BCRA Photographic Competition
The information on this web page is only a summary of the rules and
guidelines. You are advised to download an entry form,
which contains a fuller description of the competition.
Photo Salon Online Entry Form:
We are offering online entry this year - it saves time at the check-in desk,
and it means we do not have to decipher your handwriting. This facility will
open three weeks before the conference on Sat 5 September and it will be
available right up until the last moment before the conference. Go to
hidden-earth.org.uk/competitions/online-entry
The British Cave Research Association invites photographers from the UK
and overseas to enter its annual Photographic Salon and Competition. The
event will be part of the annual caving conference - Hidden Earth. The purpose
of the competition is to encourage both new and experienced cave photographers.
The photographs will be judged on their technical, artistic and aesthetic
qualities, and BCRA hopes that photographs covering all aspects of caving will
be submitted.
Newcomer Award
We encourage newcomers to enter the competition and we offer a special prize
for the best British Isles newcomer. We encourage you to treat the term
'newcomer' inventively - are you a newcomer specifically to underwater
photography, or 3D, perhaps?
Digital Showcase
We want the Photo Salon to live up to its description of being a 'salon'
where you can display your work. Consequently, the photo salon features a
'digital showcase' section. Your images will be displayed in sequence on a
monitor in the exhibition area. The work will not be included in the
competition, but images entered into the usual competition categories can also
be submitted to the showcase.
- Guidelines for Digital Showcase. Images in the slideshow will be
shown in alpha-numeric order of file name so you can take advantage of this to
provide a title image. The title file-name just needs to come before the
picture file-names, and all files should use a common prefix to avoid other
photographers' files coming in between (e.g. call your files
smith001.jpg, smith002.jpg; with the title image as, say,
smith000.jpg). We recommend compressed JPG files (max 1280 x 1024 and
2MB) for your photos. However, the application that we will be using supports
all common image formats, so your title slides could be GIF, TIFF or BMP format
if needed. If you want your name or any other information to be shown with
individual images then please make it part of the image itself. We'd rather not
display a separate title slide for each image or the slideshow would get rather
tedious.
Competition Categories
The competition categories and a list of other prizes awarded at the
conference is given below.
Standard Categories
- Premier Trophy
A portfolio of five prints in colour or
black & white. One entry per person. One prize. All non-winning entries in
this category will be entered in the appropriate print category below.
- Colour Print, Monochrome Print, Digital Files
Up to eight
entries per person in each of these three categories (including any entries
transferred from the Premier Trophy above). One 'first prize' in each category,
plus a number of 'distinction' and 'merit' prizes. Monochrome Prints:
Sepia and other toned monochrome prints are acceptable in this category.
Digital files: These will be viewed by the judges on a computer monitor
and will be displayed as part of the 'digital showcase' (see above). There is
no longer a competition category for projected images (i.e. film
transparencies). Further information, including file formats is given on the
entry form.
Special Categories
The following prizes are also awarded at the caving conference. Other prizes
may be awarded too; the judges will consider all work that is submitted. You
are advised to read the guidelines for these categories, which are part of the
entry form.
- British Newcomer
Awarded to a British Isles 'newcomer'.
Winner chosen from the entries in the main competition categories. One
prize.
- Cave Life
Each cave life picture should be accompanied by a
written description of its location and the environmental conditions where the
specimen was found, together with the name of the species and any behaviour
being exhibited. This documentation will form part of the entry. Up to three
entries per person selected by the entrant from entries made in the main
competition categories. See Photo Salon
Special Prizes.
- Fun Shot
A single or short sequence of projections with
caption(s). Judged by the 'laughometer' at the conference closing ceremony!
Up to three entries per person in addition to entries made in the
main competition categories.
- Moore Books prize for best mining photo
Sponsored by Mike
Moore Books, moorebooks.co.uk; £100-worth of
mining books* for the best colour or monochrome print with a mining or
man-made underground theme. (£20-worth of mining books* for the
runner-up). As well as mining in the strictest sense, this includes quarrying
and other man-made tunnelling activities. (* these prizes must be collected
from Moore Books during the weekend). Up to three entries per person
selected by the entrant from entries made in the main competition categories.
See Photo Salon Special Prizes.
- Giles Barker Award
This annual award is given jointly by
Morgannwg CC and Red Rose CPC in recognition of excellence in any aspect of
cave photography.
Competition Rules
- Eligibility. Anyone may enter the competition, whether or not they
are a member of BCRA. Winning entries from previous BCRA photographic
competitions may not be entered. Entries cannot be released for lectures.
- Judging will be by a panel of three judges, independent of BCRA,
whose decisions are final. BCRA reserves the right not to award a prize if, in
the opinion of the judges, the entries in any particular category are too few
to constitute a proper competition.
- Borders and Frame Size. The maximum dimensions of the mount/frame
that we can accept without prior arrangement are 400mm x 500mm. Because of
space restrictions, we cannot guarantee to accept work that exceeds those
dimensions and, if you wish to submit oversize work, it is a condition of entry
that you contact us in advance to enquire about its acceptability.
- File Formats. Digital files must be submitted in JPG or TIF formats
on a PC-compat-ible CD-ROM and should ideally be less than 2MB in size. File
names and media must adequ-ately identify the entrant. (See guidelines). We
cannot accept any responsibility for media that are unlabelled or unreadable by
our computer for reason of formatting, excessive file size or any other
problem.
- Copyright & Reproduction. The copyright of all entries will
remain with the authors. Entries may be copied for display at the closing
ceremony; and digital files may be copied for display during the weekend. No
further use will be made of any copies without permission, although BCRA
encourages entrants to allow their photos to be published in Speleology. No
rights will be conceded to sponsors or other parties without permission of the
entrants. The winner of the Speleo Technics prize will be expected to make
suitable arrangements with the sponsor (see guidelines below).
- Loss, Damage & Insurance. Every care will be taken of the
entries, but BCRA cannot accept responsibility for any damage or loss. The
organisers will not be insuring the photographs and, if required, entrants
should make their own arrangements.
How to Enter
You can enter in advance or on the day.
Entries on the day should be delivered to the exhibition area by midday on
the Saturday of the conference. They will be available for collection after
completion of the awards ceremony on the Sunday afternoon.
If you are not attending the conference you may send your work by post, to
the address given on the web site, at your own risk
and cost. Your entry must arrive, together with a completed
entry form, at least 15 days before the
conference. If you want your work to be returned by post you must provide
sufficient postage, packing material and customs charges.
The entry form, which includes additional information and guidelines, is
available as a PDF download, here. In the event that
you are unable to download this form, please contact us and ask for a printed
version to be sent to you.
British Cave Research Association
(UK registered charity 267828) and British Caving Association.
The Old Methodist Chapel, Great Hucklow, BUXTON, SK17 8RG
This page, http://hidden-earth.org.uk/competitions/photo.html was last modified on Mon, 05 Apr 2010 17:19:55 +0100
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