Rules Common to all NJFCC Competitions
1. All contests are only open to members of NJFCC member clubs.
2. Images must have been made by the submitting individual photographer. Submitting someone else’s work is not permitted.
3. Images of someone else’s art are not allowed unless the photographer has obviously manipulated or in some way changed the presentation.
4. All entries must be received by NJFCC Chairperson on or before the competition deadline due date.
5. Individuals having multiple club memberships are permitted to enter only under one club name for any given competition.
6. A club member can submit a maximum of two (2) entries per individual in the Fall, Winter and Spring competitions. A club can have unlimited entries in these competitions.
7. Submission of virtually the same image in more than one contest is not permitted. For example: an image is submitted in a nature projection competition. It may not also be submitted in a pictorial competition or another competition of any kind. Similarly, a monochrome rendition of a color image, and vice versa, may only be submitted in one of the categories.
8. Entries that did not receive an award in any competition are permitted to be re-submitted in a subsequent competition only one time.
9. Persons submitting images to the NJFCC competitions must accept that NJFCC shall not be responsible for loss or damage to images.
10. All images submitted for NJFCC competitions may be used for display on the NJFCC website with full credit given to the maker. A maker can notify the appropriate chairperson if they wish to have their image removed from the website.
11. All images will be judged on impact, and technical perfection. Where all other things are judged to be equal between images, then the Storytelling aspect of the image will be considered. Color, Monochrome and Infrared images are acceptable in All Projected Contests.
Impact— Having a strong effect on the viewer. It can be beautiful, strong, unusual, dramatic and leaving the viewer with a feeling of something special. The image may or may not include storytelling.
Storytelling–An image that shows an action or an occurrence of things, involving weather, events, people or animals.
Print Competition Rules
1. All Print Competitions are OPEN, meaning there are no topics. Image manipulation/creativity is allowed, but ALL images must be made from an original photo from the maker.
2. The Print Chairs in each Club will collect prints from their members and complete the labels and entry forms, separating the lists between the Mono and Color Competitions. Mono may include infrared if there is no color.
3. The Prints are to be submitted to the NJFCC Print Chair prior to the submission date.
Size Requirements: The minimum image size is 8in.x10in. or 80 square inches. The maximum size (image or image plus backing) is 16in.x20in. Prints measuring 16×20 must be mounted on a 16×20 mat or foam board. For 16×20 images, the mount must not extend beyond the border of the image. However, if the image is smaller than 16×20 the mount can be as large as the acceptable size of 16×20.
Mountings: · Prints may be mounted on mat board or thin foam core. Images mounted on oak tag will be disqualified. · Prints must be securely mounted. Any print not secured is subject to disqualification. · No over-matting or window matting is allowed. · No signatures, copyrights, titles or any other maker’s marking may be present on the front of the image or mount.
NOTE: Any entry in violation of these rules will be disqualified.
4. There are two contests for each Print Competition—COLOR and MONOCHROME. Maximum number of entries per club for each Print Competition is unlimited. Each maker is limited to three (3) images in Color AND three (3) images in the Monochrome Contests.
Monochrome Images: The NJFCC defines Monochrome as follows. A single-toned image such as Black and White or Sepia, with no additional accent color. Infrared images may be used in Monochrome contests.
Pictorial Competition Rules (Projected)
1. Images may not be created from scratch by drawing or any other non- photographic means.
2. There is no maximum number of entries per Club. The limit per maker is TWO (2).
3. Image sizing a. Image files must be converted to sRGB color space. b. The maximum file size is 1.5 megabytes. c. Images size must be 1050 pixels along the longest edge. Square images, where both height and width are 1050 pixels, are acceptable. d. The photographer’s name, trademark and/or copyright may not appear on an image
4. There are two (2) separate Contests in each Pictorial Competition. The Contest Categories are:
1) Pictorial-Creative: Images presented in such a manner that post processing or in-camera manipulation is obvious to the average viewer.
2) Pictorial Open: Images where the subject matter precludes it from being included in any other NJFCC contest.
Nature Competition Rules (Projected)
1. All Nature Competitions are divided into 4 individual Contests (categories): General Nature, Botany, Zoology (includes insects), and Ornithology.
a. General Nature: This category includes landscapes, seascapes, rock formations and anything else that does not fall into Botanical, Ornithological or Zoological.
b. Botanical: This category includes plants and fungi.
c. Ornithological: This category consists of birds as the main subject.
d. Zoological: This category includes all animals except for birds. Basically, if it walks, crawls, flies or swims, it is an animal and must be entered in the Zoological category.
2. The presence of scientific bands on wild animals is acceptable.
3. Human elements shall not be present except on the rare occasion where those elements enhance the nature story.
4. Photographs of domesticated animals, mounted specimens and obviously set arrangements are not acceptable. Farm animals are considered to be domesticated. If an animal is an exotic pet, it must be taken in a natural setting – no bars, fences or man-made objects. Examples of exotic pets are chimpanzees, alligators, alpacas, etc.
5. Any form of image manipulation that misrepresents the true situation or that alters the content of the image is not permitted. Minor cloning to remove small incidental distractions in the image are permitted if the cloning operation is undetectable by the judge. A judge may disqualify any image in which he or she detects evidence of cloning or pasting.
6. Any plant may be included if it is photographed in a natural setting.
7. There is no maximum number of entries per club. Each member is allowed to enter up to TWO (2) images per competition. The member must choose which of the 4 categories in which to enter their images.
8. Image sizing a. Image files must be converted to sRGB color space and saved as a .JPG. b. The maximum file size is 1.5 megabytes. c. Images size must be 1050 pixels along the longest edge. Square images, where both height and width are 1050 pixels, are acceptable. d. The photographer’s name, trademark and/or copyright may not appear on an image.
9. Follow the Club Competition Procedures for submission instructions.
Revised August 2019