JCC Print Contest – Rules & Guidelines
This contest is held among the active members of the Jacksonville Camera Club (JCC) to provide an educational and entertaining challenge. It is category-based and held triannually. Prints are submitted as prescribed herein on specified dates. A judge, to whom the identity of the print's maker is unknown, reviews the prints, provides critiques and selects winners. Awards are given for first through fourth place and a number of honors in accordance with a sliding scale. The results are announced at a club program on a prescribed date. The winners are awarded both "glory" and "points". Enjoy the contest and Good Luck!
Number of Entries
You may submit up to six (6) prints in any given period. No more than three may be in any one category.
Fees
The fee per print is $2.00. It is collected at time of print submission and paid in cash or check.
Chose the Proper Category
This contest follows the rules of the Photography Society of America (PSA) for both the people and nature categories. Detailed instruction in the following section.
The Categories
The
People
Category
This category follows the restrictions/definitions of the PSA. The human figure should dominate the image in either physical scale or impact. Here are some examples–
A photo of a player where he fills most of the frame is People. A photo of the player, both teams and the stadium is General.
A photo of a rider on horseback where he dominates the frame is People. A lone rider, small in the image against a majestic mountain is General. An image of 8 riders and their mounts would be General.
- Someone standing on the rim of the Grand Canyon, small in the image showing the scale of the canyon is General. A head and shoulders shot of the same person where the canyon only provides background is People.
The
Nature
Category
The Nature category is the most complicated of all. Our contest uses the Photographic Society of America (PSA)'s definition. The simple rule is: There is no evidence of the hand-of-man in the print.
The following is a short workable guide that will be valid for 95% of your entries:
What is in the print.
No Man-made objects
No plants that have been created by man (hybridizing)
No natural plants that have been moved (row of palm trees)
No domesticated animals or descendants of same
No people of traces of people's action (a saw-cut on a branch)
No evidence that acceptable animals in a zoo are in a zoo
Post processing
Do not add or remove anything from the image
Do not darken or alter any item to make it invisible or less visible
Allowed: cropping, adjusting exposure, saturation, etc to reflect reality
Other
Do not use food or sound to attract animals.
Complete PSA Nature Category Rules
These rules are very complex and dive into minutia that you may never encounter. If you have unresolved issues feel free to phone the Print Chair to discuss. We will not be enforcing issues such as reporting you to some authority because of some infraction as mentioned herein. Some items are addressed to judges. Good that you understand but the criteria for judging listed in out rules to the judges is the final authority. Judges do not disqualify prints from this category. They may grade lower due to an infraction.
The General:Monochrome Category
The entries into the monochrome category are one color and white. Most entries will be black and white but it is not necessary. The entries into this have the same restrictions as the General Category
The
General:Color
Category
The entries into the General Color category The entries into this have the same restrictions as the General Category
Official Rules and Guidelines