NJPPA Clip Contest Rules (updated March 2008)
Categories
1. Spot News/General News - Coverage of events for which advance and non advanced planning were possible. Examples include, but are not limited to, accidents, fires, natural disasters and spot police action, courtroom events, funerals, news conferences, mock exercises and campaigns.
2. Sports - Sports action and sports feature in one or more photos.
3. Feature/Single Picture - Events and subjects (other than Spot News, General News, Sports or Portrait/Illustration) depicted in one photo.
4. Feature/Multiple Pictures - Events and subjects (other than Spot News, General News, Sports or Portrait/Illustration) depicted in more than one photo, including photo stories, essays, sequences or series.
5. Portrait - Photo of a person that reveals the essence of the subject’s character. This category also includes preconceived images of people.
6. Illustration – (editorial, food, fashion) A non-reportorial photo produced from a preconceived idea and intended to convey a concept, or a photo that deals with food or fashion. Illustration is the only category in which radical darkroom or computer alterations are permitted. This category will be judged quarterly but clips can be sent every month.
7. Multimedia
The photographer is responsible for determining in which category their clips belong. The clip contest chair will not re-classify any image.
Deadlines
All entries must reach the clip chair by the 7th of the month following the month of publication.
Eligibility
The contest is open to all members whose dues are paid for the month of competition entered. New or renewal dues must be received by the state office during the contest month.
Members submit entries as described below to the clip chair of the state in which they reside or work. Interns or students may enter their clips if they were taken for a New Jersey news publication.
Entry Format
1 - All submissions will be in digital jpeg form with a maximum resolution of 2000 pixels at the longest dimension. All files should be in RGB format and saved at the Maximum setting.
2 -Files should be named beginning with the month (use one the first three letters of the month), category (use the appropriate abbreviation news, sports, feat, port, illus, mfeat or mm), first five letters of your last name and the number in that category using an underscore to separate each and add the appropriate extension. For example, feb_news_kurdz_01.jpg, mar_port_trish_01.jpg. If you have only one submission in a single category the number is not necessary. For multiple picture entries include a letter after the number in the alphabetical order you want the pictures to be viewed (01a.jpg, 01b.jpg, 01c.jpg etc.)
3 - Full caption information must be included in the IPTC caption field with no byline or credit appearing anywhere in the caption field. Photographer credit information should only appear in the Author / Photographer / Byline IPTC field. Place your email address in the Description / Writer field. Other IPTC fields can contain any or no other information as they will not be used for the contest. On multiple picture entries include a brief synopsis of the story in the caption field of the first photo.
4 - Members will receive an email with a link to upload images. Or, images can be burned onto a CD or DVD and mailed to the contest chairman. In the interest of saving disks, multiple photographers (or an entire staff) can submit their entries on a single disk. Disks should be labeled on the front with the photographer's name, organization and month. For disks containing multiple photographer's entries, label the disk with the name of the organization, month and STAFF ENTRY. As with paper clips, disks will not be returned.
5 - Photos submitted to the monthly contest may now be published OR UNPUBLISHED. Unpublished photos must have been taken during the corresponding month of the contest or be part of a multiple category entry published or completed during that month. For single photos that have been published, the date the image was taken is now the determining factor as to what month they must be entered in, not the date they were published.
6 - The maximum number of entries per photographer still stands at 9 submissions
Entry Format, Multimedia
1 - As with the multiple still categories all content in each multimedia submission must have been created, completed or published on the web during the corresponding month.
2 - All multimedia submissions must be in a universal format viewable on a standard PC or MAC (Quicktime, AVI, Flash etc.). Avoid making movie files too high a resolution as we cannot guarantee large files playing smoothly on all computers (we have no control over what computers the judges will be using each month).
3 - Entries can be submitted in the form of a working URL or burned onto CD or DVD. For entries on disk place the file(s) in a folder labeled "Multimedia". You may include multimedia entries on the same CD or DVD as your still entries. When submitting entries as a URL include a universal text or HTML file labeled with your last name, organization, month and the word "mmurls" (without the quotes), separated by an underscore. For example, kurdzuk_starledger_july_mmurls.txt
4 - Files should be named beginning with the month, the letters "MM", your last name and number in that category using an underscore to separate each + the appropriate file extension. For example, july_MM_kurdzuk_01.mov, july_MM _kurdzuk_02.mov.
5 - Still images contained in a multimedia category may be entered in a single or multiple still category so long as they conform to the standard rules for still entries and have not been entered as a still image in a previous monthly contest.
6 - Multimedia entries may contain credit and organization information
7- Multimedia entries will count toward your monthly total of 9.
8 - Points for multimedia entries will be awarded in the same manner as still entries.
Entry Limitations
A series of related pictures made over more than one month may be entered as a single entry for the month concluding the series.
If the same picture appears in more than one entry for the month, the clip contest chair may disqualify both entries.
Each entry must be the work of an individual photographer.
NJPPA Point System
Each photographer entering the contest receives two points per month entered. First place receives 50 points; second place receives 40 points and third place 30 points. 15 points for honorable mentions will be awarded.
Photographer of the Year
The photographer who accumulates the most points during the calendar year will be named New Jersey Clip Contest Photographer of the Year, provided the photographer has shown versatility by winning in at least two of the six contest categories during the year. In case of a tie, both photographers will share the title.
In case of a year-end tie top 10 scores, the rank(s) beneath the tie will be skipped for the next award. For example, a two-way tie for top place leaves third place for the next highest photographer.
Contest Agreements
It is understood that any copyright of an entry remains the property of the photographer or employer of the photographer.
However, all participants agree that by entering the contest, entrants give permission to NJPPA for its regional and national publications to reproduce winning entries, either through hard copy or electronically, including and not limited to, regional publications, In Focus magazine, commercial online services and NJPPA presences on the internet. Reasonable precautions will be taken to ensure the security of electronic reproduction.
Winners must provide a digital file of their winning photograph to the NJPPA for its official website within a two-week grace period from the time of notification.
You must be a member of the email Message List
to receive notice that you have won a clip.
