Honors Program overview

BAY AREA PHOTO CLUB

HONORS PROGRAM AND ASSIGNMENT CONTEST RULES

Revised 5/2008

The purpose of the Honors Program is to provide a structure for a critical review that is in keeping with the member's ability. It is one of several options that the photo club offers to allow us to participate in photographic activities that are intended to enhance our abilities in an enjoyable way. Its aim is to be evaluative rather than competitive, and thereby reduce the intimidating aspects of conventional competition and emphasize constructive information. The Assignment Contest allows us to test ourselves against our fellow members. Rankings are published in the Newsletter and awards are given. Keep in mind that those who judge our pictures are themselves members and as such have varying abilities, both photographic and diplomatic. If you don't like their opinions, bring some different pictures to the next month's contest - there'll be different judges to gripe about! This is supposed to be a fun and positive learning experience.

Submission Requirements

Participants must be current club members in good standing (dues paid).

Entries must be submitted on judging night by 7:20 pm.

For each submitted image, the photographer should enter his/her name and title of the image on the appropriate Submission Sheet (open, assignment). Also, if the photographer does not wish to have a critique, make a note accordingly beside the title.

Note the number for your image from the left-hand column on the Submission Sheet. Write this number on a “sticky-note” and put the “Sticky-note on the back/top of the print. Put the print with all the other prints that are to be evaluated for that category (open/assignment).

The Honors Program and Assignment Contest will generally be held on the second Tuesday of every month.

Presentation of prints - There are no rules as to acceptable size, dimensions, mounting, matting, or other presentation issues. However, although presentation isn't explicitly considered in the judging criteria, it still affects the perception of one's prints. Don't ignore presentation, it's important.

Submission Categories

There are two submission categories: open (Honors Program) and monthly assignment.

Open prints may be any subject matter.

The monthly assignments are previously-announced topics and are listed under the Assignments topic on our web site.

The maximum number of submissions at each evaluation session is 2, with up to 2 of those being in the assignment category (extra photos may not be submitted for any reason).

Monthly assignment submissions will also count for Honors Program points.

Selection of Judges

A volunteer from the Judging Committee will select panels of three judges from members of the Judging Committee one quarter in advance. They are selected at random in such a way that they serve approximately equally. The volunteer will also make reminder calls to the judges prior to contest nights.

Honors Program

The Honors Program uses an evaluative rather than competitive approach to photographic presentation. Three judges each give scores of 1 to 9 for each submission. A score of zero indicates that the judge wishes to recuse himself from judging (the missing score will be accounted for). The scores are then tallied and an award of Gold, Silver, or Bronze, or no award, is given. There are seven levels of achievement in the club – 1-Star through 7-Star. All members start out at the entry level of 1-Star. As they progress upward in levels, the scores required to achieve awards (Gold, Silver, and Bronze) increases as members’ abilities increase (see “Points Chart”).

Honors Program scoring guidelines

Judges should subtract one point for poor presentation.

Issues for the judges to consider

Impact - The viewer's reaction to the photo without in-depth analysis. Is the impact appropriate with consideration of subject and style?

Content - What is the photographer trying to accomplish? What interpretation can be ascribed to the image?

Technical - Are the focus and exposure suitable for the conditions and subject matter?

Composition - Does the picture meet principles of composition (balance, harmony, unity, etc.)? Is the print size appropriate for the subject matter?

Long term impression - Does the photo appear to have lasting value? After studying a picture for a while it may be found that there is greater or lesser merit than was perceived in one's initial reaction to it.

Achievement Levels

Achievement levels of 1-Star through 7-Star are reached through the accumulation of Gold, Silver, and Bronze awards (worth 5, 3, and 1 points, respectively), through competition in juried shows, and Body of Work presentations. Juried show acceptances, awards, and fellowships from the Photographic Society of America (PSA), the Gulf States Camera Club Council (GSCCC), Houston Center for Photography (HCP), and The Arts Alliance Center at Clear Lake (TAACCL) count as Golds in the Honors Program. Members may petition the Judging Committee (use “Juried Show Petition” form) for Gold recognition from other juried shows. Although Golds from outside shows count toward the number of Golds required, they do not add to the point total. Points are awarded only in club competition.

When a new level is achieved, the member starts over in points, number of Golds, and exhibition acceptances. Previous achievements do not count toward future advancement. When one qualifies to move from one achievement level to the next level, the award(s) given for any photograph after that time will be counted in the new level even if it is gained in the same meeting or outside competition. Achievement may, however, be “banked.” That is, requirements can be achieved before they are needed. For example, a 3-Star may present a body of work even though he doesn’t need to until he is working on 5-Star. It will be recorded and applied to his 5-Star requirements when it is needed. A juried show acceptance can be used to meet only one club requirement. For example, if a member is a 3-Star and receives a Certificate of Merit in an approved juried show, he or she may either use this show acceptance as a Gold toward 4-Star or bank the show award for future use when he or she is a 6-Star.

Progression from Star to Star

All members begin at 1-Star

2-Star 24 points 2 Golds

3-Star 30 points 3 Golds

1 juried show Gold

4-Star 50 points

10 Golds

10 juried show Golds

5-Star 75 points

15 Golds

20 juried show Golds

1 body of Work presentation at club or BoW acceptance at a juried show

6-Star 75 points

3 juried show awards

7-Star 100 points

5 juried show awards

Explanation of terms

Points - Points given for Gold, Silver, and Bronze awards in the Honors Program are 5, 3, and 1 respectively. Points are only given for club competition, not for Golds achieved through juried shows.

Golds - Gold awards are given to high scoring images (see “Points Chart”). Golds are also given for acceptances in specified juried competitions and at the discretion of the Judging Committee for acceptances in other juried competitions. See the section “Achievement Levels” for details. No image may count as more than two Golds from juried shows plus one Honors Program Gold.

Juried Show Golds - Golds are achieved through acceptances at juried shows and competitions at HCP, TAACCL, GSCCC, PSA, and other approved juried competitions. These Golds add to the member’s Gold count, but do not add to the member’s Honors Program points. No image may count for more than two Golds from juried shows plus one Honors Program Gold.

Juried Show Awards - At higher levels of achievement, photographers must do better than acceptance at juried shows; they must get further recognition such as Juror’s Merit, Honorable Mention, 1^st Place, 2^nd Place, etc.

Body of Work - At some levels there is a BoW requirement. To meet this requirement, a member must either present a BoW to the club or have his BoW accepted in a juried show whose prospectus designates the show submission requirements as BoWs. Judging Committee approval is also required for either approach.

It is the responsibility of the individual club member to notify the Contest Director when he or she has juried show Golds.

Monthly Assignment Competition

Up to two images may be submitted into the Monthly Assignment Competition. Scores from assignment submissions will also be applied to the Honors Program. The assignment topics are posted for the entire year and announced monthly to the club in the newsletter and at the first meeting of the month. Images for the Assignment Contest must be photographed after the Taken after date indicated in the Assignments list posted on our web site.

Each picture in the assignment competition will be judged (scored) twice. First, each of the judges will judge the image for its “merit” using the Honors Program criteria without regard to the assignment subject. This score will be used to determine if the image deserves a Gold, Silver, Bronze, or no award in the Honors Program.

Then, each judge should evaluate each assignment photo on how well it meets the assignment criteria (“applicability”) and enter a second score from 0 through 3. [For instance, if the subject was Christmas, judge the image on how well it captured the essence or spirit of the Christmas season. If the subject were a location, ask yourself how well does this image capture what this location is all about. Would this image be suitable for a poster on said subject?]

Assignment Contest Applicability Scoring Guidelines

The two scores will be multiplied together and this will be the score the image receives for the assignment. The images with the three highest assignment scores will be announced as the first, second, and third place winner (for the evening).

To be eligible for award at the end of the year:

• One must enter in a minimum of 50% of the monthly assigned topics.
• All submitted photographs must be taken after the assignment topic Taken after date listed on the web site.

The final ranking of the entrants will be based upon (1) eligibility (see above), and (2) the average of the highest scoring six images from different monthly topics of the qualified photographs submitted.

Award recognition will be given as Photographer of the Year with recognition for 2^nd and 3^rd place winners. Photographers' average scores will be used for comparison to determine award levels. The first place winner may submit four slides or prints at the club's expense to a PSA Salon circuit.

Judging Procedure

The images will be viewed twice. In the first time through, the photographs will be presented one at a time to the three judges who will present a brief critique (unless the photographer has requested no critique on the score sheet). There will be no audience discussion of the photo. It is recommended to the judges that the only compelling reasons for adding to another judge’s comments are if an extremely important issue was omitted, or if they are in significant disagreement with the opinion of another judge. After critiquing the image, the judges will enter their score into the scoring machine.

Judges will not judge their own work or work that they feel they cannot judge without bias. In those cases they may recuse themselves by scoring zero. The other judges scores will be averaged and multiplied by three.

After the images have all been viewed the first time and the judging is complete, the scorekeeper will determine the awards. The scorekeeper will announce the title, photographer, total points scored and award level (Gold, Silver, Bronze, or no award in the Honors Program, and 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd in the Assignment Contest). During the second viewing a very limited discussion may be held with the photographer concerning methods, intent, etc. Any discussion should be officiated by the judges.

Proper viewing distance for the judges is one image diagonal or greater from the photograph.

Honors Program awards are given on the following basis (maximum score is 27):

Points Chart