The Livermore Valley Camera Club is a member of a regional collective of fourteen Greater Bay Area camera clubs, known as N4C (Northern California Council of Camera Clubs). As such the club competition is based primarily on the guidelines set up by the N4C. Therefore, the Livermore Valley Camera Club adheres to the standards set forth by the N4C for rules of competition and judging. For more information, go to the N4C Website.

The club's semi-monthly meetings focus on competitions critiqued by outside judges where members compete against other members of like abilities. Generally, prints are judged prior to projected-images, with a break for refreshments in between. If submitting work for competition, members are encouraged to arrive early in order to complete the process for entering their submissions.

Competitions at all camera clubs are intended to be healthy, fun, and a means to improve one's photography. Members should use the competition as a motivational tool to always improve their own work. Points are kept for the purposes of grouping photographers with "like" abilities and experiences together. It is also a measure of a member's participation level in the club. In order to enter images in competition, a new member's skill level must be determined by the club officers. Guests and non-rated new members may enter images in a special non-rated category. The meeting judge will critique entries in this category (for up to two meetings), but the entries are ineligible for competition until a member's skill level has been determined.

The top images in each level are forwarded to a N4C. At N4C, the LVCC images are judged against the winning entries from other clubs, and results are reported in the monthly N4C newsletter. Winning N4C entries are eligible for the end-of-year competition, and are presented at the annual N4C banquet.

Regardless on how you may feel about competition and points, we encourage your participation! Sharing our photographic works is at the heart of what Camera Clubs are all about!

The following information has been condensed from the club by-laws. This is intended to be a quick reference for new and existing members. While these rules may seem complex at first, really the best way to understand them is to come to a meeting and see how it all works. Our members will help you, and answers any of your questions.

The Livermore Valley Camera Club adheres to the standards and guidelines set forth by the N4C for competition divisions. The Livermore Valley Camera Club participates in the following competing divisions:

Prints Monochrome B/W Pictorial (MO) Color Pictorial (CO) Nature (N) Creative / Contemporary (C) Travel (T) Journalism (J) Sequence (S)

Projected Images Pictorial (P) Nature (N) Creative / Contemporary (C) Travel (T) Journalism (J)

For complete information on N4C divisions and their definitions, please see
N4C Competition Definitions

Note that for Nature, Travel, and Journalism divisions, the images titles are read during judging. Therefore the title is an important aspect in understanding the image, or story that is presented to the viewer. Nature titles should be concise and include the Latin name if possible. Be specific as possible to include activity, behavior, etc. or "Portrait of...." when the whole subject is not shown.

There is a sub-division for nature projected-images called "Authentic Wildlife." This is defined as one or more animals living free and unrestrained in a natural or adopted habitat. Therefore, photographs of zoo or game farm animals are not eligible.

Authentic Wildlife slides should be so designated by placing a "W" on the back of the slide by the maker's name. For digital images, the letter "W" should replace the "N" for the division initial. For example: WA~Lion Portrait~Jane Doe!LV.jpg

As noted, the nature story weighs considerably in Nature judging. In fact, many judges like to see the scientific name in parentheses after the common name of the plant or animal. But the point of the title is to identify the plant, animal, or nonliving part of the natural world and to tell the most interesting points illustrated in the photo. If it is a plant, then point out the fact that it is blossoming. If it blossoms once every two years, or only in the winter, then these educational facts should go in the title. The season is also important for animals. For example, since Goldfinches change their feather pattern from summer to fall, then that should certainly be point out. In the case of a dynamite shot of a plant or animal with no obvious story attached, then the location and season of the photo can still go in the title and be informative to the viewer. Some cleverness is required, but your cleverness is not the point you want to make to the viewer, and anthropomorphic or "cutsie" titles don't help in competition.

Within each division there are group levels. Each "level" signifies photographers of like abilities. Each member competes in a division in the group corresponding to the level he/she has achieved in that division. For example, it is possible for a member to compete in Projected Image Pictorial Advanced, and in Monochrome Prints compete in Intermediate. New members are placed in the Beginner levels by default. However, members with previous club experience or photo experience can/will be placed in higher levels by the executive committee. If you're a new member, please talk with a club officer if you're not sure what level you should be competing in.

Prints Beginner/Basic (B) Intermediate (I)  * Advanced (A) Masters (M)  *

Projected Images Beginner/Basic (B) Intermediate (I) Advanced (A) Masters (M)

*  Note only Pictorial Monochrome and Color prints have all four levels. Below is the list of print divisions and their associated levels:

Print Division	Print Levels
Pictorial Color	B, I, A, M
Pictorial Monochrome	B, I, A, M
Nature	B, A
Creative / Contemporary	B, A
Travel	B, A
Journalism	B, A
Sequence	one level

Competitions at all Livermore Valley Camera Club and N4C meetings are critiqued by an impartial outside judge. Judges are experienced photographers and/or are involved in photography in some professional manner: photographer, teacher, business owner, etc. The judges perform two functions at club meetings. The first is to evaluate images on their technical qualities, visual impact, and compliance with N4C rules and award places for the competition. The other purpose, hopefully more meaningful, is not only to critique, but also to teach and share their knowledge of photography, in an effort to improve the photography of all who attend. When entering competitions, it is VERY important to keep in mind that the opinion of the judge is just that, an opinion. A judge may not like your particular image on a given night, but rest assured that a different judge on a different night might think it's a wonderful image. Some judges are very critical, while others are very constructive and instructive. Don't let negative comments from a judge discourage you. Take it as an opportunity to improve your photography.

The following rules have been established to meet N4C guidelines for competition:

• Member may enter any division, but only in members own group level or above.
• Limit (2) two prints per division per monthly competition.
• Limit (3) three projected-images per division per monthly competition.
• No print, slide or digital image shall be entered more than (3) times within its division in monthly competition without significant changes via printing, cropping, etc.
• No previously qualified N4C print, slide or digital image will be eligible for subsequent entry in regular monthly competition (except for Club Annual or Inter-club competitions).
• Newcomers/Non-members may exhibit/enter up to (3) three months before their dues are payable.
• Projected-images and Prints must be properly labeled (see below).
• Projected-images and Prints taken from the highest places in monthly competitions will be sent to N4C for judging, unless member chooses not to submit to N4C.
• Entries sent to N4C can only be from paid-up members.

Any print submitted to the club for competition, must be matted in some fashion; either flush to foam core (gator board) or framed with mat board (window mat). The print should be secured, so it is not loose. The minimum outside measurement for any print mat is 11-inches by 14-inches; and the maximum is 16-inches by 20-inches; with a maximum thickness of 1/4-inch. The print itself, inside the mat, may be any size.

Prints entered in competition must also have a label affixed to the back-side of the print, in the upper-left hand corner, with the following information:

Starting in January 2006, N4C combined both slides and digital images into a single category called "projected images."

Similar to prints, projected images must be submitted with the following information:

The standard file naming system for submitting digital images to our club and to N4C, has following format:
<Division><Level>~<Title>~<Maker>!LV.<Ext>

Where the information is
Division Abbreviation: P,N,W (Wildlife Nature),C,T,J
Level: B,I,A,M
Image Title
Maker's Name
Club Abbreviation ("LV")
File Extension: .jpg or .tif

Example: PI~A Day in the Country~John Public!LV.jpg would indicate a pictorial image at intermediate level, submitted by John Public, which has a title of "A Day in the Country".

Because of the restriction of about 32 characters on some Mac filenames, they may have to be handled differently. Mac users, who send the digital chair their images as attachments, should also include a filename in the body of the email if it doesn't fit within the Mac's length restriction. You can assign a shortened form of the filename (one which will fit on the Mac) to the file. For example, the first example above might be sent with the filename: PI~Day~John Public!LV.jpg along with the notation that the title should be "A Day in the Country".

Many divisions allow for several images to be submitted as a single entry, to show a sequence of events. In this case, every image must have the same title, followed by an index signifying the order. For instance
PI~Cat in a Hat [1]~John Public!LV.jpg
and
PI~Cat in a Hat [2]~John Public!LV.jpg.
Each image in the sequence can also have a subtitle, in which case it would be
PI~Cat in a Hat [1] Peeking Out~John Public!LV.jpg
and
PI~Cat in a Hat [2] Hat Collapses~John Public!LV.jpg.

The suggested maximum size of the image is 1280 pixels wide by 1024 pixels high. While an image can also have smaller pixel dimensions, the absolute maximum is nothing larger than 2000 pixels in either height or width. The image should be saved with an sRGB (sRGBIEC61966-2.1) color space, in JPEG (quality setting of 8 or higher) or TIFF.

Please email images to the digital chair, digital@livermorevalleycameraclub.com, by noon two days before the meeting. Attach the files to an email message that includes longer titles (for Mac users) if necessary. Do not compress them using WinZip or Stuffit.

For more information and directions on how to prepare an image for club competition, please see
LVCC Digital Guidelines (PDF)

Below is an illustration on how to correctly label a slide:

A "thumb spot" must appear on the front of the slide in the lower left corner as viewed normally when hand held. It can be a stick-on marker available in camera or stationary store, or any clearly identifiable spot made with a pen or marker. Its purpose is to insure correct placement in the projector tray for slide competition.

The title should begin at the top, next to the thumb spot. It should appear on the front of the slide along the top edge when the picture is viewed upside down.

The competition division should appear on the front of the slide, directly below the thumb spot when the picture is upside down. The competition group level should also appear on the front of the slide under the thumb spot and the division. Both the division and level should use the N4C accepted abbreviation (see above).

The maker's name and club name must appear on the back-side of the slide. Maker's name may not appear on the front of the slide because all pictures are viewed on the light box by the judge.

Always check the club calendar and announcements as holidays may cause actual competition dates to change.

Divisions:Print

Levels

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Monochrome

B, I, A, M

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Color

B, I, A, M

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Nature & Sequence

B, A

X

-

-

X

-

-

X

-

-

X

-

Travel & Creative

B, A

-

X

-

-

X

-

-

X

-

-

X

Journalism

B, A

-

-

X

-

-

X

-

-

X

-

X

Divisions:Projected Images

Levels

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Pictorial

B, I, A, M

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Nature & Creative

B, I, A, M

-

X

-

X

-

X

-

X

-

X

X

Travel & Journalism

B, I, A, M

X

-

X

-

X

-

X

-

X

-

X

Last modified January 2008