Silver Spring Camera Club

I General

1. A competition is defined as a judging of photographs of a particular category made by entrants competing in a particular class.

2. Entrants must be members in good standing of SSCC meaning dues must be paid. Members from the prior year must have dues paid by Oct. 31st.

3. The competition chairperson (or person acting in their stead) shall be responsible for the administration of these rules and may disqualify and remove any entry not conforming to these rules.

4. The judge(s) shall be instructed to reject any entry not conforming to an announced subject and/or technique category. It is the duty of the competition chairperson to so instruct the judge(s) in the definitions of subjects and categories.

5. Entries for competition must originate as photographs (image-captures of objects via light sensitivity) made by the entrant on photographic emulsion or captured digitally. Images may be altered, either electronically or otherwise, by the maker and artwork or computer graphics created by the maker may be incorporated, if the photographic content predominates.

II Categories

1. There shall be three categories of competition: Monochrome Prints, Color Prints, and Projected Images.

2. Entries in all categories must have been photographed by the entrant.

3. Monochrome prints– Initial film processing may be done by others but only under the direction of the entrant. All subsequent steps including retouching must be done by the entrant.

4. Color prints – Initial film processing and any associated production of an internegative may be done by others but only under the direction of the entrant. All subsequent steps including retouching must be done by the entrant except that Novice entrants may enter color prints made by a commercial lab under the entrants direction provided that the entrant does not compete commercial prints in the Advanced Print category.

5. Slides – Initial film processing and mounting may be done by any outside commercial lab. Any further steps in the production of the entry must be done under the direction of the entrant.

6. Print entries may be mounted on boards of a size acceptable for the club's print viewing box (approx. 24” high); total print area may not exceed 11”x 14” for novice class; 16”x 20” for advanced class. The title and entrant's name must appear only on the back, there shall be no hooks, substances or protruding objects on the mount board which might harm other entries and the top of the print shall be clearly indicated by an arrow on the back of the mount board. A sequence of related prints, mounted on one board, will be considered as a single entry. For both classes the combined picture area of this sequence may not exceed 16”x 20”. Framing is prohibited.

7. Slides must be in 2”x 2” mounts suitable for projection in the Club's projector. The slide shall be marked with a clearly visible and distinct spot located in the lower left-hand corner of the mount on the side facing the viewer when the hand-held slide is viewed in its correct orientation. The name of the entrant and the title of the slide must be on the reverse side of the mount.

III Classes

1. Each category of competition (Monochrome Prints, Color Prints, and Projected Images) shall have two classes: Novice and Advanced.

2. A member's class standing in one category shall have no bearing on that member's standing in any other category.

3. Except as noted later in this paragraph, a member may begin competing in any class of any category and may voluntarily move to the next higher class at any time. A member who has entered in a particular class however may not thereafter enter in a lower class. It is the member’s responsibility to insure that his/her entries are recorded and entered into the correct competition class. Accidental entry into a higher class will not justify reverting to a lower class. Whenever there are insufficient entries to have a Novice competition, a Novice member may choose to enter the Advanced class competition following Advanced class rules without affecting his or her status in the Novice class and any points awarded that member in that competition will be tallied in the Novice class.

4. Point scores will be recorded and tallied by the Chairperson of the Competition Committee. A Novice entrant who has accumulated 36 points in a given category over any period, in SSCC monthly competitions, must immediately move to advanced class.

5. After receiving the SSCC Master of Photography Award, a member must move to advanced class in all categories. Since the Master of Photography Award is presented at the year-end banquet, this move to advanced class becomes effective in the club year following the year in which the 300 points total is achieved.

IV Monthly Competitions

1. Projected image competitions will be held each month during a regular club meeting, September through May, as decided by the Board of Directors, except that one month may be designated for other purposes.

2. Monochrome and Color Print competitions will be held each month during a regular club meeting, September through May, as decided by the Board of Directors, except that one month may be designated for other purposes.

3. In a competition category, each entrant may enter a maximum of three projected images, four novice prints or three advanced prints.

4. To conduct a Novice competition, there must be at least four entries by at least three entrants. To conduct an Advanced competition, there must be a minimum of nine entries.

5. Prior to competition, the title of each entry and the entrant’s name must be recorded in the proper book as maintained by the Chairperson of the Competition Committee. “Untitled” shall not be an acceptable title. Erroneous entry into a lower class will result in a warning and a loss of any points which may have been awarded in the lower class. Repeated violations of this rule may result in penalties, as decided by the Board of Directors.

6. No entry which has won an award in an SSCC monthly competition may be re-entered. No entry may be entered in more than three monthly competitions. Entry of an image into one category (Monochrome Prints, Color Prints, or Slides) shall have no bearing on its eligibility for entry into another category. Anyone submitting an entry more than three times will, on the first occurrence, be given a warning. Repeated violations of this rule may result in penalties, as decided by the Board of Directors

7. Awards will be presented in each competition based on the total number of entries in each class. Awards will be valued as:

1st Place - 6 points.

2nd Place- 4 points

3 rd Place- 2 points

HM - 1 point

The number of HM's will be based on 10% of the total entries in each class rounded up from odd multiples of five. No HM's will be awarded in competitions with fewer than 12 entries, no 3rd place with fewer than 9 entries and no 2nd place with fewer than 6 entries.

8. The Board of Directors may assign not more than one half of the monthly competitions to a defined subject and/or technique. All other competitions shall be open. Assigned topic competitions for the following club year shall be scheduled at the April Board Meeting and defined in the May Cable Release.

9. All October competitions (i.e., projected images and prints) shall always be Nature in all classes and categories and held on the same meeting night. The Joyce Bayley Award shall be presented to the “Best of Show” as determined by the Judge at the October Nature competition. Nature is defined as “Pictures that portray various aspects of natural plant and animal life, that illustrates the natural features of land and sea or that reveal certain natural phenomena, such as cloud formations, light refractions (sunsets auroras etc.), precipitation, frost, fire, but which do not show the hand of man, such as buildings, fences, beer cans, etc. Domestic plants or animals may be included provided they do not show the “hand of man”. Any image that has won the Joyce Bayley Award is ineligible for future entry in the Joyce Bayley nature competition in another (projected image or print) category.

10. If a competition is not held, for any reason, it may be rescheduled at the discretion of the President.

V Body of Work Competition

1. The Board of Directors may assign not more than one projected image and one print competition each year as a Body of Work Competition. For these competitions, there shall be no class distinction. Sets of images (intended to tell a story, make a statement or support a theme) will be presented to the judge as a group. Individual images which have won in prior monthly or inter-club competitions are eligible for inclusion as part of a set, but no image which has been entered in a prior Body of Work Competition is eligible. Entry of an image into this competition as part of a set shall have no bearing on its eligibility for entry into monthly or inter-club competitions. Makers shall assign titles to each set entered, not to each individual image.

2. A first, second and third place award will always be awarded in each Body of Work Competition along with HM’s equal to 10% of the total number of sets of images rounded up from odd multiples of five.

3. Print Competition – Each member may enter up to
2 sets consisting of 3 to 5 images in both the Monochrome Print and the Color Print Body of Work competitions. Images should be individually mounted. However, multiple images mounted on one board are allowed and will be considered a single image.

4. Projected Image Competition – Each member may enter up to 2 sets consisting of 3 or 4 images in the Projected Image Body of Work Competition. If only 3 images are entered, the entrant must include a 4th non-transparent filler slide, positioned in proper sequence.

VI Year End Competitions

1. Each member may enter a maximum of five images per category in the year-end competition.

2. Year-end competitions have the same rules as monthly competitions with respect to categories and classes.

3. All entries in year-end competitions must have been entered in a monthly competition or as an SSCC entry in an interclub competition during the preceding nine months. However, entries that have won an award in a previous SSCC year-end competition are ineligible.

4. No points will be considered or awarded.

5. A member who has entered in both the Novice and Advanced Class of a category during the preceding year may elect to enter either the Novice or the Advanced class (but not both) for the year-end competition. If a member enters the Advanced class, he or she may submit any entry previously entered regardless of class. However, if a member enters the Novice class, he or she may submit only entries previously entered in the Novice class.

6. Awards will be distributed on the following basis: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and a variable number of HM's equal to 10% of the total entries in that competition, rounded up from odd multiples of five.

7. The Len Tuchin Award will be presented to the maker of the image that in the opinion of the judges of the Year-End Competition, is considered to be the "Best of Show".

VII Photographer of the Year Awards

1. For each class within each competition category a Photographer of the Year Award shall be presented at the year-end banquet.

2. The awards shall be determined on the basis of points earned during the preceding club year. The Photographer of the Year award shall not be presented in a class/category if no member has earned at least a total of 15 points in that class/category.

3. Point totals shall be calculated as follows:

a. Novice Class

(1) All points earned in SSCC monthly competitions for the Novice class and the Advanced class of the same category plus

(2) All points earned as an SSCC entrant in Board-approved Inter-club competitions in equivalent categories, any class.

b. Advanced Class

(1) All points earned in SSCC monthly competitions for the Advanced class and 1/2 of all points earned in the Novice class of the same category plus. . . .

(2) All points earned as an SSCC entrant in Board-approved Inter-club competitions in equivalent categories, any class.

4. In the event of a tie for Photographer of the Year, the winners will be determined as follows: first tie breaker - most 1st place awards; 2nd tie breaker - most 2nd place awards; 3rd tie breaker - most 3rd place awards; 4th tie breaker – most honorable mention awards. If a tie remains, there will be co-winners.

5. Inter-Club awards will earn points towards SSCC Photographer of the Year as follows:

1st place - 7 points

2nd place - 5 points

3rd place - 3 points

HM - 2 points

However, in competitions where the HM awards exceed 10% of the total competition entries, an HM will only earn 1 point. Entries accepted for club representation in competitions in which SSCC conducts preliminary qualification judging will receive 1 acceptance point each. Acceptance points are separate from, and in addition to, any points that may be earned in the inter-club competition.

6. Awards earned by club members entering commercially made prints in inter-club competitions shall not accrue toward Silver Spring Camera Club awards.

VIII Photographic Excellence Awards

1. SSCC Star Merit Award: For each 50 points scored in monthly club and inter-club competitions, total accumulation in all classes and categories over any period of time while a member in good standing of SSCC, a member shall be awarded a Star Merit Award. Stars shall be awarded up to a maximum of five (for a 250-point accumulation).

2. SSCC Master of Photography Award: Upon accumulating 300 total points in the SSCC Star Award System, an SSCC member shall be awarded an SSCC Master of Photography plaque.

3. SSCC Grand Master of Photography Award: Upon accumulating 600 total points in the SSCC Star Award System, a member shall be awarded the SSCC Grand Master of Photography plaque.

4. SSCC Hall of Fame Award: Upon accumulating 1200 total points in the SSCC Star Award System, a member shall be awarded an SSCC Hall of Fame plaque.

5. The Chairperson of the Competition Committee and/or the Historian shall maintain records necessary for the administration of Photographic Excellence awards.

6. Points for the Photographic Excellence awards shall be determined on the same basis as Photographer of the Year (see section VII).

IX Service Award

A Service Award may be awarded to the SSCC member who the Executive Council determines has made outstanding contributions to further the interests of the Club and its membership. The Executive Council shall make this determination by secret ballot no earlier than May 1st of the award year. The member must receive a majority of the votes cast; if no majority is reached, there may be up to two additional ballots in an effort to achieve one. If no majority is reached after the third ballot, there shall be no award for that year.

Master file held by – Stan Klem

" SSCC Comp Rules" (7/00)

Revised (04/02)

Revised (04/03)

Revised (Sep/2004)

Revised (Jan/2007)