PFLI COMPETITION RULES AND GUIDELINES April 19, 2010 The following Competition Rules are adopted to guide the operation of the PFLI Competition only. They are not intended to direct the PFLI clubs in the operation of their own competitions. The PFLI accepts whatever the member clubs submit to the monthly PFLI competitions provided the work conforms to the following specific conditions. REGULAR SEASON COMPETITIONS (1) SCHEDULE - Regular Season Competitions are scheduled on the second Friday of each month from October through May. Changes due to Holidays and meeting room conflicts are listed on the PFLI Web Page WWW.PFLIONLINE.COM. (2) LATE ENTRIES - All work must be submitted by 7:30 PM. No late entries will be accepted! (3) ELIGIBILITY - All photos submitted must be created by a PFLI club member who currently resides on Long Island or in the New York Metropolitan Area. Any member who submits work during the current season and moves out of this area (but still remains a member of their club) may continue to submit work to the PFLI for the remainder of that season only. (4) CATEGORIES - There will be four categories of competition as follows; (a) Black & White Prints - shall be either 1- conventional monochromatic Black and White prints, or 2– conventional Black and White prints toned with a single overall color (i.e. sepia) or 3– conventional Black and White prints colored with a single color in specific areas. (i.e. an owl with the eyes colored yellow). (b) Color Prints - shall be either 1– conventional Color Prints or 2– Black and White Prints colored with more than one color. (c) Pure Film Slides – Shall be Color or black and white images created by direct capture to slide film only. No conversions from digital images to manufactured slides. No images created by photographing prints onto slide film. (d) Digital Images – shall be Color or Black and White images in electronic format. (e) All work must originally be created PHOTOGRAPHICALLY by the maker. This means by chemically processed film or a digital camera. Images which did not use light sensitive materials or devices to begin with are not photographs and are not permitted (you cannot enter a purely computer generated image just as you cannot enter an oil or watercolor painting). All work submitted must be the maker's original photograph (or in the case of montages the makers original photographs.) The work may be altered by any means, including the use of a computer, as long as the final result is still a photographic slide or print or digital image. Copies of other two dimensional works are not permitted unless the work is purely incidental to your composition. All modifications to slides and prints must be made by, or under the direct supervision and control of, the maker. (5) IDENTICAL IMAGES – You may not enter the same image in more than one category. I.E. You may not enter a color image and then convert it to a slide (or vice versa) and enter it again. You may not enter a color image or slide then convert it to either a classic or a toned or a hand colored BW and enter it again. You may not enter a black and white image then add a tone (such as sepia) or a single color (such as a yellow eye to an owl) and or hand color the entire image and enter the image again. (6) CLASSES - There will be two classes in each category: Class “B” (beginners) and Class “A” (advanced) except in the case of slides where there will be only a single class. Any maker who has received three or more scores of 24 points, or more, in a "B" Class, in any one season, must compete in the “A” class in that category at the PFLI in subsequent seasons. Makers may elect to compete in the “A” category at the PFLI without attaining three 24’s however once in the “A” category all makers must remain in that category forever. Each club determines the class for each of it's members at the club competition level. (7) ONE PHOTOGRAPH PER MAKER - No more than one photograph per maker per competition in each category and class will be permitted unless the club has seven or less entrants in a given category and class. In such cases up to two photographs per maker are permitted. For purposes of this rule the term entrant means a maker who has submitted more than 2 photographs to the PFLI in the current season. (8) ONE CLASS PER CATEGORY - Each maker must compete in only one class per category (i.e. you cannot compete in color prints “A” and color prints “B” but you may compete in color slides, color prints and B&W prints. (9) MULTI-CLUB MEMBERSHIP - In cases of multi-club membership, you may only compete from one club in any given category. (i.e. you cannot compete in color slides from two different clubs however you may compete in color slides from one club and color prints from another club.) (10) MID-SEASON CHANGES - No changes in class will be permitted during the competition season. If an error occurs (for example a person is competing in class “B” when they should have been in class “A” or vice versa) the error will be corrected for future competitions, however the past offending photographs will be disqualified. (11) MAXIMUM ENTRIES PER CLUB - A club having nine (9) or less members in a category/class may enter up to five (5) pieces of work in each regular, monthly PFLI competition. A club having ten (10) to twenty nine (29) members in a category/class may enter up to ten (10) pieces of work. A club having thirty (30) members or more in a category/class may enter up to fifteen (15) pieces of work in that particular category / class. Once a second (or third) slate is entered every photograph must be by a different maker. (12) ENTRY FORMS - Regardless of the number of entries submitted to the PFLI competition, a PFLI entry form , in duplicate, must be submitted for each category/class. Each form must be completed in it's entirety including club name, club I.D. number, date, class, category, maker's name and photo title or description. Club's entering up to five pieces of work must use letter designations “A” through “E” for each entry. Clubs submitting up to ten pieces of work must fill out a separate form and continue the letter sequence, “F” through “J”. Clubs entering up to fifteen pieces must submit third form and continue with the sequence “K” through “O”. After scoring,one copy of the form will be returned to the club while the duplicate will be retained by the Competition Chairperson. (13 JUDGES - There will be three judges per competition. Judges may be from within or outside member clubs. Member judges must be class "A” workers in at least one category. Monthly competition judges will not be compensated. (14) SCORING - Each of the judges will score from 5 to 9 points. Entries from a judge's own club will be scored by averaging the other two judges' scores. Scores of 23-24 points will receive an Honorable Mention (Red Ribbon). Scores of 25-26 points will receive an Award (Gold Ribbon), scores of 27 points will receive a purple ribbon plus a PFLI MEDAL. (15) RE-SUBMITTALS - Work receiving 21 points or higher may not be submitted in any future regular monthly competition. Work receiving less than 21 points may be resubmitted one additional time. (16) WORK MUST BE CURRENT - All work submitted to the PFLI must have been exhibited at the club level during the current season with one exception. Any work that was exhibited at the club after the last PFLI regular season competition in May may be submitted during the following PFLI season at the discretion of the club or maker. (17) MAKE-UPS - Any club that completely misses a competition category/class is entitled to submit a make-up entry. Make-Ups must be so marked on the entry forms and must include the month being made-up. In addition the words “Make Up” must be noted on each piece of work. No more than TWO Make-Ups are permitted in a given season. Partial make-ups are not allowed in regard to the number of pieces of work in a given category/class (if a club submits only three pieces of work as a make-up, that completes the make-up. You may not put in two more pieces of work at a subsequent competition). Category/class however may be split (a club may choose to make-up their color slides on one night and their prints on a subsequent evening). (18) SLIDE SPOTTING - All slides must be marked with a large, prominent “dot”, (“thumb-spot”),in the lower, left corner, as they are held in proper viewing position. Be careful as the slides will be shown as spotted. It will be up to each individual judge to decide if the slide is obviously spotted incorrectly and, if so, whether or not to make an allowance in his or her score. (19) SLIDE IDENTIFICATION - After spotting the slide rotate the slide so the spot is now in the upper right corner. A PFLI ID number showing, class, club # and entry letter, must be placed down vertically under the thumb-spot, (i.e.: A-29-D). The maker's name should be placed across the top and the title, as written on the entry form, across the bottom so that both will be readable when slide is in projector. The club name on the slide is advisable to assist the projectionist in announcing the ribbon winners. (20) JAMMING - Any slide that jams in the projector will be disqualified. Jamming is usually the result of bent mounts, loose marking or cropping tape or extra thick glass mounts. (21) PRINT SIZES - All prints must be mounted and range in size from a minimum of 5” by 7” to a maximum of 16” by 20”. The maximum mount size is 16” by 20”. (22) PRINT IDENTIFICATION - All prints must have a PFLI label, fully filled out, near the top-right corner on the back of the print. A prominent arrow indicating the "top" of the print should be included. Prints will be shown as marked. If there is no arrow the label will determine the orientation. (23) IMPROPER MOUNTING - No prints are to be mounted in frames, on wood, or in any way so as to damage other prints on either side when placed in a stack for exhibiting at the PFLI. This specifically applies to glue or sticky or rough tape used for the purpose of mounting either the print or the label. Prints so mounted will be rejected at the sole discretion of the Competition Committee. (24) LIABILITY - The PFLI is not responsible for lost, damaged or stolen prints or slides. LEONARD VICTOR MEMORIAL COMPETITION (1) ELIGIBILITY - Any work that receives 23 points or higher in any regular monthly PFLI competition is eligible to be entered in the Leonard Victor Memorial Competition. (2) NUMBER OF ENTRIES - Each worker may submit up to three (3) pieces per category. (3) AWARDS - There will be a first, second and third place plaque award in each category and class. (4) SCORING - The three judges will score each entry from 5 to 9. Once the slide or print has been replaced by the next slide or print the score cannot be revised. The high score will be the Leonard Victor Winner and the next two highest scores will 2nd and 3rd respectively. In the event of ties there will be additional rounds until a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place is selected. (5) LIMITATION OF AWARD - No one person will be eligible to win more than one award in a given category. (You cannot win more than one award in, say, color prints but you may win an award in any or all of the other categories.) (6) JUDGES - The 3 judges for the Leonard Victor Competition shall not be active members of any PFLI affiliated club. ALL STAR AWARDS (1) ELIGIBILITY - At the conclusion of the season an ALL STAR LIST will be compiled for each category/class based upon the average for all entries in that category/class. To be eligible you must have entered at least 5 images and averaged 23 points or better. (2) AWARDS - There will be a first, second and third place plaque award in each category and class. GENERAL COMMENTS Before leaving a competition each club representative should make sure that they have all of their own work AND no work from another club. Please contact the Competition Chairperson or any executive Board Member in the event of any discrepancies. The Competition Rules are designed to help PFLI competitions run more smoothly. If a violation of the rules is detected, or in the event another photographer files a complaint, the PFLI Executive Board or Competition Committee Chairperson will take appropriate action including disqualification of the offending photographs from current and/or previous competitions. Most disqualification's result from photos being entered in the wrong class (“A” in place of “B”) or the wrong category (a color print in B&W). Unfortunately they are usually not caught until it is to late to correct. Be careful. If you have any questions or suggestions regarding these rules please feel free to contact any member of the PFLI Executive Board or the Competition Chairperson. REASON FOR LATEST REVISION Added a first, second and third place plaque award for the All Star List in lieu of a certificate for the top 5 places. Dropped the provision that a club member cannot switch clubs in mid-season and continue to compete in the same category at his or her new club. Continued competing with the new club is now permitted.