There will be four categories for the 2012 monthly print competition:
- Collections/Folios (non-wedding, three or more images in one frame, collage, folio or book/album)
- Portraits (a single image of one or more people)
- Open/Commercial/Landscape/Nature (a single image of a landscape, commercial, pets or unclassified single images)
- Weddings (all wedding images, portraits, collages, folios or albums)
Competition is open to SPPA members ONLY. You must be a member in good standing to participate. (Only Active Memberships can earn the Photographer of the Year Award.)
Entries: Each member may enter three (3) entries per month. Contestants may enter in up to three categories, or all in one category. The deadline for entries to be checked in is 6:45 pm on the day of the contest unless otherwise notified. Any late entry must be approved by a board member.
Prints may be submitted of any shape and size and must be either mounted or framed. Mounting should be done on mat board, gator board, foam board, or other similar material.
A digital reference file must be submitted with each print entry at the time of entry. This file must match the submitted print entry. Contestants can only submit entries that they have captured and created the original exposure. Contestants grant SPPA a limited use license which allows SPPA to post the image(s) on the SPPA websites and use the image in SPPA marketing materials, and SPPA agrees to give credit to the photographer for any images used.
Each category must have at least (3) three entries to be eligible for competition. If any category does not have (3) three or more entries by the deadline of 6:45 pm that category will be closed for competition. If any entrant has a print in a category that is closed, the entrant will have the option to move the entry into another category, if the entry meets the other categories description from above, or remove the entry for that month.
New for 2012! Photo Critiquing
At the end of each competition, after the winners are announced, a few entries will be critiqued by a panel from the membership at attendance. The panel will rotate each month so each member will have the opportunity to critique photos. There will be no obligation to critique photos, but each member will be given the opportunity to do so, if they wish. An entrant whose entry did not win a ribbon, and chooses to have their photo critiqued, may re-submit that photo in competition once it has been adjusted based on the critiques given. The entrant may only re-submit a photo once, and will need to submit the original entry along with the adjusted entry. The photos chosen for critique will be randomly chosen from those who opt-in for critiquing at the time of check-in. The number of photos critiqued will depend on the time available.
Monthly Ribbons: A first, second and third place ribbon will be given each month in each of four categories.
Annual Awards: To be eligible for the Photographer of the Year contestants must meet the following requirements:
- Contestants must participate in a minimum of five competitions (any category) during the year.
- Contestants must compete in three of four categories.
- Contestants must have at least one entry in the SPPA Annual Photography Competition.
- Contestants must be an SPPA active member in good standing.
The photographer with the highest cumulative score in all categories will receive the Photographer of the Year Award. The Photographer of the Year will not be considered eligible for the Awards of Excellence.
Award of Excellence: The photographers (excluding Photographer of the Year) with the highest scores in each category will receive SPPA’s Award of Excellence for their category.
