Update 14/7: Due to our inability to contact Synetrix for prizes or votes, we have decided to replace the monthly prizes with $50 cheques made out to the Premium Sponsor of the winner's choice. If the situation does not change, this also means that there won't be any grand prize for now as we need to figure out how to proceed. We will post updates as we find out more.
The rounds:
Mar - Cichlids
Apr - Tank Shot
May - Catfish
Jun - Feeding Time
Jul - Macro
Aug - Malawis
Sep - Marine Life
Oct - Anything Goes
Nov - Fish Behaviour (yawning, fighting, feeding etc.)
Dec - Cichlids
Subjects for all the rounds have been published in advance to provide ample opportunity to either source a subject or prepare for subjects that you have access to. Photos do not have to be of subjects of livestock that you are keeping.
Judging and prizes:
Each round is to be judged independently via four separate judges:
2 - a nominated committee member (Bradfitzy - not eligible to enter competition)
3 - a person with photography experience (Donna has kindly accepted our invitation)
4 - an online club member poll open for 7 days at the completion of each month
The judges will not know who entered which photo - all entries are anonymous until voting is closed and all votes are in.
The four judging methods will rank all entries per month ranking the best photo number 1, the second best photo number 2 and so on. After judging is completed, all numbers associated with ranks will be tallied up to provide a score for the entry. For example if an entry is voted 1st by Synetrix, 2nd by Bradfizty, 3rd by Donna and 4th by the online poll, it will receive a score of 10 (1+2+3+4).
The entry with the lowest score each month will win the monthly prize and is awarded 3 points to go towards the grand prize.
A runners-up prize will be offered to the entry with the second lowest score as well as two points to go towards the grand prize.
The third lowest score will receive one point to go towards the grand prize.
In the event of a tie for a prize winning place, the entry that received the better placing by Donna wins.
After the December round is finalised, the entrant who has accumulated the most points throughout the year will receive the grand prize. A runners-up prize will also be awarded to the entrant who has accumulated the second highest amount of points.
In the event of a tie for a prize winning overall place, the entrant with the better average in Donna's ranks will win. Should there be a tie in averages, Donna will pick the winner based on all their entries.
Monthly Winner's Prize:
The monthly winner's prize is a $50 voucher to the Premium Sponsor of your choice
Monthly Runner Up Prize:
The runner up prize will be donated by one of our Premium LFS sponsors and will be announced before the end of each monthly competition. Details will be posted in the description of each monthly competition.
Monthly Prize Notes:
2. The winner of the monthly comp can choose between the two prizes on offer, the runner up will be awarded the other prize.
Overall Grand Prize:
Overall Runner Up Prize:
TBA
Conditions:
The competition is only open to PCS Club Members.
1 entry per round per membership (family memberships share an entry)
Entries are to be anonymous.
Photos will be displayed to a max 1024 pixels wide, photos with a resolution above this will be resized to 1024.
Post-processing in Photoshop etc should be limited to things like levels, contrast, brightness, removing glare etc. The subject itself should not be altered to look different than it is in real life, for example editing broken bars on a fish to make them full. Entries where this is obvious may be rejected.
Voting WILL be monitored and the solicitation of votes will lead to an automatic disqualification and you will not be allowed to enter any comps for the remainder of the year. This includes disqualification from the grand prize.
Any entrant found trying to solicit votes i.e. via facebook profiles etc will be disqualified.
The PCS reserves the right to use any entry in future promotion of the club and its activities. Acknowledgement will be given to the entrant where appropriate.
If you have any questions, please post them here. Don't post any photos yet, we'll have a special thread set up each month for your entries.
Thanks to our Premium LFS sponsors for their generosity and for supporting our club and its members.