Regulations

SPECIAL: Vic Smith is presenting a matching trophy this year for the club coming second, thus following the traditions of our other inter-club competitions.

1. This is an inter-club federation competition for images projected from digital files. It will not form part of any club’s home programme. The organisation, judging and the projection facilities will be managed by the federation.
2. Rules:
   1. Each club panel consists of fifteen images, with no more than four images from any one person. Images may be monochrome or colour.
   2. No image may be used which was used in any previous Vic Smith Trophy competition. Otherwise any image is acceptable, irrespective of any previous exposure in any form in any of the federation's competitions. The use of an image in this year's Vic Smith Trophy will not preclude that image being used in any other form in other federation competitions, excepting any and all future interclub competitions for projected digital images.
3. The match will be held at Shirley Methodist Church Hall on Tuesday 8th April 2008 at 8pm . There will be no charge for club members and visitors wishing to attend.
4. The three judges will be Chris Coates, Colin Brownett and David Plummer. They will independently (and anonymously) score each image on a scale from 2 minimum to 5 maximum, so that the combined score lies between 6 and 15. No commentary will be given. Titles will be announced, but not photographer’s name.
5. The Vic Smith trophy will be awarded to the highest scoring panel of fifteen images. In the event that two or more panels receive the same highest score, the winner will be decided by a process of “count-back”. This compares the panel totals for their highest scoring fourteen images. Should a tie still stand, then the totals of their highest thirteen images will be used, and so on back through the competition until one panel emerges as the highest scoring. If this does not resolve the tie then the trophy will be shared. The trophy will be held for one year.
6. The judges together will choose 'The Best Individual Image' in the competition to be awarded a certificate. In addition, each judge will be invited to select one image for the award of a judge's “Highly Commended” certificate. At the end of the competition one judge will be invited to give a brief commentary on the images comprising the winning panel, at which time the photographers' names will be given.
7. Images should be in JPEG RGB format in the sRGB working space, with either:
   • a horizontal dimension of 768 pixels and a vertical dimension of no more than 768 pixels or
   • a vertical dimension of 768 pixels and a horizontal dimension of no more than 768 pixels
   • (This rule is designed to ensure that both landscape and portrait images are projected to the same dimensions on the screen.)
   • See below for help in preparing files.
8. For each image the file name should be exactly as defined below:
   A two-digit number to indicate the club's requested order of projection starting at '01'
   A blank space
   The title of the image
   An underscore
   The photographer's name and distinctions
   
   For example: 01 Hebridean Sunset_Jackie Smith ARPS DPAGB.jpg
9. The fifteen images should be in one folder whose name is the club name, (e.g. Beckenham PS) and be submitted on one CD.
10. The projector used during the judging will be calibrated to the sRGB colour space. Any projected background around the image will be black.

Submission of Club Entries

1. The closing date for the receipt of entries is Saturday 22nd March 2008
2. The entry form is available here in Adobe Acrobat/Reader format. The Adobe Reader can be downloaded from the Adobe site.
3. Entries should be sent to Jack Bates, 33 Green Court Gardens, Croydon, CR0 7LH. Please address any queries to secretary@fslps.org.uk
4. As with all Federation events, the intention is that this should be just self-funding. Therefore clubs are asked to contribute an entry fee of £10 per panel to cover the operating costs.
5. The original CDs will not be returned to the clubs, but will be destroyed after four weeks. The copyright of each image remains with the photographer. The Federation may use any images for publicity and promotion in association with this or other Federation competitions, and with acknowledgement to the photographer.

Image Preparation

To prepare your images to the correct size, etc. using Photoshop 6 or later:

• Open the image in Photoshop and flatten any layers
• Use File > Automate > Fit Image and type in the required maximum size of the image (768 x 768 in this case)
• Use Image > Mode > Convert to Profile and convert the image to sRGB working space (Edit > Convert to Profile in Photoshop CS2)
• Use File > Save As to save the image to a different file name or folder in JPEG format with high quality (10 or greater). Ensure that the check box next to "ICC Profile" is ticked. (It should be showing sRGB.)

To prepare your images to the correct size using Photoshop Elements:

• Open the image in Photoshop Elements and flatten any layers
• Use Image > Resize > Image Size and ensure that the "Resize (Bicubic)" and "Constrain Proportions" boxes are ticked, then ...
• Under "Pixel Dimensions" type 768 into the width or height box showing the larger number of pixels. The other number will adjust accordingly. Click OK to complete the process.
• (You cannot convert the image profile in Photoshop Elements so there is no equivalent in Elements to the third step in the Photoshop instructions.)
• Use File > Save As to save the image to a different file name or folder in JPEG format with high quality (10 or greater). Ensure that the check box next to "ICC Profile" is ticked.