Harvestfest Photography Contest - Tips and Clarifications
The Entry Form can be downloaded here
Eligibility - open to amateur
photographers -An amateur photographer does not make more than 20% of their annual income from either photography sales or from photography related activities such as stock photography, wedding photography, studio photography or other commissioned work.
Sizes
- Images entered should be approximately 8"
x 10" but the sizes given on the entry form allow for some variation of
this sizing since digital files, negatives and slides do not exactly fit the 8" x 10" format. The sizes given on the entry form
allow for full frame printing of the images.
No mattes or borders
- In recent years, we have tried to make the judging of the contest as fair as possible. The images are now roughly the same size and with no mattes or borders, the images are being judged on the merits of the content. An expensive matte can make an average image look much better.
Mounting prints
- Do not take this step for granted. It will make more of a difference than you may think. "a ten dollar horse and a forty dollar saddle" - The images entered must be mounted on a stiff cardboard or styrofoam board. The images must be able to stand on an easel for judging and for display at Truro Home Video. You can mount the images yourself. Double sided tape works quite well but white glue does not work well at all. The images bubble and warp as the glue dries. Staples sells a spray adhesive that may work better. However, the best way to present your images is by having them professionally mounted. This is an expensive option but if you plan on framing the images later and displaying them in your own home, it may be worth the expense.
Name, title and category entered on the back on the upper right hand corner
- It is important that
the information be placed in the upper right hand corner because if there is any question as to how to display the image, the person in charge will display it using this label to orient the image. (Should this pansy picture be displayed vertically or horizontally? The choice may be obvious to the maker of the image but not so obvious to someone seeing it for the first time!)
Title
- It would amaze you as to how often the judges are influenced by the title.
Choose your title carefully and make sure that the title
connects directly to the content of the image.
- Last year, many of the images
judged, appeared to be over exposed when on the judgeseasel. When the images are being judged, two bright lights are shone upon them causing
any slight over-exposure to be magnified. When you are printing images to be entered in the contest, it is better to print the images a bit darker than normal so they display well under the bright lights.
Images should be entered in the correct category
- Over the years, we have changed the names of various categories to clarify and simplify things for both the entrants and the judges. For example, originally, the category was "Portrait" but this has been changed to "People". The change was made after several people entered portraits of cats and dogs into the category. Also the new category name allows a picture of two people walking on a beach to be judged in the "People" category.
This year we have changed the name of the "Pictorial" category to "Landscape/Seascape". The change was made since the word "pictorial" refers to almost any image while the original intent of the category was to be a place to enter just landscape or seascape images.
Digital images where people or objects are added or deleted should not be entered in categories other than the Digital Creations Category.
The judges and contest organizers retain the right to move an image into a more
appropriate category as long as the entrant does not already have two images in
the new category.
Digital enhancement
-In the digital photography age, the discussion of how much is to much is always open to debate. For 7 of the 8 categories listed below (see the description for category 6, Digital Creations), some digital enhancement is acceptable but...Images may be cropped, slight chances in hue and
saturation are acceptable as are changes in exposure and in brightness and contrast. If you use the sharpening tool, use it sparingly. Last year, the judges commented several times on images that were "over sharpened". You may use the clone tool to remove small distractions (especially dirt stains on the sensor but again major additions or deletions should not be done.
Entry limit
- If you entered two images per category with seven categories available, you could enter a total of 14 images. By limiting entrants to eight images only, we are forcing you to play to your strengths while at the same time ensuring that prizes are distributed to as many people as possible. In the past, we have had the same person win first place in several categories but at least with this restriction in place, there were still first place winners in the categories that these people did not enter.
- The last day to enter the contest is the Saturday before the Wednesday when the contest is judged. This gives the contest organizers time to collect the images and to prepare lists for the judges to use and to prepare labels for each entry. These labels are put on after the judging and are important when the images are on public display.
Open judging
- The images are judged by a panel of three experienced photographers. The judging is open to the public and constitutes a regular
meeting of Imagemakers Photography Club. Anyone is welcome to attend. This is possibly our most educational meeting of the year. You are able to listen in as the judges debate the merits of each image. Judging is a very subjective process. Often the judges scores reflect a great deal of consistency but almost as often they reflect a great deal of diversity. As the judges try to convince each other of the merits (and demerits) of each image, we learn about composition, leading lines, proper exposures, the importance of a good title and much more. If yours is the image being judged, have a thick skin and view it as a learning opportunity.
The judging meeting starts early - 6:30 pm, because it takes a long time to judge 100+ images.
Display and pick up of images
- The images go on public display on the Thursday after the judging. Thank you to the staff of Truro Home Video for your support of this contest. The images are on display for one week. Ribbons and lists of winners are also on display so the entrants and public can easily recognize the winning entries. After one week, the display is taken down and the entries and prizes are given to the entrants. Hopefully,most people are able to pick up their images between 3:30 and 4:30 on the final Thursday of the display. If images are not picked up by 4:30, they are packed up and returned to the store where they were dropped off ( Carsand Mosher or Pridham's). They can be picked up by the entrants there - hopefully sooner than later so as not to have them lying around in the way of store staff. PLEASE NOTE: Last year several people asked the Staff of Truro Home Video to distribute the images early on the last day of the contest. This puts extra responsibility on the staff. It also makes it difficult for Imagemakersmembers to ensure the correct images are going to the correct entrants. Imagemakers tries to take good care of the images but if damage does occur, the staff of Truro Home Video should in no way be responsible. Thank you.
Category Clarification
1. Landscape/Seascape - The "pictorial" category from last year was renamed this year to better represent the intent of the category. Images in this category are likely to be sweeping vistas showing the beauty of the land and of the sea. Extraordinary light (early morning, late afternoon, storm light or misty
conditions) as well as strong compositions ( rule of thirds, leading lines and level horizons)will increase your chances of success here.
2. People (not just portraits) - Portraits of people may be entered in this category but also images of people at work or at play may also
be entered. However, the center of interest in the images should be the person or people.
3. Animal - domesticated or wild - large as an elephant or as small as an ant. Remember that birds are animals too!!!
4. Flora (not just flowers) - Originally, the category was "Flowers", but then how did you judge an image of apples on a tree or an image of a fungus. Flora includes all forms of plant life.
5. A Color - Each year, we choose a different colourand ask photographers to give us images that represent an interpretation of
that colour (or variations of that colour). Be creative here but make sure that the colour given is
the dominant colour in the images.
6. Digital Creations (not enhancements) - Use the power of your digital editing software. Not a little saturation but a lot or none at all. Explore those filters. Explore layers. Don't be subtle here. You've seen images where you say, "Wow, how'd they do that?" Now is your chance to create these images and to share your creations with the world.
7. Unclassified/Miscellaneous - This category is intended for images that do not fit in any of the other categories. Macro shots not recognizable as plants or
animals, rchitectural shots, patterns and texture shots, and many more are good subjects for this category. If you have three beautiful "Flora" images but are only allowed to enter two in the category, this is NOT the place to put the third one. Save it for next year.
8. Under 16 - More young people should be entering this category especially if they are in 4H Photography or are exploring photography at school. In past years, we have had only 3 to 6 images so if you enter, your chances of winning are good!!! This is an open category so any image that you really like is a good one to enter. We hope this Information has helped you. Good luck as you prepare your images for the contest.