** Winners of the 2023 Marsden Cup**

Competitions Program for 2023/24

General Rules are shown below the program section. Click on competition name for specific rules.

12th September 2023 – Summer Competition (PDI). Judging TBA – Last Hand In Date 1st September. This is an informal competition to get the season started – up to 6 images, Colour or Mono, 1400 x 1050. Each image MUST relate to one of the themes that have been circulated, and MUST have been taken between 1st June and 31st August. (Themes are: A dominant colour of YELLOW; A person with  Headwear;   Something made of Glass;  Transport of yesteryear;   Water;  A triangular shape;   Something beginning with J;   An entrance or Exit).

3rd October 2023 – Medallions (Print & PDI). Judged in Clubroom – Last Hand In Date 19th September

31st October 2023 – Set Subject 1: Bridges(Print & PDI). Judged in Clubroom – Last Hand In Date 17th October

28th November 2023 – Jubilee Shield (PDI). Judged in Clubroom-  Last Hand In Date 14th November

9th January 2024 – Lancaster Competition (PDI). Judged in Clubroom –  Last Hand In Date 26th December

5th March 2024 – Nature (PDI) & Landscape (Print) Judged in Clubroom – Last Hand In Date 21st February

26th March 2024 – Annual Audio Visual Competition (AV) Judged in Clubroom – Last Hand In Date 12th March

9th April 2024 – Annual Mono (PDI) Judged in Clubroom – Last Hand In Date 26th March

30th April 2024 – Annual Print Competition (Mono & Colour Print)  Judged in Clubroom – Last Hand In Date 16th April

21st May 2024 – Annual Colour PDI Judged in Clubroom – Last Hand In Date 7th May

Competition Rules

GENERAL RULES
  • All images entered for any Society Competitions, battles, etc, must be the work of of the Society Member submitting them.
  • Competitions, battles, etc. are open to all Society Members.
  • The entrants name must not appear on any image entered.
  • No image may be entered in more than one competition, except that it is eligible for entry into the appropriate Annual Competition in the same season.
  • An image can be used in the following forms: mono print, colour print, colour PDI or mono PDI. Two versions of an image must not be entered in competitions judged on the same night.
  • Late entries will not be accepted. All Judges’ decisions are final.
  • All images entered in club competitions will be available to the Selection Committee for use to represent the club in outside competitions.
  • Whilst every care will be taken with Member’s entries, the Society cannot be held responsible for any loss or damage.
  • Any image which does not comply with these rules will be rejected. The Competition Secretary’s decision on rejection is final.
  • All entries must be numbered in preferential order. In the case of too many entries being received it may be necessary to reduce the entry number.
PRINT
  • All prints must be mounted on board.
  • The minimum size of print is 7in x 5in. The mount size must be 50cm x 40cm.
  • A print which has not won an award may be entered in another competition in the same season.

DIGITAL

  • The images and all manipulation must be the work of the author
  • All images must be submitted in jpg (jpeg) format, in sRGB colour space via Email to the Competition Secretary. Contact the Competition secretary for the email address to use.
  • Images will be projected at a screen resolution of 1400 x 1050 pixels. Therefore, images should be no more than 1400 pixels wide and 1050 pixels high. A portrait format image will be a maximum 1050 pixels high.
  • Files should be numbered 1 upwards followed by a space then the title of the image, ( 1 Tuscan Dawn 2 Blackpool Tower ). Only use one space between number and title. Images must be saved as jpgs and then emailed as above. 

AV

    • No sequence will be longer than eight minutes duration.
    • Images used should be sized to 1400 x 1050 pixels and software used that will produce an exe file which will run on the Society’s projector.
    • Royalty free and copyright free images may be used but video clips are not allowed. The author’s name must not appear in the sequence.
(Please note that if sequences are to be used outside the club, different rules will apply)

SET SUBJECT COMPETITIONS

    • A competition on a set subject, to be held annually with two sections.
    • Up to five prints and five digital images may be entered. The prints may be monochrome or colour, or a mix of the two.
    • The subject will be chosen by the General Committee of the Society.
    • Immediately after the presentation of the Trophies, the subject for the following year’s competition will be announced.

J. B. LANCASTER COMPETITION

    • A competition for six to eight digital images forming a portfolio on one particular theme or topic chosen by the competitor. One or two portfolios may be entered.
    • Images must be numbered in the order in which they are to be projected.
    • An overall title, description of the theme, or explanation of the purpose of the entry may be provided (No more than 20 words).

MEDALLION COMPETITIONS

    • Two Competitions for Prints and PDIs  held annually.
    • Both Competitions judged on same night.
    • Subjects – Open.
    • Chairman Medallion Competition is for PDIs and up to five digital images may be entered.
    • Print Medallion Competition is for Prints and up to 5 Prints may be entered.

JUBILEE COMPETITION

    • A competition for digital images for which an entry consists of four images. Each image must be from a different category.
    • One or two entries may be submitted, but if two entries are submitted, all eight images must be from different categories.
    • The categories will be decided by the General Committee. The number of categories must give entrants adequate choice.
    • Each image will be judged in the category in which it is entered and in that category alone.
    • The reference letter of the category in which each image is entered must be shown in the file name.
    • The winner shall be the entrant with the highest aggregate mark obtained by adding the scores awarded to each of the four images of a set.
    • In the event of a tie, the winner shall be the entrant with the highest mark awarded to any one image. If this fails to resolve the situation, the criteria to be taken shall be the highest total of the two best images, or if this fails, the highest total of the three best images.
    • With no outright winner, a Trophy shall be awarded to all those who tied.
    • Categories and Reference Letters
    • A – Animals Photographs of domesticated, farm stock, or pets.
    • B – Architecture Buildings, part or whole, interior or exterior details.
    • C – Candid A picture of a person or persons engaged in some natural believable activity, unposed and ideally without the knowledge of the subject.
    • D – Abstract or Pattern A subjective impression, representation or distortion as opposed to a realistic interpretation of a subject. A particular arrangement of forms, colours, shapes, textures etc.
    • F – Flowers A pictorial or factual representation of a flower or flowers in natural or contrived surroundings.
    • L – Landscape Also includes seascapes.
    • N – Nature Definition is the one given in Appendix ‘A’
    • P – Portrait An artistic representation or characteristic likeness of a person. It can be facial features, head and shoulders, three quarters or full length portrait.
    • R – Table Top or Still Life & Record A contrived picture of objects over which the photographer has complete control in a creative manner. A photograph which sets out to state the facts about an inanimate object without any regard for its pictorial qualities, such as architectural detail, stained glass window, picture for a catalogue, etc.
    • S – Sport Photographs depicting any form of sport.
    • X – Action Photograph of a moving subject or object, which depicts the essence of action, other than sport.
    • Z – Night Photography Images taken between sunset and sunrise but not including either.

NATURE & LANDSCAPE COMPETITIONS

    • Two competitions for prints and digital images held annually, judged as separate competitions.
    • The subject for digital images is “Nature”. Definition is given in Appendix ‘A’. Up to five digital images may be entered.
    • The subject for prints will be “Landscape”. Up to five prints may be entered.
Appendix ‘A’
  • Nature photography is restricted to the use of the photographic process to depict all branches of natural history, except anthropology and archaeology, in such a fashion that a well-informed person will be able to identify the subject material and certify its honest presentation. The story telling value of a photograph must be weighed more than the pictorial quality while maintaining high technical quality. Human elements shall not be present, except where those human elements are integral parts of the nature story such as nature subjects, like barn owls or storks, adapted to an environment modified by humans, or where those human elements are in situations depicting natural forces, like hurricanes or tidal waves. Scientific bands, scientific tags or radio collars on wild animals are permissible. Photographs of human created hybrid plants, cultivated plants, feral animals, domestic animals, or mounted specimens are ineligible, as is any form of manipulation that alters the truth of the photographic statement.
  • No techniques that add, relocate, replace, or remove pictorial elements except by cropping are permitted. Techniques that enhance the presentation of the photograph without changing the nature story or the pictorial content, or without altering the content of the original scene, are permitted including HDR, focus stacking and dodging/burning. Techniques that remove elements added by the camera, such as dust spots, digital noise, and film scratches, are allowed. Stitched images are not permitted. All allowed adjustments must appear natural. Color images can be converted to greyscale monochrome. Infrared images, either direct captures or derivations, are not allowed.
  • Images entered in Nature sections meeting the Nature Photography Definition above can have geologic formations, weather phenomena, and extant organisms as the primary subject matter. This includes images taken with the subjects in controlled conditions, such as zoos, game farms, botanical gardens, aquariums, and any enclosure where the subjects are totally dependent on man for food.

Annual Competitions

These competitions are held annually towards the end of the normal season.
Entries may be of any subject.

  • No AV sequence, print or digital image may be entered in more than one Annual Competition. (However, see Rule 4 of the General Rules).
  • The Mono Print and DPI Competitions will include black & white images, toned black & white images with or without different shades, irrespective of the process used.
  • The Colour Print and Colour DPI Competitions will include all other entries.
    Mono Print Competition: Up to six mono prints may be entered (as defined above).
    Colour Print Competition: Up to six colour prints may be entered (as defined above).
    AV Competition: Up to two sequences may be entered.
    Mono Digital Image Competition: Up to six mono digital images may be entered.
    Colour Digital Image Competition: Up to six Colour digital images may be entered.

  • All of these competitions may contain any images – any subject – even if previously used during the last year. Images CAN be put into more than 1 of these, as long as not judged on the same night. So basically, you can have the same image put into the Colour PDI, and the Mono PDI and EITHER the Colour or Mono Print competitions.

Trophy Awards

Bebington Trophy
    • This Trophy is awarded to the Society Member who has gained the most points in qualifying competitions during the season.
    • Any Member entering any of the qualifying competitions will score points towards the trophies as follows:

First6Points
Second5Points
Third4Points
Highly Commended3Points
Commended2Points
Unsuccessful1Points
    •   (Irrespective of how many images are entered)

    • Only a Member’s highest scoring entry from each qualifying competition will count towards the Bebington Trophy, the Print Merit Trophy, the Digital Merit Trophy and the Progress Trophy.

  • A league table of the points in each trophy will be displayed on the notice board after each competition.
Progress Trophy
  • This Trophy is awarded to the Society Member who has gained the most points in qualifying competitions during the season, but has not won any other Society trophy prior to that season.
Print Merit Trophy
  • This Trophy is awarded to the Society Member with the highest number of points in print competitions only.

Digital Merit Trophy

  • This Trophy is awarded to the Society Member with the highest number of points in digital image competitions only.
  • The qualifying competitions are:

      1. a. Set Subject No.1 Prints
      1. b. Set Subject No.1 PDI
      1. c. J.B.Lancaster Competition
      1. d. Set Subject No.2 Prints
      1. e. Set Subject No.2 PDI
      1. f. Chairman Medallion Competition
      1. g. Print Medallion Competition
      1. h. Jubilee Competition
      1. i. Nature PDI
      1. j. Landscape Prints
      1. k. Annual Mono Print Competition
      1. l. Annual Colour Print Competition
      1. m. Annual AV Competition
      1. n. Annual Mono Digital Competition
      1. o. Annual Colour Digital Competition
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