As an overview, there are 4 separate items, which are permanent fixtures in the club’s programme
- In-house Monthly Competitions
- Best four portfolio
- IPF National Shield
- IPF National Club Championships
In-house Monthly Competitions
Over the course of the club Year (Sept – May) we run a monthly in-house club competition for our members
There will be 7 monthly competitions – September, October, November, January, February, March and April.
Submissions for the monthly competition will be on the Second to last Tuesday of each month, with the judging taking place the following week on the last Tuesday of the month.
There are 4 Divisions in the Club Competition
Novice
Intermediate
Advanced
Premier
All members join the club as novices or intermediates (based on initial grading) and only are promoted upon winning one section of the Novice Competition
Likewise, only members who win a section of the Advanced Division are promoted to Premier division
Each month, members submit up to 3 images for judging, 1 Colour Print, 1 Black and White Print and 1 Digital Image or Slide.
ENTRY RULES.
Prints must be bigger than 10in x 8in and mounted on mountboard no larger than 20in x 16in. The members club number; Division, Print title and Category must be clearly marked on the back of each image
Digital images must be no longer than 1024 pixels on the longest side and be at 92dpi – for a tutorial on how to do this, click here
Images can only be used once in the monthly competitions. Repeat entries will result in the disqualification of that image for the month
Any deviation from these rules may result in the disqualification of the image from that month’s competition.
Members can enter every discipline or just one or two. i.e. you may just want to enter the black and white print category, or just the colour print or maybe just the digital/slide category.
PLEASE NOTE … if an image contains any colour (selective colouring) it cannot be entered as a black and white, but must be entered as a colour, even if a majority of the image is black and white.
An impartial judge from outside of the club is given the images, which will be scored on a scale of 1-20 points. The total score for each member in that division will determine the winner of that discipline.
In the event of a tie within a section, the photographer whose individual print scores highest will be deemed to be the winner.
Over the course of the year, each member accumulates points and at the end of the year, the winners in each category will be decided.
Also, the overall highest points holder will be awarded “Photographer of the Year”
Best Four Portfolio
At the end of the club year, there is a “Best Four Portfolio” competition
Members can enter four images in each of the disciplines, Colour Print, Black and White Print and Digital/Slide images
This is a non-divisional competition i.e. novice, advanced and premier all compete against one another.
Again, the submissions are given to an impartial judge who picks winners in each of the three categories and an over-all winner.
IPF National Shield
The National Shield is an inter-club competition, open to the non-advanced members of all Clubs
If you are unsure if you are eligible to submit, check with the competition secretary
Tallaght Photographic Society will choose 2 panels, one consisting of 8 Colour prints and one consisting of 8 Black and White prints,
Each photographer can submit only 1 image in each panel
The judging of the National Shield will take place in November each year, with the highest scoring club Awarded the Nation Shield
IPF National Club Championships
The National Club Finals is an inter club competition open to all clubs
Tallaght Photographic Society will choose 2 panels, one consisting of 10 Colour prints and one consisting of 10 Black and White prints, also, there will be 2 of each type picked as substitutes in case of a disqualification
Each photographer can submit 2 images in each panel
The judging of the National Shield will take place in November each year, with the highest scoring club awarded the Nation Club Champions “The Rose Bowl”
Further details of IPF cometitions are available on the Irish Photography Federation Website
