Contest Rules
The Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar contest entrants
must submit their entries via FTP. Information for the FTP login is available
on our contest pdf form that must be filled out and transmitted along with the entries.
Our annual competition accepts only digital entries. Photographs may have
been originally shot on film or with a digital camera, but the entries must be
submitted in digital form. No slide or print entries are accepted. Photographs
do not have to be published to qualify. You do not have to attend the Seminar to
enter. Any photographer from any country is eligible to enter.
All photographs must have been taken (except for picture story entries, please
see next paragraph) between November 8, 2010 and November 7, 2012.
No photograph previously entered in the Seminar competition may be entered
again. Photographs in a picture story entry, taken over a period of time that
begins before the eligible date but extends into the period of eligibility, may
be entered as long as they have not been entered in the Seminar’s competition
before.
We do not allow any sort of manipulation to the content of an image, with the
exception of our photo illustration categories. Only basic color correction and
cropping are allowed to maintain the integrity and ethical standards of the industry.
It is our responsibility as photojournalists to document and present images in an
honest manner. As a result, the judging panel or members of the board may
disqualify any images that do not meet the ethical standards put forth.
Each entrant may submit a maximum of 15 entries. Each picture story, which
may contain a maximum of 12 images, entered counts as one entry. A portfolio
entry does not count towards the 15 entry maximum.
PREPARING YOUR IMAGES
NAMING PROTOCOL
Choose your unique photographer’s code. This is important, as you will use
this code in naming all your files. Use a lower case, five-letter sequence.
Every photographer must have a unique code. Do not spell words or names.
If you are preparing entries for multiple photographers, be sure their codes
vary. Do not use a code that might reveal your name or employer.
A photographer’s code might look like this: bdwrz (don’t use this code). The
next few steps may sound confusing at first, but it’s not that bad.
Name your picture files beginning with the two-digit category number (01 for
spots news, for example). Those two digits should be followed by your unique
photographer’s code, then followed by sequential two-digit numbers
corresponding to the number of photos you are entering in that category. Add
sequential letters to the string for each photo in a picture story entry.
End it all with .jpg.
Find the category numbers/descriptions on the Contest Categories page.
A single photo entry might have a file name like this: 04bdwrz01.jpg (04 is
the category number, bdwrz is the photographer’s code, 01 is your first entry
within this category, and .jpg is the mandatory suffix). Other entries within
the same category would be 04bdwrz02.jpg and 4bdwrz03.jpg.
Photos in a picture story entry might look like this: 12bdwrz01a.jpg,
12bdwrz01b.jpg, 12bdwrz01c.jpg (12 is the category number; bdwrz is
the photographer’s code; 01 is your first entry in the category; a, b and c
indicate the first three photos in a picture story, and .jpg is the mandatory
suffix).
IMAGE SIZE
Adjust image size to be 100 dpi with the longest dimension not larger
than 11 inches. Images must be oriented correctly. Save and compress the
file using the optimized JPEG compression set to 6. We strongly advise
that you do not re-compress an already compressed file. Do not add any
type of border to your image. Images not following these rules may be
disqualified.
CAPTIONING
Using Photo Mechanic or Photoshop’s “File Info” option (under the
File menu), caption the photo using a concise 25-words-or-less description.
At the end of the caption, add your image title. Please try to be concise, as
captions longer than 25 words can become truncated and incomplete with
contest software. Add your unique photographer’s code (see above) to the
“Author” field in Photoshop or “Photographer” field in Photo Mechanic.
Your caption information should be in the “Caption” field in Photo
Mechanic or the “Description” field in Photoshop. Your name should not
appear in any of the IPTC fields.
When captioning picture stories, the caption of the first photo in the
picture story should be a very brief summary of the story. Remember to
keep the entire caption shorter than 25 words.
PORTFOLIOS
Photographers may enter Rich Mahan Student Portfolio or Best Portfolio,
but not both. To enter the student portfolio, you must currently be enrolled in
school or on internship with credits remaining to graduate. People who
graduated in 2012 and now working professionally should enter the Best
Portfolio category, not the Student category.
Portfolios may contain a maximum of 10 entries. A picture story counts
as one entry. Do not include Multimedia entries as part of your portfolio.
Photographers wishing to be considered for one of the Portfolio awards
should place all the photos in their Portfolio entry into a folder marked
with photographer’s code and Portfolio category (bdwrz Best Portfolio
or bdwrz Student Portfolio). Portfolio entries will be judged separately
from Category entries so you must make copies of the category entries
you wish to be considered in your portfolio entry. You may simply
duplicate your category entries, placing the copies in your portfolio folder.
SUBMITTING YOUR IMAGES
SUBMISSION
Contest entries will only be accepted digitally this year, no more
physical entries will be allowed. To enter place all of your images/folders
(for portfolios and picture stories) into a main folder with your unique
photographer’s code as the name for the folder. Enclose your completed
contest form (see instructions above) named as your photographer’s
code in your contest folder before sending. Compress the folder into
a .zip file and send via FTP. As mentioned earlier, FTP login information
is listed on the contest form.
DEADLINE
Enter Early! This year’s deadline is will be announced at a later date.
No entries will be accepted after that date. No exceptions can be made.
Entering early will allow us time to check and possibly correct
errors in your entry. The Seminar reserves the right to disqualify
entries that do not follow rules listed here.
MULTIMEDIA ENTRIES
No more than 3 multimedia entries per person or per team are
permitted. Multimedia entries are required to fill in the information
on the contest registration form & mail a CD or DVD of their
project(s) formatted as Quicktime movie H.264. No entry can
play longer than four minutes. Your contest entry form must
accompany your contest entry.
*Multimedia category clarifications: There are two multimedia
categories. 14-Slideshow and 15-Interactive Presentation. See
category explanations below.
Entries will be judged online. If the work of a single photographer
is represented in the entry, either category can be entered and the
entry may be part of a larger contest entry made by the photographer.
A maximum of 3 multimedia entries may be submitted by an
individual photographer.
If the photographs in the entry have been made by more than one
photographer or producer, either category can be entered but the
entry must be made on behalf of the team. A maximum of 3
multimedia entries may be submitted by a team. This requires a
separate entry and registration fee.
2012 marks the seventh year that there will be categories for Multimedia
entries in the Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar contest. Because
of time constrains, the majority of multimedia entries will be
judged offsite by a distinguished group of experts.
JUDGING & PRIZES
JUDGING
Contest judges consist of seminar speakers and workshop leaders.
Open elimination rounds and closed portfolio judging will take place
on Thursday December 1. There will be no other seminar activities
on Thursday. Final rounds of open judging are held during the
Seminar on Friday, December 2. Winners will be announced during
the Seminar and posted on our website soon after the December 3
awards ceremony.
PRIZES
- $1,000 and Nikon equipment for Best Portfolio
- $750 and Nikon equipment for 1st place Rich Mahan
Student Portfolio - $250 2nd place Rich Mahan Student Portfolio
- $100 3rd place Rich Mahan Student Portfolio
- $500 for Best in Show
- $100 awarded to all First Place winners
First place winners receive plaques; second and third place winners
and honorable mentions receive certificates. Special recognition will
be given to the newspaper staff winning the most points in competition.
Staff points are awarded as follows: Honorable Mention=1 point, Third
Place=2 points, Second place= 3 points, First place= 4 points, Best
Portfolio= 5 points. No staff points will be awarded for Best of Show.
**International shipping and alternative awards payment policy:
Because of their weight, shipping awards plaques out of the continental United
States can become prohibitively expensive. If shipping costs exceeds $30, we will
mail the award recipient their certificates, prize checks and add a $25 credit per
plaque so they may purchase a plaque locally if they choose. We can also offer to
pay awards money via PayPal or Western Union if it is difficult to cash a U.S.
check in your country. Any PayPal or Western Union fees will be deducted from
your prize money.
