JCC Contests – Rules & Guidelines

 Entries Must be Your Work
You took the photo. All decisions were yours. All elements of the photo were your work. You cannot incorporate a background, sky, or other element that was not your work. See exceptions below.

Entries Must be Your Work — Gray Zone
Historically, items such as textures, color pallets, PS actions, PS recipes, etc. have been allowed.
When is help acceptable: Someone gives you advice on the post processing or how to crop or where to stand for a better perspective. Often this help is general and a learning experience for you. If not direct or over-the-top it is acceptable.

No NSFW, No Avocation of Political or Religious Causes
The JCC is very fortunate to have our meeting location. We must always be vigilant of being good tenants. This extends to the images we present in our contests and show in our meetings. We should be careful to never present images that the church may find objectionable. If in doubt, err on the side of caution. Also the club is an escape from the dissensions of daily life. It is not a place to advocate for any cause that might be controversial

Subject and Location Restrictions
Locations that are inherently dangerous for the photographer or model (any subject under the direction of the photographer) cannot be entered into a JCC contest. This includes active railroad tracks, proximity to deep structures including empty swimming pools, approaching wild or dangerous animals, etc.
Posted locations and other illegal-to-enter places.
Items that are prohibited to be photographed by any authority.

Re-entries
An image may be entered a total of three times among all contests. Recognizing the difficulty of policing this by the respective contest chairs, the enforcement is left to the entrant. This does not preclude a chair bringing a possible infraction to the attention of the entrant. Color and monochrome versions of an image are considered the same image.

Once an image has won any award it may not be reentered in any JCC Contest (except the annual).

Appealing a Decision
The respective contest chair is the sole arbiter of an image's qualification in a particular theme or category.
If the maker of the image deems a decision to be sufficiently egregious they may appeal to the JCC Board, in writing. where a super majority will be required for overruling the contest chair.

When
There are no restrictions as to when the photographs were taken.

Number of Awards — All Contest Except the Annual
Twenty Five percent (rounding off) of the entries will receive awards. Starting in order: First, Second, Third, Fourth, and Honorable Mentions, as needed, for the remainder.

When the Number of Entries is too Low for an Award
When this occurs the appropriate contest chair will move entries among categories so that every entry gets judged.

Artificial Intelligence/ AI
Visual elements created via AI (prompts) are not allowed in whole or part in JCC photo contests. Photoshop (PS) techniques such as content-aware fill have been allowed in contests and the new versions of these tools, using the new AI assist functions, are also approved to use in contests. You will know when the tools are beyond what was possible in PS without AI assistance. The reference to "Photoshop" shall include any similar tool or app.

Composites
Composites are allowed unless a specific category prohibits them. They present special issues. Generally they should be photographic in makeup and all elements should have been photographed by the entrant. Other elements such as textures and created shapes and such from within a program such as Photoshop are allowed. They must meet other criteria herein.

Intellectual Rights
The moment you shoot an image you own the legal rights to that image. It now has a copyright. By entering your image you do not relinquish that right. You do give the JCC the right to use the image in conducting contests and to use it on the JCC website, to show it at club events or in advertising or other promotion with or without credit. The JCC has no authority to transfer or sell those rights.  If you object to a specific use of one of your images the Club will remove it upon your written request if possible.

Misappropriated Images
The JCC cannot be responsible for this.

Watermarks etc.
Any identifying marks including name or company watermarks are not allowed. Marks of a creative nature that do not ID the maker and are part of the creative nature of an image are allowed. An example would be a Japanese hanko to complete the design to a Japanese motif. The goal is that the judge should not be able to definitively know the identity of the maker.

Judging Criteria
This is a complex subject. We suggest you read the instructions to the judge. Follow the link on the button below.