Competition Rules

I. Requirements to compete in an RCC Competition

Exhibitors must be members in good standing of the Ridgewood Camera Club. Each image entered in a Ridgewood Camera Club competition must be the photographic work of the member. This includes the original image capture as well as any adjustments or editing of digital image captures. A third-party may be used for film development, scanning a member’s original photograph/slide to create a digital file and printing. It is the club’s expectation that all members will adhere to the competition guidelines and the requirements of the specific competition entered. Questions regarding the competition requirements or the eligibility of an image for a specific competition should be directed to the Competition Chair coordinating the competition. If a member’s entry does not adhere to the RCC image eligibility standards the Chairman responsible for the competition will discuss the issue with the member.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)
AI-generated or computer-generated images are not permitted in any of the following RCC competition categories: Nature, Pictorial, Print, and Assigned Subject.

AI (Artificial Intelligence) for purposes of RCC competitions is defined as follows: Images made through the use of computer software-based generative algorithms and deep learning techniques that can autonomously produce images based on a user’s text prompt but without any other direct input from human artists.

2. Competition Descriptions – General

There are two types of competition within the Ridgewood Camera Club - Projected Image and Print.

The Projected Images are divided into three divisions - Pictorial, Nature and Assigned Subjects.
Print Competitions are judged in two divisions: Color and Monochrome (this includes Black & White)

3. Levels of Competition – Class A & Class B

There are two levels of competition for both Projected Images and Print – Class A and Class B

Class A – Any member may compete in this class. Members of Class B who want to move into Class A must notify the Membership Chairman before the first competition of the year.
Members who MUST compete in Class “A” are
1. Professional Photographers
2. Members of Class “B” competing in Projected Image competitions who earn 42 or more points in either of the three Pictorial or three Nature competitions scheduled during the year must compete in Class “A” Projected Image competitions in all subsequent years. If only two Pictorial or Nature competitions are held during the year and the member receives 30 or more points in either they must compete in Class “A” Projected Image competitions in all subsequent years.
3. Members of Class “B” competing in Print competitions who earn 63 or more points during the year in either of the three Color or three Monochrome print competitions scheduled during the year must compete in Class “A” Print competitions in all subsequent years. If only two print competitions are held during the year and the member receives 45 or more points in either print category they must compete in Class “A” Print competitions in all subsequent years.
4. If more than one competition in a category is canceled there would be no required promotions made from Class “B” to Class “A” in that competition category.
Moving to Class “A” (voluntarily or required) can only be done at the beginning of the year.
The Print Class and Projected Image Class are separate, so a member can be in Class “A” in one type competition and in Class “B” in the other. As an example, a member may compete in Class “A” Projected Image competitions and Class “B” Print competitions.
Members must compete in the same class for Pictorial and Nature competitions. They must also compete in the same class for Color and Monochrome print competitions.
Members who have exhibited in Class “A” for a specific type competition may no longer exhibit in Class “B” for that same type competition.

4. The different RCC competition Categories

Type	Class A	Class B	Combined A & B
Projected Image
Pictorial	X	X
Nature	X	X
Assigned Subjects			X
Print
Color	X	X
Monochrome	X	X

5. Projected Image Competitions

A competitor may submit a maximum of two images in each of the Pictorial, Nature and Assigned Subject competitions.

Images are entered electronically into the Projected Image competitions through the Photo Contest Pro website. (See Procedures for Entering below).
Each dimension (width & height) of the image must be no greater than 1200 pixels.
Images must be saved in the JPEG format, with a .jpg file extension. It is important to save with the .jpg file extension since Photo Contest Pro will not accept a .jpeg file extension.
The image should be saved at the “highest quality” setting.
The color space should be sRGB.
The images must be entered no later than midnight the Sunday night preceding the projected Image competition.

The Procedures for Entering a Projected Image competition are outlined on the RCC website in the Club Competitions Section Digital Entry Instructions.

Pictorial – Any image may be exhibited in this category. There is no restriction on subject matter.
Nature – Nature photography is restricted to the use of the photographic process to depict observations from all branches of natural history, except anthropology and archeology, in such a fashion that a well-informed person will be able to identify the subject material and to certify as to its honest presentation. Human elements or their creations such as roads, fences, manicured lawns, etc. shall not be present. The presence of scientific bands on wild animals is acceptable. Photographs of artificially produced flowers or animals, mounted specimens, or obviously set arrangements, are ineligible. Any adjustments to the image must appear natural. Scenic, zoo shots and game farm shots are acceptable provided human elements and their creations such as cages, masonry walls, doors, etc. are not present. Color images may be converted to monochrome. Infrared images are not allowed. Nature competitions are judged in four divisions. The four divisions are:
1. ZOOLOGICAL: Images of animals, insects, spiders, fish, reptiles, snakes, amphibians, nonbird eggs, etc. Images of domesticated animals such as dogs, cows, and chickens are not acceptable.
2. ORNITHOLOGICAL: Images of birds and their eggs. This includes birds that don’t fly such as penguins, emus, ostriches, and cassowaries.
3. BOTANICAL: Images of plant life such as wildflowers, ferns, mushrooms, lichen, seed pods, trees, tree buds, leaves, etc. Cultivated plants and flowers are acceptable as long as they are photographed in a natural setting without any hand-of-man elements.
4. GENERAL: Images of landscapes, seascapes, rock formations, tide pools, clouds, etc.
An image that is entered in the wrong division will not be disqualified by the judge, but the Nature Chair will discuss the categorization error with the member. However, images entered in Nature competitions that include domesticated animals, manmade structures, fences, or other examples of the “hand of man” will be disqualified by the judge, except on the rare occasion where those human elements enhance the nature story.

Members that have a question on which nature division their image should be entered in or if their image qualifies as a nature image should consult with the Nature Chair or another knowledgeable member. It’s important to keep in mind however that the Nature Chair or another member can only give you their opinion since it’s the Competition Judge that determines if the image meets the requirements of the specific competition.

NJFCC Nature Competitions – Currently there are some minor differences in rules between the RCC and the New Jersey Federation of Camera Clubs regarding nature competitions. However, entries that meet RCC Nature competition requirements qualify for all NJFCC nature competitions. More information on NJFCC and PSA Nature competitions rules can be found on their websites at:
NJFCC - http://www.njfcc.org/0/CompetitionRules.aspx
PSA - https://psa-photo.org/index.php?nature-nature-definition
Assigned Subject – The subjects and definitions of the Assigned Subjects competitions are posted on the RCC website each June for the current and following year’s competitions. Any image entered is eligible if it, in the opinion of the judge, conforms to the letter and spirit of the assigned subject definition. All members compete in the same class in a single competition.

6. Print Competitions

Any image may be exhibited in this category. There is no restriction on subject matter.
A maximum of three (3) prints may be entered in each print competition – (i.e. three in Color Print and three in Monochrome Print).
Monochrome – monochrome prints may have a single-tone, i.e., a uniform color (e.g., sepia). A single highlight color is also permitted in this for category for RCC competitions. However, members must be aware that a print containing a highlight color will not be acceptable for submission NJFCC competitions.
The image (as presented for competition) may be no smaller than 80 square inches in area (for example, 8” x 10”). Panoramic prints are allowed if no side is less than 5 inches in length. The print must be securely mounted on a rigid mat or foam board having thickness 1/4 inch or less. The overall dimensions of the print and mounting board must not exceed 16 by 20 inches.
- Any print with foreign matter (front or back) that may cause damage to other prints will be disqualified. This includes staples, wire, hooks, open adhesives, etc.
- Overlaying mats, frames, glass, plastic, and other coverings may not be applied to the print or mounting board.
- No name or identifying symbol may appear on the front of the print or mounting board.
To enter prints in the competition, a digital image from which the print is generated must be uploaded to the appropriate competition (Color or Mono, Class A or B) in Photo Contest Pro by midnight the Sunday night proceeding the print competition. This is the same process used for entering projected images. For the rules and procedures covering entering digital images reference on the RCC website in the Club Competitions Section Digital Entry Instructions.
RCC print entry labels must be affixed to the back of the print in the upper righthand corner that includes the required information (example below). When a print is being entered again (re-entered, Annual or NJFCC Competition) a new label should be placed just below the previous RCC label, and an “X” drawn through the RCC label.
You can get labels from the Print Chair or by downloading them from the RCC website https://www.ridgewoodcameraclub.net/documents/printlabel.pdf and printing them on 3 1/3 x 4- inch Avery #8164 or #5164 equivalent labels.

Required information for an RCC Print Label

The Title of the Image,
Member name
Members competition Class circled
Mono or Color circled
Enter the date of the Print competition
Draw an arrow pointing up on the back of the print to ensure to ensure the print is displayed correctly when judged.

In this example John Doe who competes in Class “B” prints entered his Color print titled NY Skyline for the October 7, 2017 print competition.

NJFCC Print Competitions – The rules for prints to qualify for submission to NJFCC print competitions are the same as the Ridgewood Camera Club except the NJFCC defines monochrome as a single-toned image, such as black and white or sepia, with no additional accent color.

7. The penalty for submitting too many images

Projected Image Competitions - If a member submits more than two images into a Projected Image competition (Pictorial, Nature or Assigned Subjects) one of the highest and one of the lowest scoring images will remain in the competition results and the other images will be disqualified.
Print Competitions - If a member submits more than three prints into a Print competition (Color or Monochrome) one of the highest and two of the lowest scoring prints will remain in the competition results and the other prints will be disqualified.
If the same member submits more than two images or three prints in a subsequent competition in the same year all the images entered in that competition will be disqualified.

8. How images are judged in a Club Competitions

Images and prints are evaluated and scored by a guest Judge. Comments by the Judge are expected and welcome. On the first pass the judge gives each image or print a score of four, five, six or seven points. Disqualified images are scored as DQ and the score recording software will assign the disqualified image a score of zero. Images receiving seven points are held for a second review by the Judge. In the second pass the judge may hold the score at seven, upgraded to an eight, an Honorable Mention image, or to a nine, an Award image. There is no limit to the number of images that may be given Honorable Mentions or Awards.

Images and Prints are shown anonymously. Only the names of the Award and Honorable Mention winners are announced to the audience.
Points cannot be transferred to another category or accumulated over multiple club years.
Competition scores are normally posted on the RCC website the night of the competition.
The Judge shall sit as close as 2 feet and no farther than 7 feet from the Print Light box for all competitions. The Judge may approach and inspect prints at their own discretion or with the encouragement of the Print Chair.

9. Re-entering an image in RCC competitions

A projected image or a print receiving an Award or Honorable Mention in any regular club competition may not be entered a second time in the same type competition. However, it can be entered in

the Annual RCC competition, and it could also be entered in
different competition type – e.g. an award-winning projected image (Pictorial, Nature or Assigned Subject) could be entered in a print competition or an award-winning print could be entered in a projected image competition, but they could not be entered in the same type competition e.g. an award-winning color print could not be entered in a mono print competition.

An image or Print scoring less than an Award or Honorable Mention may be entered again in the same category in two additional club competitions or a different competition type.

10. Similar Images

A projected image or print that closely resembles another image that had previously been entered in a RCC competition and had received an Award or Honorable Mention may not be entered in the same type competition but could be entered in a different type competition. Such an image is considered SIMILAR if it’s been exposed in series with the award-winning image or by being the same subject mater presented in an equivalent manner by the same maker.

11. Competition Make-up

If member misses one or more deadlines for entering a competition they can make up the competitions subject to the following limits.
1. Projected Image Competitions
  1. Pictorial – one make-up (up to 2 images) and
  2. Nature – one make-up (up to 2 images) and
  3. Assigned Subjects – no make-up
2. Print Competitions
  1. Color print – one make-up (up to 3 images) and
  2. Mono print – one make-up (up to 3 images)
The definition of a missed competition is that the member was physically absent from the competition and that no entries were made in that projected image or print competition.
The make-up entries must be in a single subsequent competition during the same season and submitted prior to that competitions deadline.
A penalty of one point will be deducted from the score of each properly identified make-up projected image or print but will not negate the entry from receiving an Award or HM.
The entry must be identified as a make-up using the word “makeup” as part of the image title for both projected image and prints. For prints it must also be printed on the label attached to the back of the print. If the word “makeup” is not part of the title all images submitted in that specific competition will be treated as excessive images and handled as outlined in section 5D above.

12. Image Title

Unique Title – Each image must have a unique title and cannot have the same title as another image from the same maker. Images of a specific thing or subject can have similar names such as Yellow Rose 1 and Yellow Rose 2 but must be different in some way.
Allowed characters – Only alpha/numeric characters (a - z, A – Z , 0 -9) and a space character are allowed in an image title. These are the only characters acceptable in a URL.
Image Title Cannot be Changed – Once an image has been entered in a competition its name should never be changed when submitting that image in any other competition to include other camera clubs, international salons, NJFCC, or PSA. This is important because image submissions are tracked by title.

13. Dispute Resolution

A Review Committee shall be appointed by the President with authority to rule on disputes, including whether an image or print is SIMILAR to an Award or Honorable Mention image or print. The ruling of this Committee shall be final and binding. The Review Committee shall be composed of one or more club members who 1.) are experienced competitors, and 2.) competed in less than half of that year’s competitions for that category and 3.) had not participated in the competition(s) in question. A ted opinion of this committee shall be treated as a ruling in favor of the maker. All contacts with the Review Committee shall be through the President. The member is encouraged to obtain a ruling from the Competition Chair prior to entering an image or print in competition if the maker is in doubt as to whether that image or print is eligible.

14. Disqualification of a competition Entry

The Competition Judge has the sole responsibility for disqualifying an image, during a competition and may do so if they feel the image does not meet the requirements of the specific competition. The Competition Chair will instruct the judge that if he or she has a question on the disqualification of any image that they should request assistance from the Competition Chair.

The RCC Competition Chairs involvement with the disqualification of an entry is limited to:

Print entries – The Print Competition Chair will disqualify an entry from the competition if the print does not adhere to the physical requirements outlined in the competition rules.
Excessive Submissions – Disqualification because of excessive submissions will be handled after the competition by the Webmaster in accordance with RCC competition rules.
Confirming that the same title was used on a different image or different title on the same image. (Images are tracked by title and photographer.)
Following up on a determination of a Review Committee that a projected image or print is SIMILAR to another that had previously received an Award or Honorable Mention in the same type competition.

15. Year-End Competition

This is the last competition of the season and is held annually in early May to select the year’s top projected images and prints.

All images (Projected Image or Print) entered in an Annual Competition must have been previously entered in same type projected image or print competitions during the current club year that started in September.
An Assigned Subject image that had been entered in one of the current year’s Assigned Subject competitions may be entered in the appropriate Annual Pictorial or Annual Nature Projected Image Competition.
Images entered must not have been entered in any previous Annual Competition.
Images or prints entered in an Annual Competition cannot be altered or changed from how it was originally entered in a regular club projected image or print competition earlier that year.
The RCC’s Year-End Competitions:
- PICTORIAL images are judged in two classes, A and B. Only one image may be entered.
- NATURE images are judged in two classes, A and B, and in a single division, with no separation of Zoological, Ornithological, Botanical or General. Only one image may be entered.
- PRINTS are judged in two classes, A and B, and in a single division, with no separation of Color or Monochrome. Only one print may be entered.

16. Judging the Year-End Competition

To Be updated ...This competition will not be held during a regular club meeting but will be judged by an experienced NJFCC judge in their studio.

RCC will deliver the projected images and prints to the judge. Prints will be returned to the member after the judging.
In addition to selecting the winners the judge will provide a brief explanation as to why the image was selected.

17. Other Competitions

Besides our club competitions, members’ images and prints are considered for entry in several contests outside our club throughout the year. The Photographic Society of America (PSA) and the New Jersey Federation of Camera Clubs (NJFCC) sponsor many competitions for which RCC member images are eligible.

NJFCC Competitions – The RCC tries to schedule its competitions (Pictorial, Nature and Print) to ensure member images are available for the NJFCC competitions. As a rule, a member can input a pictorial or nature projected image into Photo Contest Pro that they want entered in a NJFCC competition. The appropriate RCC Competition Chair will review the entry and see that it gets ported over to the proper NJFCC chair in time for the judging. All print entries are chosen at the discretion of the RCC Print chair and are based on the results from RCC Print competitions. These prints are submitted by the chair in time for participation in the NJFCC competition.

PSA Interclub Competitions – The RCC Interclub Chair selects and enters member images in three different PSA competitions – Nature, Projected Image (i.e. Pictorial) and Photo Travel.

18. Annual Awards

ANNUAL AWARDS are based on total cumulative scores earned in each RCC competitions category during the entire club year (September – May). In cases where more than one member has the same cumulative score in a specific award category duplicate awards are given out. The Annual Awards do not include the Annual Year-end Competition.

Annual Projected Image Awards	Class	Awards
Pictorial	Class B Class A	First Place - Blue Ribbon Second Place - Red Ribbon
Assigned Subjects	Combined Class A & B Class B Member Special award	First Place – Blue Ribbon Second Place – Red Ribbon If a Class B club member does not finish in 1st or 2nd place, a Red Ribbon is awarded to the Class B member with the highest cumulative score in the Assigned Subject competitions
Nature	Class B Class A	First Place - Blue Ribbon Second Place - Red Ribbon
Total Score Projected Images	Class B Class A	First Place - Blue Ribbon Second Place - Red Ribbon

Annual Print Awards	Class	Awards
Monochrome	Class B Class A	First Place - Blue Ribbon Second Place - Red Ribbon
Color	Class B Class A	First Place - Blue Ribbon Second Place - Red Ribbon

MEMBERS CHOICE AWARD is determined by a popular vote of the members. At the end of each club year members will have an opportunity to vote on their favorite Image from all the images entered by the members. The image that receives the most votes receives the award.

Member Choice	Class B	Awards
Member Choice Award	Combined Class A & B	RCC Mug