MONTHLY COMPETITION GENERAL RULES Tacoma Photographic Society thrives on its competitions. Each month, each division will usually host two competitions. One is the Open competition (any subject) the other is the Assigned Theme Competition (one specific subject). Print Media is accepted to both competitions at Print meetings, and Digital media is accepted to both competitions at Projection meetings. General Rules Each member may enter four photos into Division Competition each month (two photos to the Print Division, two photos to the Projection Division). Each member may enter two prints and two files into the Theme Competitions each month. Prints will be presented at Print Division meetings, and digital files will be presented at Projection Division meetings. All parts of the photo must originate in a camera by the photographer. Photos may be self-developed, commercially developed (by a photo store) or produced digitally. Any enhancement must be made by the photographer. Editing is encouraged and expected in order to create the best possible "competition quality" photos.  Good editing skills will improve your chances for higher scores, more votes, and higher placements.  Your photos will be judged on many criteria including your capturing and editing skills.  Please read the Education web page titled "What Do Judges Look For" along with the Photo Editing Suggestions page and other Educational pages. You may not copy/photograph someone else's artwork, including paintings, etchings, drawings, or other photographs. No entry may be submitted more than once, unless the composition has been substantially changed, nor may the work or a near duplicate be submitted in more than one of the Projection or Print competitions. No crossing over from Print to Projection and vice versa.  You may not enter the same photo or a near duplicate photo in both the Print and Projection Divisions. A photo should not have any watermarks or other markings on it that might be used to identify the photographer. We allow and encourage editing of your photos.  We are a member of PSA; however, we do not compete by PSA rules. Monthly Open Competition Specific Rules Each division deals with very different media which are handled and presented differently. For this reason, you will find the rules of entry for each media type on their Division pages: Print Competition Rules Projection Competition Rules Judging At each monthly competition meeting, the Chairperson shall select three judges and one alternate. Judges shall have earned at least a combined average of 26 or higher. Judges shall assign a score based on the following scale: 10 Excellent  -  9 Very Good   -   8 Good (an average photo) 7 Average (a snapshot) 6 Fair (needs more work) The combined score of three of the judges will be used to determine the award of a photographic point as explained in Recognition Competition Definition and Awards To Constitute a Competition. There must be a minimum of three competing members. In the Open competition (any subject) place winners are selected by the Judges' combined scores.  Ties are broken with the popular vote. Members will not vote for their own photo(s). Competition and website team members cannot be judges since they can see the name of the photographer and would not be voted anonymously. The number of awards to be given and the minimum number of allowed popular votes shall be based on the number of entries as follows: Entries Minimum Popular Votes Awards  3 thru 5 1 1st Place  3 thru 8 2 1st & 2nd Places  9 or more 3 1st, 2nd, & 3rd Places   Monthly Theme Competitions No more than two Themes may be assigned per scheduled program. Rules of entry are as for the regular Open Competitions. Entries may be submitted only once in these competitions. No crossing over from Theme to Open competitions and vice versa or from Print Theme to Projection Theme competitions and vice versa. No member may enter more than two entries per scheduled program. Judging for the Monthly Society-Assigned Theme Competition shall be by Popular Vote as described above. In the Theme popular vote competition, each person shall have a minimum of one vote. Ties shall stand unbroken. Please Note:  We no longer receive Photographic Points for placement awards, Judges' scores, or meeting or exceeding our Photographic Threshold.  All points were eliminated in the last Bylaws Amendments. For questions or suggested changes to this page, contact the Print and Projection Division Chairs or the Website Administrator.