PRINT COMPETITION RULES - Last Revised January 30, 2007.
Chair: Mark Carriveau
Please note the 2007 changes to competition rules in RED text.
Each year UPAA members have the opportunity to submit their best photographic prints into competition at the symposium where the attending members serve as peer judges. The results are announced at the awards banquet.
Members do not need to attend the symposium to enter. Any UPAA member who is in good standing can submit a maximum of six entries. Prints can be either monochrome or color in any category. Print size may vary, but all must be mounted on 11x14-inch Gator Foam or Foam Core boards for display. Please remember to place an arrow on the back of your prints' mounting board signifying which edge is the top.
In addition to your mounted prints please include a CD or DVD containing all images you are entering into the competition. Files should be Jpeg format only. The CD/DVD should be labeled with the name of the photographer and school. Individual files should be labeled. Files should be at least 8x10" @ 300 dpi.
The purpose of the CD/DVD is to enable UPAA to create the Annual Book comprised of the winning entries. There will also be an opportunity for an added section in the book of "Member's Choice", allowing members to submit ONE image, with the above specs, with a description or other info and a headshot (if they wish). This will give members who haven't won, a chance to be represented. Submission information for the Members Choice section will be distributed in a few months.
File Name Convention:
category_name_yourentrynumber.jpg
Example: "Sports_JoeSmith_03"
Entries must arrive to the symposium host by the Thursday (June 12, 2008) before the symposium.
There is a $5.00 per print Entry Fee for each member. No Credit Cards, Please.
If entering both Print and Publications Competitions, only one payment form should be submitted.
Prints can be picked up at the symposium only. Remaining prints will not be returned and will be destroyed appropriately. The UPAA will not accept cash, checks or postage stamps for returning prints.
Make entry fee checks payable to UPAA. The entry fee is dedicated to maintaining
the expenses related to the organization and presentation of the Annual Print
Competition at the symposium. By submitting entries participants agree that Honors and Honorable mention prints
may be selected for use in official UPAA publications, Print, Web, and future
technologies with appropriate photo credit/recognition and copyright being noted,
without charge to this organization. Ownership of intellectual property rights will remain with the photographer and their respective institution.
All categories, except Personal Vision, MUST be images photographed in the service, of your university or college and must have been taken within 18 months prior to the competition date. The Personal Vision category is open to all members (life, associate and full membership), but only photographers with full membership may enter all other categories. The Personal Vision awards will not be used to select the Photographer of the Year unless there is a tie, in which case the Personal Vision category will be used as a tiebreaker.
Photographer of the Year can only be selected from the photographers who are university employees and whose primary responsibility is photography. All entries in the print competition are judged as the work of one member, multiple awards for photos worked on by more then one photographer will not be given in the print competition. If you are not sure what category is fitting, keep in mind that you will be judged by a diverse group of people who may deduct points if they believe your print is in the wrong category.
Your submissions must contain a completed entry form and print identification labels must be attached to each print submission.
Prints and publications must arrive before 5:00 pm Thursday June 12, 2008 to be eligible. Please make checks payable to UPAA and send it along with your print submissions.
Send entries, publications and CD/DVD to:
Auburn University, Photographic Services
104A Foy Union,
Auburn, AL USA
36849-5344
A CD containing ALL entries must be submitted with your submissions
There are seven categories in the competition:
1. SPORTS: Photographs taken of athletes, staff and fans at sporting events and practices. Also, staged or posed promotional sports photography.
2. PEOPLE AND PORTRAITS: Individuals or groups, posed or candid, in the studio, on campus or elsewhere in a university or college related situation.
3. CAMPUS ENVIRONMENT: Buildings, structures or grounds on and around the campus and college community.
4. NEWS AND FEATURES: Open to any subject matter photographed in the service of the university/college.
5. SCIENCE AND RESEARCH: Photos taken in the lab, classroom, field or in the studio for either clinical, educational or illustrative purposes.
6. PHOTO ESSAY: Three or more images that convey a theme or tell a story and are produced by one member. One, Two or three connected or separate 11x14 boards may be used.
7. PERSONAL VISION: Open to photographs of any subject that were made to satisfy your personal interests.
The Photographer of the Year award is selected by the Board after all judging is complete. The method used is a value system based on each individual’s number of 1st place entries, second place entries etc. with some value placed on the number of prints entered in a given category. (i.e. if there is a 1st place finish in a category with 200 submissions, it may be judged as being of higher value compared to a 1st place winner in a category that only had 35 submissions.) This usually becomes important in very close decisions.
There are other criteria based on eligibility and the quality of the body of work. The Board reserves the right to select the Photographer of the Year based on the value system and makes every effort to be fair to all entrants.