NCPS Exhibition Rules
• The Society Exhibition is held annually, in June each year.
• All paid-up members of NCPS are encouraged to enter the Exhibition.
• The Exhibition will be judged by an external judge appointed by the committee and points and trophies awarded to successful images.
• Members may elect not to have their images judged in which case they must be clearly labelled as such.
• The maximum number of entries allowed will be determined in advance by the Committee, but will be not more than 6 prints and 6 PDIs per member.
• Prints and PDIs must each be submitted into one of three categories:
Mono, Nature, Open Colour. Images not complying with the category definitions will be disqualified.
• Images may be submitted into as many or as few categories as the member chooses i.e. all into one category or distributed across all three in both prints and PDIs.
• Entries must identify the author’s Competition Number, and the work’s title. The author’s name must not appear on the prints or projected images.
• Images entered into a previous NCPS Annual Exhibition, in any format, or any images which are so similar to them as to be indistinguishable to the organisers are ineligible. Entries must have been photographed within the last 3 years prior to entry.
• All print and PDI entries must be submitted in order of preference in the event of the need to reduce the total number of entries and must have their rank clearly identified in the submission.
• The Committee has the right to reject any images judged to be offensive or otherwise unsuitable for exhibition.
• PDI images must be submitted as jpg files
• Images must be resized to longest dimension 1600px unless this renders the height greater than 1200 px. If this is the case the height of the image must be set to 1200px.
• Images will be projected in sRGB colour space and it is thus recommended that the colour space of the images be set to sRGB.
• Resolution and other settings are irrelevant.
• Images must be given a title of the authors choosing.
• Prints may be printed by the author or by third parties. In the event of the latter the author is responsible for adjustment of images to the appropriate printer profiles etc.. Third party work must be limited to the actual printing of the finished image.
• Prints may be of any size and shape, including triptychs, but must be mounted on board 500mm x 400mm.
• Prints may be mounted according to the author’s preference but must not risk damaging other prints with surface glue. Any such prints will be disqualified by the organisers.
• Prints should be clearly labelled in the top right hand corner when viewed from the back with the title of the work and the author’s competition number.
• Prints must not bear the author’s name.
• The submission date for images and the entry method will be communicated each year to members by the committee and will be similar, but not identical to the process used in Clubworker competitions.
• All entries except those marked “Unjudged” will be assessed by the judge appointed by the committee. Within each category awards will be made for Best in Category, Very Highly Commended, Highly Commended and Commended. Authors awarded Best in Category will receive a Certificate of Merit.
• Awards will also be made for Best Print in the Exhibition and Best PDI in the Exhibition. Authors awarded these will receive a Certificate of Merit and a Trophy.
• Awarded authors will accumulate points towards the Best Performance in the Exhibition which will be rewarded with the Prism Trophy. Points will be awarded as follows: Commended 1pt, Highly Commended 2pts, Very Highly Commended 3pts, Best in Category 4pts, Best in Exhibition 5pts. The images awarded Best in Exhibition will forfeit any other points awarded so that no single image may accumulate more than 5pts
Category Definitions
Category definitions are those in use by the PAGB at the time of the Exhibition (see http://www.thepagb.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/gbtrophy_cup_rules.pdf) and are currently as follows:
1. Mono means a monochrome image, i.e. one containing only one colour which may be shades of grey or any other colour. Subject matter is irrelevant.
2. 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. 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.
Processing of the captured image, by cropping, exposure adjustment, colour correction, noise minimisation, dodging/burning, HDR, focus stacking and sharpening, is allowed.
Cloning of image defects and minor distractions, including overlapping elements, are permitted when these do not distort the truth of the photographic statement.
Images entered as Nature can have landscape, 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.
3. Open colour means any image that does not meet the definition of mono or Nature.
Last revised: 6th April 2022