1.            No member may enter any Club competition unless they have paid their annual subscription.

2.            All images submitted in all Club competitions must display title, the competition entered (e.g. June Open Comp) and the entrant’s membership number (complete with the suffix ‘N’ if the author wishes to be considered a Novice – see Rule 3).

·         Prints should display this information on their reverse side.

·         Digital images should contain this information as part of the file name, be in JPEG or TIFF format and the digital file should be of the highest quality possible (300 DPI would be ideal). Files should be sized to give a maximum height of 768 pixels and/or a width of 1024 pixels (if you have problems with this please ask for help). The file name must begin with the membership number, then the ‘N’ suffix if appropriate to denote novice followed by the competition and title.  

Example: The file name for a print entitled Summer Day for a member with a membership number of 399 would read ‘399 June 07 Open Summer Day’ 

If that member was a novice the file name would read ‘399N June 07 Open Summer Day’ 

3.            A novice is defined as any member who considers themselves to be a novice. This should be declared before the year’s competitions commence or prior to the first competition entered.

4.            All Images submitted to any of the Club’s competitions must have been photographed by the entrant. Third party processing is allowed but any manipulation of images must be the work of the author.

5.            Any restriction on the repeated use of an image will be specified in the annual syllabus/competition rules document.

6.            Identical digital images and prints shall be considered to be the same image, unless substantially modified.

7.            Members shall at all times have control over the use of their property. Copies of winning images may be requested for the Club website and images may be sought for use by the Club in YPU or Inter-Club competitions, but Members have the right to refuse any such request.

8.            All submissions must be given to the Competition Secretary at least two weeks before the date of that competition with the exception of the Un-mounted A4 competitions.

9.            The Competition Secretary (or his/her delegate) is empowered to decide eligibility and reject entries that do not conform to the club’s competition rules.

10.        The Competition Schedule will be printed in the Annual Syllabus/Competition Rules document. Proposals (by the Committee) will be presented at each AGM for agreement by the membership.

Informal Un-mounted print competitions will be held though out the year as declared in the syllabus.

11.        For any open competition (both print and digital), up to 3 images may be submitted by each entrant. A judge will be appointed by the Competition Secretary and will be invited to give each picture a mark out of 20 and offer constructive comments.  The image may be of any subject. The winning image will receive an award on the evening. The three top placed images and the highest placed Novice will each be awarded a certificate at the Annual awards evening. In the event that a novice is one of the placed positions, just one certificate will be presented.

12.        For any Applied competition, up to 3 images may be submitted by each entrant. A judge will be appointed by the Competition Secretary and will be invited to give each picture a mark out of 20 and offer constructive comments.  The image must be of an applied subject i.e. any image, colour or monochrome which is pure Architectural and Record or Natural History. These are specifically defined as follows: 

·         Architectural and Record Any building or inanimate object presented in an objective way without artistic interpretation or manipulation by the photographer. The subject will normally fill the full frame. Appropriate lighting may be used to enhance the subject but should not add pictorial content. 

·         Natural History Depicts untamed animals and uncultivated plants in a natural habitat and all natural phenomena. The accurate record of the subject and natural environment is the prime factor. Evidence of man, his manipulation of his environment in any part of the picture is undesirable and should be avoided. After satisfying the above requirements every effort should be made to use the highest level of artistic skill in all nature photographs. Photographs of cultivated plants, floral arrangements, domestic and caged animals, mounted specimens, museum groups or man and his specialised environment are NOT acceptable. Entries should be accurately titled.  

The winning image will receive an award on the evening or a soon afterwards as is practical. The three top placed images and the highest placed Novice will each be awarded a certificate at the Annual awards evening. In the event that a novice is one of the placed positions, just one certificate will be presented.

13.        For any Audio Visual Competition, one submission no longer than 5 minutes in length may be submitted by each entrant. The presentation may be of any subject. The presentation should run in a program already loaded to the club computer or carry its own auto-run program. A judge will be appointed by the Competition Secretary and will be invited to give each presentation a mark out of 20 and offer constructive comments.  The presentation may be of any subject. The winning presentation will receive an award on the evening or a soon afterwards as is practical. The three top placed presentations and the highest placed Novice will each be awarded a certificate at the Annual awards evening. In the event that a novice is one of the placed positions, just one certificate will be presented.

14.        For each of the Un-mounted print competitions up to 2 images no larger than A4 may be submitted by each entrant. The image may be of any subject. Judging will be by peer voting and some of the more experienced club members will be invited to offer constructive remarks. The winning image will be awarded a certificate at the Annual awards evening.

15.        A ‘Clubman’ contest may be run throughout the year with the aim of promoting and rewarding consistency. Details of any such contest will be presented to the membership at the AGM and published on the Syllabus/competition Rules document.