, boat, airplane, etc.)

18.  PANORAMIC - is any wide-angle view or representation of a    physical space, cropped or stitched together to form a long/narrow photo in either the horizontal or vertical format.  (Panoramic prints may be up to 320 square inches in area in Novice, Amateur, and Advanced levels and up to 408 square inches in the Master level.)

 

Note: Reality based Classes of Nature, Travel, Human Interest and Photojournalism:

No elements may be moved, cloned, added, deleted, rearranged, or combined. No manipulation or modification is permitted except resizing, cropping, selective lightening or darkening, and restoration of original color of the scene. No special effect filters can be applied. Any sharpening must appear natural.


Other competition themes may be added at the Competition Chair’s discretion and guidelines posted in advance.

 
And finally, just to help you on your way. (How to win at photo competitions).
The below links are well worth studying

 http://www.photocritic.org/2007/how-...raphy-contest/

http://www.schoolofphotography.com/if/infocus17.html

http://www.betterphoto.com/contest/guidelines.asp

 

[Link to MEMBER LEVELS]