Atherton & District Amateur Photographic Society

Hi, I am fairly new to the club. I have attended 4-5 club nights and I went on the Manchester walk. I have not attended for the past three weeks due to not being in the country, but I should be back next week!

My question is about competitions.

I have asked a few ADAPS members about how to enter the competitions and I am still unsure about what these competitions are. I have had many responses ranging from, "just upload them to the forum" to "you need to print your shots, 18"x12", back it, clue it the bottom of the card needs to have more card showing than the top."

I don't mean to be critical in any way, I love ADAPS, but I feel that not much clear guidance is given to new members about different competitions you hold and how and when to enter them.

Could someone please give me a breakdown of the competitions, when and how to enter them! (I understand that I am at a disadvantage because I am not able to attend every week)

Kind Regards

Phil

Phil_Ingham wrote: Could someone please give me a breakdown of the competitions, when and how to enter them!

Hi Phil

If anyone has any questions regarding our competitions they are best advised to speak with our Competitions Secretary (Keith Richardson) or any Committee member. See - http://www.adaps.org.uk/committee.htm

ADAPS holds several different types of competitions - http://www.adaps.org.uk/competitions.htm

Monthly Competitions

We hold a series of Monthly Competitions from September to February each year where members may enter photographs covering any subject matter that they like. The competitions alternate each month between Digitally Projected Images and Prints.


Annual Competitions

At the end of the competition season each year we hold our Annual Competition where members enter what they feel are their best works of the year. External judges are invited to assess each entry and to award trophies to the winners.

The general rules regarding image sizes for the Monthly and Annual Competitions are:

Prints
The minimum size of a photographic print should be no less than 48 square inches or 300 square centimetres. (This equates to a minimum print size of around 8"x6" or 20 x 15 cm).

Prints must be mounted on any colour of standard card mount which is 40cm x 50cm in size and should not exceed 4mm in thickness.

Digitally Projected Images

Digital projected images must measure 1400 pixels wide and 1050 pixels high. If your image is less than the maximum in any direction the unused area should be filled with black.

The image resolution should be 72 pixels/inch.

The image must be saved as a jpeg file (.jpg or .jpeg) and be in the sRGB colour space.

See - http://www.adaps.org.uk/Competition%20Rules%202013.pdf


Photo Battles

We often meet up with other local camera clubs to do battle. Each club enters a set number of prints or digital images and these are assessed by an external judge who awards marks. At the end of the competition the club with the highest score has won the battle. Images are selected by Keith from the entries for the Monthly and Annual Competitions.


Set Subject Competitions

From time to time we hold 'Set Subject' competitions, where a theme is chosen and members then use their photographic endeavours to interpret that theme in whatever creative way they choose. Past themes have included 'song titles', 'dereliction', 'sequences', etc.

See our Syllabus for competition dates - http://www.adaps.org.uk/syllabus.htm


Forum Competitions

We have a fortnightly challenge just for fun where the winner of the previous challenge sets a theme for the following competition.

See - viewforum.php?f=15

Images should be no wider than 800pixels. sRGB only. JPEG files only. 72ppi.
ONE entry per person please.

See forum competitition guidelines pinned at the top of the 'Forum Competitions' forum - viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1780



We have tried to make all the information regarding competitions available online - http://www.adaps.org.uk/competitions.htm

I am sorry that you have felt that the information for new members wasn't so obvious and we will take your comments on board. Please feel free to give us as much feedback and suggestions as you like.

Best regards
Paul

Thank you so much Paul, really appreciate it!!

Hi Paul,
I have read through your comments and I have previously read the forum competition details.
I do not mean to over critical in any way or abrupt, I am just being honest as a new member.

On the links you provided me as above, It explains to me what a monthly competition is, but it fails to mention how I can enter, when it is announced, print or upload to forum etc.

It also states what an annual competition is (one which is held every year!) Can I ask...what is a digitally projected image?? (is it an image upload??)

In reference to the link to the syllabus for competition dates....for example, it states on Thurs 26th September "monthly competition prints" - does this mean I should bring a print into ADAPS, and if so what is the theme for that date? It is not stated on the page! or have the prints already been chosen and the finalists will be announced??

On Thurs 3rd October, we have a photo battle with Swinton APS. It does not tell me anything more! Themes, how to enter, do I upload my shots to somewhere? Do I print them and bring it along?

I do not mean to be "picky" or over critical, but as a new member, I feel somewhat left in the dark when It comes to entering competitions. I feel too much info is spread over too many pages on the website and does not make easy reading.

I know most info will be passed over during the meetings and new members will be already aware of how the system works, but as someone who works full time shifts, I accept that some of my information will be gained via the website and forum.

I will approach a member and raise my concerns personally.


Kind Regards

Phil.

sorry last paragraph should read "current members will be already aware of how the system works" not "new" as stated.

Talk to the right person Phil, so have a word with myself, Tracey, Keith (competitions secretary, first choice!), Paul, Gill or Lesley. Others obviously know the details but the latest can be obtained from the aforementioned committee members.

We've just done an intro night, always the first of the winter season, that went through all of this in detail, the purpose being to make sure everyone knows what they need to do for competitions etc., but if unfortunately you weren't able to attend that then you've missed the event that would have helped most. Don't worry though, we'll get you up to speed with it!

Phil_Ingham wrote: (I understand that I am at a disadvantage because I am not able to attend every week)

Hi Phil - this is your biggest problem. Most members would pick up everything about competitions and the way the club operates through the announcements each week at the club.

Phil_Ingham wrote: On the links you provided me as above, It explains to me what a monthly competition is, but it fails to mention how I can enter, when it is announced, print or upload to forum etc.

Can I ask...what is a digitally projected image?? (is it an image upload??)

Prints are handed in to Keith two weeks before the competition date.

Digitally Projected Images are JPEG files that are shown on our club projector. Members would usually email the files to Keith or bring them in on a CD or memory stick.

The monthly competitions do not involve the forum.

Phil_Ingham wrote: In reference to the link to the syllabus for competition dates....for example, it states on Thurs 26th September "monthly competition prints" - does this mean I should bring a print into ADAPS, and if so what is the theme for that date?

Prints will need to have been handed in two weeks before.
The syllabus states for Thursday 12th September - "entry deadline for the monthly competition".
On Thursday 26th a judge will be reviewing the prints, awarding scores and choosing a winner.
The monthly competitions are 'open', meaning there is no set theme. You can enter whatever image you like.

Phil_Ingham wrote: On Thurs 3rd October, we have a photo battle with Swinton APS. It does not tell me anything more! Themes, how to enter, do I upload my shots to somewhere? Do I print them and bring it along?

You don't need to do anything for the battles except turn up and support your club.
Our Competitions Secretary, Keith, chooses the images and manages the battle.

Phil_Ingham wrote: I do not mean to be "picky" or over critical, but as a new member, I feel somewhat left in the dark when It comes to entering competitions. I feel too much info is spread over too many pages on the website and does not make easy reading.

Sorry. We've tried to make as much information available online as possible, but attending the club and getting to know how things work is the best way.

Phil_Ingham wrote: I will approach a member and raise my concerns personally.

Please raise any concerns with any of our Committee members.
Members concerns and reports are discussed every month at Committee meetings.
We value all feedback to help make ADAPS a better club for our members.

Thanks for the replies gents.

In no way do I mean to be abrupt, I'm just keen to get started with competitions.

Can I make a suggestion??

I follow the ADAPS facebook page and I receive notifications whenever a member posts to it. So in essence, I never miss a post made to the facebook page!

Is there any possibility that announcements are made more frequently on facebook??

I agree with you John, but due to working shifts, it is impossible for me to attend every week and I'm trying to obtain information that comes out in the meetings from other sources.

Facebook is great because you can create events and send invites to these events including the full details of the event!

Kind Regards

Phil

Facebook is fine but we don't want to make general announcements to the whole world. The sections of members announcements are for members only, so there are restrictions on this forum as to who sees what. The Facebook group has a different membership group.

I would encourage all members to visit the ADAPS website on a regular basis.