Digital Image Saskatchewan

October 28th, 2009 - New INFORMATION

I have sad news.  The first run of the Digital Image Saskatchewan didn't really go as planned.  It turned out to be far more complicated than it really needed to be.

My apologies to those clubs and individuals that have sent in images for judging.

Demands of an ever expanding club have taken our focus and we are doing our best to balance both these inter-club challenges and providing a quality program to our growing membership.

Don't fret. We will be revamping the Digital Image Saskatchewan project into a better, easier to manage challenge between the photography clubs of Saskatchewan.

Introduction

In response to the growing users of digital cameras within the various camera and photo clubs within Saskatchewan, a Digital Photo competition is to be issued to all Saskatchewan Photography/Camera Clubs.  Participants must be a valid member of a recognized Saskatchewan Photography Club.

Each participating club will provide 2 contacts for Judges Council. The Duty of the Judges Council is to validate authenticity of the entries based upon the Rules of either “Basic Editing” or “Advanced Editing” as laid out.  Judges Council do not judge entries, but will evaluate the authenticity of the entry for the category it has been entered.  That is, to verify and ensure that applicable rules have been followed.

Each club can submit 10 entries for the Basic Editing category and 10 entries for the Advanced Editing category.

Entry dates have been implemented to encourage fresh and new work.  The intent is to get photographers out shooting instead of perusing older archived work.  In order to encourage this, and still have relatively recent photography, valid entries must be EXIF dated one year less 1 day prior to the current challenge deadline, not including the deadline date.  For example, if the deadline date is October 29, 2008, all valid photographs taken from 00:01hrs October 30, 2007  to 23:59hrs October 28, 2008 are permitted.  All camera clocks must be set to GMT-06:00 which is Saskatchewan time.

First Deadline: January 29th, 2009. 

Photos from Jan30th, 2008 to January 29th, 2009 are valid.

Evaluation of Images  **subject to change**

Hosting Club will provide 3 non-participating judges.  These judges will evaluate the actual image by providing constructive comment, and individual numeric scoring in the following format:

Perfect score is 300pts.

Ranking of scores

Ranks of 1st, 2^ndand 3^rd place in each category: Basic and Advanced Editing. Ties are permitted.

Honourable Mention for the following 2 ranked entries following 3^rd place.

Basic Editing

Overview

Basic Editing permits overall adjustments to help polish your captured image. These rules are intended to allow you to fine tune your entry and correct basic imperfections in exposure, contrast, color, etc. No selections or spot editing tools are allowed, with the sole exception of cloning out sensor dust or hot pixels. Restrictions on post-processing apply to all edits performed after the image is captured, whether performed in image-editing software, during RAW conversion, or using image-editing software built into the camera.

All disqualifications are determined by majority vote of the Judges Council (representatives from all participating clubs). If you have any questions, you should err on the side of caution or contact the Judges Council (representatives from all participating clubs) before submitting your entry. Entries that violate the letter or spirit of these rules will be disqualified.

Any of these rules may be overridden by the “Extra Rules” section of the Challenge Details.

Requirements

Your submission must be:

• taken with a digital camera that records EXIF data.
• a JPEG (.jpg) file.
• no larger than 500 KB (512,000 bytes).
• at least 300 pixels, and no more than 700 pixels on each side.
• taken between the deadline and one year prior less one day, based on the Current Server Time (Saskatchewan time/GMT-6:00) 
• taken and post-processed by you. Someone else may press the shutter button if you set up the shot and the camera settings. No one else may post-process your entry for you. Exceptions must be approved by the Judges Council (representatives from all participating clubs) in advance.

You must:

• create your entry from a single capture.
• ensure that your camera date and time are correctly set to your home time zone before shooting your entry. If the date recorded in your original image file is not within the specified challenge dates, your entry will be disqualified - NO exceptions!
• retain your original, unedited file (exactly as recorded by your camera), and provide it to the Judges Council (representatives from all participating clubs) along with a list of your editing steps within 48 hours of any validation request. Files that have been saved or altered with any editing or transfer software are NOT originals.

You may:

• use any feature of your camera while photographing your entry, with the exception of combining multiple captures in-camera.
• crop, rotate and resize your entry.
• use filters or stand-alone utilities designed to preserve image integrity (such as Neat Image, Unsharp Mask, Dust & Scratches, and color correction tools). These filters must be applied uniformly to the entire image, and must not be used in such a way that their use becomes a feature. No “effects” filters may be applied to your image, with the exception of Noise and Gaussian Blur.
• saturate, desaturate or change the colors of your entry, but no selections are allowed.
• use only Adjustment Layers (or their equivalent). An Adjustment Layer is a special type of layer containing no image data that lets you experiment with color and tonal adjustments without permanently modifying the pixels. Adjustment Layers must be applied in Normal mode.
• add a border to the outside edge of your entry. Your border must be distinct and clearly recognizable as a border.
• use RAW conversion software as long as the changes are made globally to a single file on one layer and do not create new features or effects in the process.
• request removal of your own entry during the voting period IF none of your last 25 entries were disqualified or removed, and no rules were violated.
• include existing images or artwork as part of your composition as long as the entry does not appear to consist entirely of a pre-existing photograph in order to circumvent date or editing rules or fool the voters into thinking you actually captured the original photograph.

You may not:

• spot-edit your entry, except to remove sensor dust or hot pixels.
• use the marquee, lasso, or similar tool to select a portion of your image for any reason other than cropping or creating a border.
• use ANY editing tool to create new image area, objects or features (such as vignettes, lens flare or motion) that didn’t already exist in your original capture.
• add graphics, clip art, computer-rendered images or parts of other photographs to your entry or its border during editing.
• add text to your entry or its border during editing. This includes copyright statements.
• distort or stretch your image in any way.
• submit a photograph depicting male or female genitalia, or acts of sex deemed inappropriate by a majority of the Judges Council (representatives from all participating clubs)

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Advanced Editing

Overview

Advanced Editing allows the use of selections, layers and selective editing tools for touch-up and enhancement. You may combine up to ten captures of the same basic scene. The intent of allowing multiple captures is to enable such techniques as high dynamic range (HDR), noise reduction, increased DOF, etc., but not to permit a subject from one scene to be inserted into a different scene, nor is it intended to allow a subject to appear in multiple places within a scene. You may not create new features during post-processing or obscure significant parts of your original capture(s).

All disqualifications are determined by majority vote of the Judges Council (representatives from all participating clubs). If you have any questions, you should err on the side of caution or contact the Judges Council (representatives from all participating clubs) before submitting your entry. Please remember, when possible, to give the Judges Council (representatives from all participating clubs) a minimum of 24 hours to discuss any questions you have regarding your entry. Entries that violate the letter or spirit of these rules will be disqualified.

Any of these rules may be overridden by the “Extra Rules” section of the Challenge Details.

Requirements

Your submission must be:

• taken with a digital camera that records EXIF data.
• a JPEG (.jpg) file.
• no larger than 500 KB (512,000 bytes).
• at least 300 pixels, and no more than 700 pixels on each side.
• taken between the deadline and one year prior less one day, based on the Current Server Time (Saskatchewan time/GMT-6:00) 
• taken and post-processed by you. Someone else may press the shutter button if you set up the shot and the camera settings. No one else may post-process your entry for you. Exceptions must be approved by the Judges Council (representatives from all participating clubs) in advance.

You must:

• create your entry from 1-10 captures of a single scene (defined as a scene whose composition/framing does not change). All captures used must be shot within the challenge submission dates.
• retain your original, unedited file(s) (exactly as recorded by your camera), and provide them to the Judges Council (representatives from all participating clubs) along with a description of your setup and list of your editing steps within 48 hours of any validation request. Files that have been saved or altered with any editing or transfer software are NOT originals.
• ensure that your camera date and time are correctly set to your home time zone before shooting your entry. If the date(s) recorded in your original image file(s) are not within the specified challenge dates, your entry will be disqualified - NO exceptions!
• For HDR, multi-image combined entries, please submit all original working files to your local club Judges Council member(s).  Note to Judges Council: These are for verification purposes only!

You may:

• combine up to the allowable number of captures either in-camera or in post-processing.
• use any feature of your camera while photographing your entry. In-camera features applied after the capture are subject to normal editing rules.
• crop, rotate and resize your entry.
• clone out incidental power lines, twigs, dust specks, stray hairs, and similar minor imperfections within any capture used.
• apply filters, effects, dodge & burn, and other tools to all or part of your entry, but NO new shapes or features may be created in the process.
• saturate, desaturate or change the colors of your entry or any existing object within it.
• use layers, layer masks, and alternative layer modes.
• add a border to the outside edge of your entry. Your border must be distinct and clearly recognizable as a border.
• use RAW conversion software.
• use software to correct perspective, lens defects, or minor misalignments.
• request removal of your own entry during the voting period IF none of your last 25 entries were disqualified or removed, and no rules were violated.
• include existing images or artwork as part of your composition as long as the entry does not appear to consist entirely of a pre-existing photograph in order to circumvent date or editing rules or fool the voters into thinking you actually captured the original photograph.

You may not:

• combine captures of different scenes, move or change a feature between frames, or combine different captures to create a new scene.
• use ANY editing tool to move, remove or duplicate any element of your photograph that would change a typical viewer’s description of the photograph (aside from color or crop), even if the tool is otherwise legal, and regardless of whether you intended the change when the photograph was taken.
• use ANY editing technique to create new image area, objects or features (such as lens flare or motion) that didn’t already exist in your original capture(s).
• add graphics, clip art, computer-rendered images or parts of other photographs to your entry or its border during editing (except for combining photos as allowed by the multiple capture rules above).
• add text to your entry or its border during editing. This includes copyright statements.
• use distortions to create new effects or radically alter objects.
• submit a photograph depicting male or female genitalia, or acts of sex deemed inappropriate by a majority of the Judges Council (representatives from all participating clubs)

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