Photo of the Month Contest Rules

1. Purpose

• To improve our photographic skills, as well as our judging skills, through regular monthly practice.

2. Frequency

• The contest is held every month during which regular meetings are held (September thru June). Exception: There is no assigned topic for December, therefore the topic chosen in November will be a 2-month assignment to be judged in the following January.

3. Topic Selection

• A new topic will be chosen during the first regular meeting in each of the following months: September, October, November, January, February, March, April, May.
• The topic will be judged at the first regular meeting of the following month. For example, if a topic is chosen at the first meeting in September, then submissions will be judged at the first meeting in October. (Exception - November's topic will be judged at the first meeting in January.)
• A topic will be chosen at random from the suggestion box, by any random volunteer who is present at the meeting. THe chosen topic will be handled as follows:
  1. If a majority of members accept the topic, it will become the topic for the month.
  2. If a majority of members feel that the topic is not appropriate at this time (e.g. a summer topic chosen in winter), then the topic will be returned to the suggestion box, and another topic will be chosen.
  3. If a majority of members feel that the topic is not appropriate at any time, the topic will be discarded permanently, and another topic will be chosen. For example, a topic that was already covered in a previous Photo of the Month contest may be permanently discarded.
• Members are encouraged to contribute new topics to the suggestion box at any time, by writing the topic on a small slip of paper and inserting it into the box. To preserve the element of surprise, members are encouraged not to disclose or discuss their topic suggestion with any other member.

4. Images Eligible for Submission

• The image must have been taken sometime after the topic has been selected. Older images are not eligible.
• Members are not required to provide proof that an image was taken within the designated time period. We rely on an honour system for this rule.
• The image must be relevant to the current month's topic, however the members are free to interpret the topic in unusual and creative ways.
• Only members in good standing are allowed to participate.
• Each member can submit one image, only in print form. To keep the contest affordable to all members, the print must be no larger than 5x7 inches.
• Since images are judged anonymously, members are encouraged not to submit images that are personally identifiable (for example, self-portraits).
• No personal identification text, such as a signature or watermark or copyright notice, is allowed on the front of the print.
• The photographer's name and the title of the image must appear on the back of the print. Write the information on the top so that we know which end is up when displaying the print.

5. Judging Procedures

• Each member who is participating in the contest must hand in their print to be the Secretary (or designated alternate) at the start of the meeting.
• Members who cannot hand in an image in person may give their print to another member to submit on their behalf.
• The Secretary (or designated alterante) will hang all submitted prints on a wall for initial viewing by all members. The prints will be labelled anonymously starting with the letter A, B, C, etc.
• Normally, only members in good standing are allowed to participate in the judging process. However, guests may be allowed to participate as eligible voters if there are no objections from the membership. In particular, experienced guests such as professional photographers or visitors from other clubs will be encouraged to participate in judging.
• If any member feels that any of the prints are completely irrelevant to the topic, they should raise an objection and explain why. The author of the print may respond to the objection if they wish. A majority vote of all members present will determine whether or not the image in question is rejected.
• If only one image is submitted, it will become the Photo of the Month winner by acclamation. Detailed critiquing of a single image is not required, however the critiquing may be performed just for educational purposes, if a majority of members agree to do so.
• If more than 3 images are submitted, the top 3 images will be selected by secret ballot, as follows:
  1. Ballot slips will be issued to all eligible voters present at the meeting.
  2. Each voter will write down their top 3 choices on the ballot, using the letter assigned to the print. (For example, if there are 5 prints labelled A, B, C, D, E then a voter might select A, C, and D as their top 3 picks.) There are no specific critieria for picking the top 3, the voters should just pick their top 3 based on their overall impression.
  3. Each voter will hand in their ballot slip to the Secretary (or designated alternate).
  4. The Secretary (or designated alternate) will tally the votes and determine the top 3 images based on total number of votes received per image.
  5. If there is a two-way or multi-way tie for 3rd place, the tie will be resolved by a show of hands vote among eligible voters. In the event of a deadlock, the tie will be broken by the President (or designated alternate).
• The top 3 (or top 2) images will be critiqued in detail through open discussion, using our standard critiquing form. The detailed critiquing will be conducted as follows:
  1. The critiquing discussion will be led by a volunteer member from the audience. The volunteer must be a member in good standing, and they must have prior experience in Photo of the Month critiquing.
  2. Eligible voters who are not familiar with the critiquing form may request a printed copy to assist them in following the discussion.
  3. Eligible voters will vote by a show of hands on the points to be awarded in each category of the critiquing form (technical, composition, emotional appeal).
  4. Points will be written down and tallied by the discussion leader.
  5. The image having the highest total points will be the contest winner. In the event of a tie for first place, the tie will be resolved by a show of hands vote among eligible voters. In the event of a deadlock, the tie will be broken by the President (or designated alternate).

6. Display of Winning Image

• The winning image will be added to the Photo of the Month gallery on the club's web site. In addition, a thumbnail link to the winning image will be displayed on the web site's home page. The winning image will remain as such until the next contest winner is chosen.
• The winner is required to provide a title for their image. The winner may also provide techical details to be posted on the web site if they wish (for example, aperture, shutter speed, focal length, camera make and model, date, location, general comments).

7. Permanent Rule Changes

• Anyone may request a permanent change to the above rules, or a change in the critiquing forms, by submitting a written request to the Board of Directors. The request must explain what changes they want and why. The request will be handled as follows:
  1. The change will be discussed at a Board of Directors meeting. The person who requested the change is encouraged to attend the meeting and participate in the discussion.
  2. Following a discussion, the Board of Directors will vote on whether or not to approve the change.
  3. If the change is approved by the Board, all members will be notified of the proposed change by e-mail.
  4. After all members have had sufficient time to review the proposed change (at least one week), the change will be put to a vote at the next regular club meeting. All members in good standing will be eligible to vote. If a majority of members present vote in favour of the change, then the rules will be modified permanently, and the new rules will be posted on the club's web site.

8. Temporary Rule Exceptions

• From time to time, the Board of Directors may decide to make a temporary exception to the rules, to provide some variety in the contest. For example, we might wish to critique digital images instead of prints for one month. Such temporary changes will be announced at the time that the monthly topic is chosen, and will only remain in effect for that month.
• Any member may object to a temporary change at the time it is announced. The objection will be discussed, and all members will vote by show of hands to determine whether or not the temporary exception is approved.
• Since critiquing photos is a very sensitive process, temporary exceptions will NOT be allowed for the critiquing forms. This is necessary to ensure that the judging process is fair and consistent from month to month.