Digital Image Competition Rules

The purpose of the competition is to provide a venue for showing projected photographs. The competitive element exists to add interest, and these rules are intended to provide order and fairness in the competition. Judging is inherently subjective and does not yield a definitive evaluation of the merits of individual images.

  1. Monthly Competitions October – April

    • Only dues-paid members in good standing may enter.

    • There are three categories for each competition.
    • Assigned Topic – Must reflect that months topic. Exposure must have been made after the announcement of the topics on May 1st of the current season.
    • General (Open) – Any type of image is allowed.
    • Monochrome – Single-toned images.
    • Each maker may enter a total of four images each competition night with no more than two in any single category.
    • Digital images, alternative processes, composites, and manipulations are allowed. Major elements in a print must be the maker’s own work and the majority of the elements must be photographic in nature.
    • Digital images should conform to the physical dimensions of the projector used for the competitions. The image should be no more than 2400 pixels wide and no more than 1800 pixels high and 10MB in size.
    • Images should be in sRGB color space.
    • No copyright, title, maker’s name, or watermark may be visible in the image. An exception is given if it is a natural part of the image e.g. you take a photograph of your mailbox and your name is on the box, a self-portrait, etc.
    • Images should be submitted electronically according to instructions provided by the Digital Image group chair.
    • Images that receive a winning place or an honorable mention may not be re-entered in any subsequent monthly Digital Image Group or Print Group competitions in perpetuity (that means forever in case you don’t know). This does not exclude them from any “special” competitions that may be held.
      • Images may be entered a maximum of two times in any one season across ALL competitions as long as they have not placed in any previous competition (see above).
      • The submission deadline is by midnight on Saturday prior to the date of the competition. Images will not be accepted past the submission deadline on competition night.

  2. Judging

    • An impartial judge will evaluate each image for impact, composition, technical execution, and presentation.
    • Judging the assigned topic categories will include the additional factor of how well the image represents the nature of the assignment topic.
    • The judging will be conducted either using the same or equivalent computer and projection system used for the review and award presentation if members are meeting in person. Otherwise, judging is done remotely via an online system on the SPS website, and results are returned to the Digital Image chair prior to the virtual meeting.
    • The judge will be given titles at the time of the judging.
    • Judges will be asked to provide comments and critiques of each image. This discussion is intended to help competitors and observers discern the strengths and weaknesses that the judge sees in each image.
    • If for any reason, more than the allotted images are submitted to a single competition and one or more of those images receive a placement the highest-scoring image will be disqualified and images lower in rank will be raised up one level.  Honorable Mention placements will not be eligible to be raised to a numerical placement.  
    • If you have entered submissions and we ask you to be an emergency judge and you agree, your images will be removed from the competition and you will be given a “raincheck” that will allow you to enter 2 additional images in a subsequent competition (General and Monochrome categories ONLY).   In this case, the above rule regarding more than 4 images does not apply.

  3. Scoring

    • In each category, images will be selected as the “winners” of the competition.
    • Each winning image will be awarded points used to calculate an overall end-of-the-year image-maker of the year.
    • Points awarded will be as follows:
      • First Place – 10 Points
      • Second Place – 7 Points
      • Third Place – 4 Points
      • Fourth Place – 3 Points
      • Fifth Place – 2 Points
      • Honorable Mention  – 1 Point
    • If the number of entries is twenty or less first through third places will be awarded.
    • If twenty-one to thirty entries are judged, first through fourth places will be awarded.
    • If more than thirty, first through fifth places will be awarded.
    • The number of honorable mentions awarded is at the discretion of the judges and may not exceed the number of places awarded.

  4. Year-End Competition

    • The final monthly meeting of the Digital Image group will host the Digital Image of the Year competition.
    • Only images that have been entered in a regular monthly competition during the current year may be entered.
    • There are four categories, Assigned01, Assigned02, General, and Monochrome. Images from each category will be available to choose your selections two weeks prior to the competition.
    • Presentation and entry rules are the same as for the monthly competitions.
    • Each maker may submit up to two images in each category.
    • Awards given will be The Digital Image of the Year and Honorable Mentions at the judge’s discretion.

  5. Year-End Awards

    • Digital Image Maker of the Year awards will be given to the first, second, and third-place finishers in the General, Monochrome and both Assigned Topic categories based on the cumulative total of points awarded throughout the year in the monthly competitions (Print of the Year competition excluded).
    • In the event of a tie, the person with the most first-place finishes will be declared the winner. If first-place scores are tied then second-place scores will be used, etc. until a clear winner emerges.