( Effective July 1, 2015 )

• Prints
  • CATEGORIES – Intermediate and Master
    • Intermediate – Novice & Amateur
    • Accomplished – Advanced Amateur & Master
• Digital
  • 4 SKILL LEVELS – Novice, Amateur, Advanced Amateur, and Master

Here is a basic guideline to assist you

• Novice: A novice is new to what they do, so a novice photographer is just learning how to take nice pictures. They look to get advice and help from their peers.
• Amateur: Someone who is pursuing a study of photography, has a love of photography. Has strong desire to learn about photography.
• Advanced Amateur: The act of moving forward (as toward a goal), someone who advances with schooling, training etc. Goal is to master their skills. Usually not being paid for their work.
• Master: A person who has great skillfulness and knowledge of photography through their outstanding work. As with anything, it takes a long time to master anything. Could be paid for their work.
• Classes - See Class Definitions

Competitions are open to current LPA members in good standing. A new member may select the level they wish to start in (default is novice), or voluntarily move to a higher level, with the concurrence of the Competition Chairperson.

All entries, digital and prints, must be entered one week prior to competition night, before midnight. No late entries will be accepted.

Enter at http://www.lpaphotography.org/photocomp/. Prints entries need a jpg file for projection. Entry fee $5.00 for each member for each competition.

There is a maximum of three entries per member per competition. This will include digital and prints. Example: 3 digital or 3 prints or any combination.

An image that has won a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or Excellence Award (EA) in any past LPA competition may not be re-entered. Honorable Mentions (HM's) may be re-entered, other than in the original class it won the HM in, but not in the same year. New work is encouraged.

The Competition Chair will update the Member Skill Levels list when new members join or member levels are changed.

All digital entries will be judged at the level in which they are entered (exception – One Entrant Provision) and all print entries will be judged together. Judges will be selected by the Competition Chairperson prior to the competition. The issuing of award ribbons will be left to the discretion of the judge. Awards will not be given if the judge does not feel there is merit. The decisions of the judges will be final.

• Digital Image Ribbons – One 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and no limit on HM’s
• Print Ribbons – EA’s and HM’s as scored

When a competitor wins two first-place ribbons in the Digital division at the same level, they will be moved by the competition chairperson to the next higher skill level for the next competition year. When a competitor wins 3 EAs in the Print division, must be from three different competition, they will be moved by the competition chairperson to the next higher skill level for the next competition year. Note: If a competitor wins both in the Digital division and in the Print division, they would need one Digital division first-place ribbon and a total of two Print division EA ribbons, won over two different Print competitions, to be advanced.

End of Year Skill Level Advancements:

• Two 1st place ribbons in Digital division
• One 1st place ribbon in Digital division and a total of two EA ribbons won over two different Print competitions
• Three (total) EA ribbons won in three different Print competitions

For this purpose, only regular LPA competitions are considered. Blue ribbons (1st place) or EA ribbons won in other competitions, including the LPA's “End of the Year” competition and the AV Fair, do not count.

Moving up to next skill level is “mandatory” only once a year. You can choose to move up to the next skill level at any time with the concurrence of the Competition Chairperson.

An “End of the Year” competition will be conducted annually at the June meeting. The judging method for this competition will be decided by the Competition Chairperson. Both judged awards and Members' Choice awards may be given in each level and division. The Competition Chairperson will determine the awards for this competition (e.g. trophies, mementos, and/or ribbons).

• Digital – All 1st place photos for the year compete in their skill level (4 levels)
• Prints – All EA photos for the year compete in their category(2 categories)

Only EA’s will be included in the “End of the Year” competition.

The Winners List is maintained at http://www.lpaphotography.org/photocomp/index.php?view=winners

There will be no ties for “End of the Year” trophies or awards. Any ties at the “End of the Year” competition will be broken by a run-off vote. A member may win at only one skill level, but in more than one division (print & digital) in the “End of the Year” competition. If a person has won first-place blue ribbons or excellence awards in more than one skill level, he or she will compete in the higher skill level for the end-of-the-year trophy or award. For example, if a member won a blue ribbon in the novice skill level and voluntarily moved up midyear to amateur and did not win any more blue ribbons, that blue ribbon photo would compete at the novice level in the “Year End” competition. If the person also won a blue ribbon at the amateur skill level, only the amateur blue ribbon photograph would be eligible for the “End of the Year” competition. His or her blue ribbon photographs won at the lower level would not be eligible for this competition.

Note: The skill level the photo was entered in is the skill level the photo stays in, regardless of the skill level of the photographer for the year end competition.

When there is only one entrant in a digital division, there is not much of a contest. For digital competitions in the Novice, Amateur, and Advanced Amateur skill levels, when there is only one entrant, although he/she may have 3 photographs, the following process will be followed.

• The entrant will be contacted by the competition chair and notified that the digital entries will be moved to the next higher skill level for that competition.
• If a member wins a ribbon for a photograph that has been moved up due to the one entrant provision, the ribbon will be awarded at the higher skill level at which the member competed due to the one entrant provision.
• For the “End of the Year” competition, a first-place photo would compete at the skill level it was entered, regardless of the skill level at which it won.
• If a member moves up a level mid-year and then receives a first-place at the higher skill level, the member will only compete at the higher skill level for the end-of-year competition.

Example: For the end-of-year competition, a first-place photo will compete at the skill level it was entered, regardless of the skill level at which it won. For example, a novice member’s photograph that wins an amateur blue ribbon, due to the one entrant provision, would compete for the end-of-year award at the novice skill level. If that novice member moves up to amateur at midyear, and does not win any amateur blue ribbons after he or she moves up, then his or her photograph that won an amateur blue ribbon due to the one entrant provision would compete for the end-of-year award at the novice skill level. If that novice member who moved up at midyear subsequently wins an amateur blue ribbon, then the blue ribbon photo that was entered at the novice skill level but won at the amateur skill level would not be eligible for the end-of-year competition.

The following are the digital file requirements:

• File type: JPEG
• 4 Skill Levels: Novice, Amateur, Advanced Amateur and Master.
• File size: At least 100 KB, but not more than 4 MB.
• Digital images must be received by the Tuesday before the competition (one week ahead). Enter your images at http://www.lpaphotography.org/photocomp/.

Recommendations for optimum viewing

• Set JPEG compression to ‘high’ or ‘maximum’.
• Set the maximum dimension in pixels to 1024 wide by 1024 high 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.

• How to Enter – Step by Step

The following are the print requirements:

• Prints entries should also have a digital image (jpg file) for projection.
• Prints must be mounted. Foam core is recommended, but mount board will be accepted. Borders on mount boards are acceptable.
• Mats and frames are NOT accepted.
• The back of each print will have the photographer's name and the title of the picture.
• Prints must have one dimension (length or width) of at least 9”.
• Intermediate category
  • Maximum size mount board – 16” x 20””
  • Panoramic prints may be up to 320 square inches in area
• Accomplished category
  • Maximum size mount board – 16” x 20””
  • Panoramic prints may be up to 320 square inches in area

Categories and Judging:

• Prints will be scored on a scale of 5 to 9 (see scoring criteria below). There will be two categories, Intermediate and Accomplished, and all prints will be scored at the same time. A print scoring a 9 will be given an EA. A score of 8 will be given an HM for those in the Accomplished category and an EA for those in the Intermediate category. A score of 7 will earn an HM for those in the Intermediate category.
• Members currently in the Novice and Amateur skill levels will be considered at the Intermediate category for prints. Advanced Amateur and Master will be in the Accomplished category. All new members will start in the category corresponding to their skill level in the digital competition.
• For “End of Year” competition, only EA’s print awards will be eligible to compete.
• Picture of the Year will be awarded to one print in each category (Intermediate and Accomplished).

If an entrant moves up from Intermediate to Master during the competition year, then for end of the year judging, all entries will be re-scored on the Master criteria for inclusion in the Master “Year End” competition. If an entrant moves down during the year then he or she must stay at that skill level until he or she re-qualifies for advancement. For the purposes of advancement, when a competitor wins two first-place ribbons in the Digital division at the same skill level, they will be moved by the competition chairperson to the next higher skill level for the next competition year. When a competitor wins 3 EAs in the Print division, must be from three different competition, they will be moved by the competition chairperson to the next higher skill level for the next competition year. Note: If a competitor wins both in the Digital division and in the Print division, they would need one Digital division first-place ribbon and a total of two Print division EA ribbons, won over two different Print competitions, to be advanced. Print Scoring criteria:

• A score of 5 indicates a print with serious technical flaws.
• A score of 6 indicates a print with some technical flaws or poor composition and/or low impact.
• A score of 7 indicates a print an average print.
• A score of 8 indicates a print with no obvious technical flaws and medium impact.
• A score of 9 indicates a print that is technically well-done and high impact.