Rules (Overview)
- Spring Competition all photographs must have been taken no earlier than 1 January of the previous calendar year. For the fall competition, the date that the photograph was taken does not matter.
- Prints must be mounted on a stiff backboard (such as foam-core board or stiff cardboard) measuring either 11x14 or 16x20.
- Print sizes are unrestricted on these size mounts. Mats, conventional or digital, are optional.
- No glass, plastic, or similar covering material may be used, nor any frame or hanging device of any kind.
- Only currently paid members of the Coastal Photo Club may enter photographs in the full club competitions.
- The entrant must have made the original exposure(s) using traditional film or digital techniques.
- Up to three (3) entries are allowed per person for each of three categories for a total of nine entries per person per competition.
- Prints may be home or commercially processed and mounted.
- The entrants will have their choice of two classifications, intermediate and advanced, in which to enter. There will be winners for each category, (color, monochrome, digital manipulation), in each class. After the six individual winners are chosen a “BEST IN SHOW” award winner will be selected from the six category winners. For the first year only, you may enter in either class but choose carefully, all your subsequent entries will be in that class. Members who choose to start in the advanced class may not enter into the intermediate class in the future. Also, if you choose to start in the intermediate class, you will stay there until you have two (2) entries that win their category in the competition. At that point you will be automatically moved into the advanced level. We feel dividing the competition in this way will give everyone a chance to compete fairly.
Color – Photographs in this category must look like a realistic color photograph taken straight from the camera. Indeed, entries may be straight from the camera or they may be processed to any extent with any digital darkroom program. This allows for removing objects (e.g., people, clouds, trees, poles, power lines, or backgrounds). Entries in this category should appear as realistic photographs and any manipulations should not be obvious to the viewer.
Monochrome (including black and white, duotones, and tri-tones) – Photographs in this category must look like a realistic photograph taken straight from the camera. Indeed, entries may either be straight from the camera (processed only to the extent to make them mono-, duo-, or tri-tones) or they may be processed to any extent with any digital darkroom program. This allows for removing objects (e.g., people, clouds, trees, poles, power lines, or backgrounds). Entries in this category should appear as realistic photographs and any manipulations should not be obvious to the viewer.
Digital Manipulation - Photographs in this category may be monochrome or color and may appear “removed from reality” or “works of art”. They should show obvious manipulations of a digital darkroom program influenced by the artistic creativity of the photographer—this includes HDR and effects that make the photo look like a painting. Entries may be entirely abstract in nature, or they may appear realistic but contain surrealistic components that would lead the viewer to believe that it could not have been captured with a camera (substitution of an Oreo cookie for the moon, fireflies as street lamps, eyes for windows, and the like). Photos to which elements have been added to the one submitted for judging are considered “visionary” as are two or more photos (color or monochrome) that have been combined to produce the one submitted for judging.