The Meeting Place for Photographers in Saltburn and its surrounding areas.
Entry dates are listed in the Society’s programme. Late entries may be accepted at the discretion of the Competition Secretary. Any competition with fewer than 2 contestants will be declared void.
There are two types of entry - prints and projected digital images. All entries must be produced from an original image taken by the competitor although the final production of a print may be delegated to a third party. Entry to competitions is restricted to members of the Society.
Repeated use of images an image (or derivative thereof) may be used in more than one competition but only once in each. In any specific competition (and all four monthly competitions are regarded as one in this respect) an image may be submitted as either (but not both) a print or a projected digital image but never again in either format in that competition.
A projected digital image (pdi) must be a JPEG (file extension of .jpg) with a maximum width of 1600 pixels and a maximum height of 1200 pixels. This is to comply with the current rules of the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain (PAGB)
It must be named using three pieces of information as follows:
1. The two-digit alphanumeric code for the competition into which it is being entered
2. The photographer’s name
3. The title of the image
These three pieces of information must be in this order and separated from each other by a single underscore as shown in the following example:
M1_John Bull_British Bulldog which indicates that John Bull has entered a pdi entitled British Bulldog in the first monthly competition.
Provision of this information in this manner assists the Competition Secretary in cataloguing the images. Every pdi will have the competition code and photographer’s name removed prior to being submitted to the judge. Ideally, pdis should be submitted as attachments to an email to the Competition Secretary, from whom further information can be obtained.
Prints unless the rules for a specific competition state otherwise, prints may be colour or monochrome. A print must comply with the following criteria:
1. The picture area must be at least 48 square inches. A picture of smaller area is permissible only if it is rectangular with a long side of at least 9 inches. A print must be surface mounted or window mounted on board or similar stiff but thin card of size 20 inches x 16 inches (or the slightly smaller metric near equivalent of 500mm x 400mm).
Note that the PAGB and the Northern CountiesPhotographic Federation (NCPF) now stipulate that mounts must be 500mm x 400mm and not larger.
For the Jarvis and Lynn Trophy competitions the size of the mounts may be reduced but must be at least A4 in size.
2. The back (bottom right-hand corner) of the mount must be labelled with the title of the picture.
3. A print must be accompanied by a JPEG copy, (in accordance with the requirements for pdis) but with the word ‘print’ appended to the competition code as in the following example:
STprint_Phil McCann_Charity Worker which indicates that the JPEG is a copy of a print entered into in the Studio Tristan competition by Phil McCann and entitled Charity Worker.
Note that there is no underscore between ST and print. The JPEG copies of prints are used for illustration to a large audience when results are presented and for possible publication (subject to the necessary permission from photographers) on the Society website. The JPEG copies are not supplied to judges and form no part of the judging process.
Each mounted print and any packaging must be free from contamination, such as unsecured adhesive tape or surplus adhesive, which could damage another print placed in contact with it. Also, prints should be submitted in lightweight packaging which will fit easily into the print box.
Each of these competitions requires 5 prints. The back of each print must be labelled with the theme and numbered (1 to 5) to indicate the order in which they are to be displayed. If, in addition to the theme of the entry, each print has a separate title then that too must be included.
When naming JPEG copies of the prints for these competitions the image sequence number must be included as the 3rd (of 4) items of information.
In the following two examples the photographer, having chosen a theme of ‘British Birds’ gave each image an individual title:
LY_John Doe_1_Robin
LY_John Doe_4_Starling
If the images are not given separate titles, then the last piece of information should be the theme.
JA_Tom Thumb_2_Reflections
In all cases the number must follow the second underscore.
Currently there are four, each being a separate round of an overall seasonal championship. Points accrued in each round determine overall positions at the end of the season.
There are two categories (advanced and intermediate) of entrant and, within each category, separate entry streams for prints and pdis. Each competitor may make up to 2 entries in each of the entry streams appropriate to their category.
The first competition has an open theme, the next two have specific themes which are changed each season and the last one is themed on ‘The Natural World’ and combined with one of the annual competitions, the Michael Constable Memorial trophy. All rounds are judged by external judges.
In each separate entry stream/category the judge is required to decide 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th places and may commend others. These places are awarded 6, 5, 4, 3, and 2 points respectively and every other entry is awarded 1 point. Of the two entries that a competitor may submit, only the higher scoring one will contribute to their overall seasonal total.
A trophy is awarded to the leading photographer in each of the categories of entrant in each entry stream. These are as follows:
R T McKenna Trophy - Advanced photographers for projected digital images Bowers-Brittain Trophy - Intermediate photographers for projected digital images Rosebowl - Advanced photographers for prints Cooke Trophy - Intermediate photographers for prints
There is also a Junior Trophy (not contested recently) for junior photographers for either prints or pdis.
Solely for monthly competitions, entrants are classified either as advanced or intermediate (covering both print and pdi media) and compete only within their class.
Advanced status may be gained in several ways:
Intermediate status is conferred on everyone that is not in the advanced classification. A member may revert from being advanced to intermediate in special circumstances.
Any member under 18 years of age on 1 September of the current season qualifies as a Junior member but that does not preclude them from being classified instead as either intermediate or advanced.
Currently there are nine and, barring a few exceptions, there is generally no separation of prints and pdis, or advanced and intermediate entrants. One of these competitions is coincident with the final monthly round. Five of the annual competitions are judged externally and the others internally. In all cases only 1st and 2nd places are identified.
The annual competitions comprise:
Subject: The Natural World Entry requirement: A maximum of 2 prints and 2 pdis per photographer By virtue of being judged from all the entries (no matter whether print or pdi, advanced or intermediate) from the fourth (and final) monthly competition, each photographer may enter 2 prints in their appropriate print category (advanced or intermediate) and likewise 2 pdis.
Subject: People (or a person) Entry requirement: Maximum of 2 entries (either pdi and/or print) per photographer
Subject: Open but taken at an organised gathering (event) involving SPS members Entry requirement: Maximum of 2 entries (either pdi and/or print) per photographer The following provisos will apply to an ‘event’: 1. Attended by at least 4 current (at the time) members of the Society 2. Occurring within Yorkshire, Durham, Northumberland or Cumbria 3. Publicised as a ‘Les Gould’ event at least 2 weeks in advance on the SPS Facebook site and by an email to all members. 4. Occurring in the 12 months ending on the official ‘hand-in’ date
Subject: Open Entry requirement: Maximum of 2 pdi entries per photographer Advanced workers and past winners of any SPS Trophy (apart from the Harry Brittain Salver or the Moore Trophy) are ineligible. Entries must have been taken within 2 years of the competition date.
Subject: Open Entry requirement: One set of five monochrome prints on a stated theme of the photographer’s choice. The usual rules for picture area apply but the mount size may be as small as A4. The entries must be numbered for presentation order as outlined earlier.
Subject: Open Entry requirement: One set of five colour prints on a stated theme of the photographer’s choice. The usual rules for picture area apply but the mount size may be as small as A4. The entries must be numbered for presentation order as outlined earlier.
Subject: Open Entry requirement: 5 pdis, not on a theme, by a female photographer. Collectively, the 5 images, when mixed with those of the other contestants, should not be easily distinguishable (as by the same author) by content, title or any embellishment.
The images will be mixed randomly for presentation to the judge. Each image will be awarded a mark which subsequently will be assigned to the appropriate photographer and summed to determine the result. Mixing of images is intended to prevent the judge from making a collective assessment of each photographer's images, which has happened in the past when images were presented in groups of five by photographer. Consequently, each contestant is requested to co-operate in this respect by choosing images that have no distinct collective association (theme) whether by content, title or any embellishment (such as large borders).
Subject: Open Entry requirement: A maximum of 2 pdis per photographer.
Subject: Open Entry requirement: One presentation (of no more than 5 minutes duration) of pdis accompanied by live or recorded commentary and/or music. Contestants may work individually or in pairs
