Competition Rules and Procedures

Banbury Camera Club Trophies

Print Competitions

(See PDI Guidelines for information about projected images competitions)

The Club holds competitions both annually and at intervals during the year. Members’ competitions are held during the winter programme, usually with open subjects. Annual competitions, for which trophies are awarded, are open subject. Three trophies are also awarded annually on the basis of the monthly competition results.

photoboards
Display Boards for a Competition

All members are very welcome to enter the competitions; equally, if you prefer to come along and look at the other members’ entries that’s fine too. Wherever possible outside judges are used, and all our judges are ones who offer constructive comments and advice on entries. The main purpose of the competitions is to get external comments on our work, and so help us form our own judgements about our photographs.

There is no entry fee and members may submit up to two images per competition in any of the classes (colour prints, mono prints, projected digital images) at a meeting (see Competition Rule 4 for details of entries). The annual colour and mono print competitions are usually judged on the same day, however, in that event you can submit up to 4 prints, two mono and two colour prints.

Competition Entry Form
Competition Entry Form

The entry form should be filled in on the evening or you can download it from here, in advance.

Members’ Competitions

Competitions are held regularly, through the autumn, winter and spring, for monochrome prints, colour prints and projected digital images.

Points awarded for prints in each class towards the award of the F-Stop,  Bodicote and Tony Grice Trophies which have been changed for 2022-2023 are now as follows:

5 for First, 4 for Second, 3 for Third,
2 for Highly Commended and 1 for Commended.

Points are not awarded for Projected images or for entries in annual or named competitions.

Annual Competitions


There are annual competitions for monochrome prints, colour prints and projected digital images, without any restrictions on subject or where taken. There is also a single print competition for colour or mono photographs taken at club events and normally judged by club members. In addition, there is an annual John Saunders Competition for a set of photos, and the Photo Finish Impact Trophy for prints and the Walford and Round Trophy for prints with set subjects. Details are shown below.

The competitions are:

  • For photographs taken at a club event or evening: The Brantwood Cup for the best colour or monochrome print.
  • For photographs taken at any time or place: The Beechcroft Cup for the best projected digital image in the Annual PDI competition.
    The Wordsworth Cup for the best monochrome print in the Annual Competition.
    The Alcan Shield for the best colour print in the Annual Competition.
  • For a set of photographs:
    The John Saunders Cup. This annual competition is for a series of between three and seven prints, linked by a common theme, which together tell a story, it is rather different from our usual events where it is the individual images which are being judged.
    A maximum sheet size of 50 x 50 cm (20 x 20 inches) to mount 3 to 7 images on, with two entries per member. Members to bring these on the night.
  • For photos illustrating a theme:
    The Walford and Round Trophy. This competition is for prints and slides taken to illustrate set subjects which are notified at the AGM and in the summer programme.
  • For photos illustrating “Impact”:
    The Photo Finish Impact Trophy. Mike Carwithen of Photo Finish presented the club with this trophy and sponsored it until his retirement in 2016. We are very fortunate that Mick Crossley of The Art Framing Workshop has offered to continue the sponsorship and judging for this trophy. The competition is for prints with the subject of “impact”. “Impact” is a subject which is open to all kinds of interpretation – it could be a landscape or architecture, it’s not restricted to photos of action. Entries must be brought to the club the week before the judging of the competition.
  • F-Stop,  Bodicote and Tony Grice Trophies:
    These trophies are awarded annually to the club members with the best performance in members’ print competitions during the year and is based on the accumulation of points from each competition. The following rules apply to the awarding of these trophies:
    1. The F-Stop Trophy shall be awarded to the member
      scoring the highest number of points in the colour print class.
    2. The Tony Grice Trophy shall be awarded to the member scoring the highest number of points in the monochrome print class.
    3. The Bodicote Trophy shall be awarded to the member scoring the highest number of points in the colour print and monochrome print classes combined, subject to Rule 4.
    4. The winner of either the F-Stop Trophy or the Tony
      Grice Trophy may not win the Bodicote Trophy in the same year. Should either of those winners also have the highest combined scores, the Bodicote Trophy will be awarded to the member with the next highest number of points in the two classes combined.
    5. The points awarded to each competition entry shall
      be accumulated by entrant, both by class and for all classes together.
    6. If there is only one entrant in any one class, in any
      competition, then the points awarded shall be accumulated towards that entrant’s total, but the placing shall not be used to resolve a tie as set out in Rule 8.
    7. No picture shall be awarded points more than once
      (other than “Commended” entries scoring 1 point).
    8. In the event of a tie for either trophy, the member with the highest number of first places shall be awarded the trophy. If there is still a tie, then the member with the highest number of second places, then the highest number of third places. If there is still a tie the trophies shall be shared.
  • Jack Keen Cup for projected digital images:
    The Jack Keen Cup competition is run in one round
    at the end of the Winter Programme, and is open to all members who have not achieved a first, second, or third place in the monthly or annual club competitions since the previous September, or who have not yet entered competitions at the club. The winner of this cup may not compete in this competition in the following year.

Competition Rules

The following rules shall apply to all of the club competitions, except where explicitly stated herein or by the rules of a particular competition.

  1. All images must be produced by a recognised photographic process.
  2. The copyright of an entry must belong to the entrant.
  3. Prints should be mounted. The regulation maximum mount size for Banbury Camera Club competitions is 40cm by 50cm.
    This is to conform with external competitions, the club Print Collection Box and the Annual Exhibition Frames. Smaller mounts put forward by the club for external competitions would need to be remounted (by the Club) to the regulation size.
  4. Members can submit larger prints to internal competitions – Panoramic Prints etc. , providing they fit on the club display stand, are pre-notified to the club competition secretary the week before, on hand-in date, and are presented on the competition evening by 7pm. This is to ensure that the Competition Secretary does not have to handle outsize prints which will not fit into the print box and could be subjected to damage risk as a result. This extension to the normal Camera Club print size format is to allow members of Banbury Camera Club the creative scope to submit larger prints should they wish.
  5. For each print entered in a competition, members should also provide a digital image suitable for projection onto a screen during the competition. An ideal image is one which is resized in accordance with the PDI rules – not exceeding 1600 pixels wide or 1200 pixels high. A digital image should be sent by email to enen11four@btinternet.com or if not possible on a memory stick on the night.
  6. In members’ competitions, a member may submit up to two print entries in total – either two colour, two monochrome or one of each. For projected digital images, up to two in total may be submitted.
  7. For annual print competitions, each member may submit up to two entries in each competition – two colour prints and two monochrome prints.
  8. Entries must be brought to the club the week before
    the judging of the competition.
  9. Photographs entered in members’ competitions are eligible for entry in the annual competitions. Photographs entered in club event annual competitions are eligible for entry in the open annual competitions.
  10. Photographs which have been placed (first, second or third) in members’ competitions are not eligible for entry into following members’ competitions, in the same or any other year.
  11. Photographs entered in annual competitions are not eligible for annual competitions in following years.
  12. Competition entries should reflect the photographer’s current work and interests.
  13. A title is required for each competition entry, and the title and photographer’s name should be put on the back of each print.

Definitions

Monochrome

A monochrome image is defined by FIAP as follows:

  • A black and white work fitting from the very dark grey (black) to the very clear grey (white) is a monochrome work with the various shades of grey.
  • A black and white work toned entirely in a single colour will remain a monochrome work able to stand in the black and white category.
  • On the other hand a black and white work modified by a partial toning or by the addition of one colour becomes a colour work (polychrome) to stand in the colour category.

Colour

A colour image is defined as being all those other than those defined as monochrome above.