These rules pertain to the Gateway club digital competitions, which will be held on specific meeting dates (Tuesdays) listed on the calendar. Other competitions such as NECCC, International Salons, and QUAD will require different formats and entry requirements to be provided for each competition. All club competitions are open to all members who have paid their dues for the club year.

Dues: Dues must be paid in full prior to submission of images for competitions. Allowances will be made for September, but delinquent members shall not be permitted to compete in the subsequent competitions unless dues have been paid.

Member Number: all members that compete will be assigned a member number to be used for all club competitions. It is important to use the correct number. IF you do not have an assigned number contact the Competition Chairperson prior to competitions to be assigned a Member Number.

Classes: There are three competition classes or levels: B, A and AA. All members are assigned to one of these classes and are strongly encouraged to enter the assigned class. New competitors will be placed in the appropriate class based on their request and experience, but also guided by the recommendation and approval of the competition chairperson or a designated committee. If you do not have an assigned Class, contact the Competition Chairperson to be assigned to a Class. Competitors must start and finish the year in that same class. At the end of the competition year, the top finisher in each class will move to the next higher class for the next competition season. The Competition Chairperson may request that additional competitors move into the next class.

It is HIGHLY recommended that you calibrate your monitor in order to adjust the brightness and color of your images. Pre-viewing your images with black backgrounds prior to submission is recommended.

Number of Images Submitted: For each competition, competitors may submit a total of four(4) images to every competition: Up to two (2) images into the Pictorial (Open) category (defined as “anything goes”); one (1) image in the Creative category (defined as an image that MUST portray “altered reality”); and one (1) image in the Nature category. 

For Pictorial – this is an open category so anything is acceptable including nature and altered reality.

For Nature PSA rules must be followed – see below. The Chairperson may request an alternate submission if there is a question of meeting these rules. Note: although the judge will be asked to accept all images for nature as submitted, the judge can use their discretion as to awarding points and thus, the judge may deduct points if he/she feels the image does not meet PSA rules.

For Creative: the intent is to encourage members to learn photo-manipulation and post camera processing techniques (e.g. Photoshop). Thus, images must start with a photograph but end up being altered reality in some manner. Merged multiple images and collages are acceptable for creativity even if each component is not altered reality as long as the end image is clearly not a single image or altered reality. Members are STRONGLY encouraged to modify their techniques throughout the year and NOT to routinely use the same techniques or use the same computer program add-ons/plug-ins/actions developed by others for multiple competitions.

Everyone is encouraged to enter all 3 categories, broaden your photographic skills and try new approaches. Nature or creative may be a stretch “outside the comfort zone” for some, but that is the point – to push yourself to learn something new. Everyone is encouraged to vary the subject matter and techniques used – the learning is more important than the ribbon

Format: All images must be in jpeg format with a file extension “JPG”. Makesure the extension is not “JPEG”.

Image Size: Your competition entry must be sized to a width not to exceed 1400pixels AND a height not to exceed 1050 pixels. Note: Horizontal (landscape) images may be 1400 wide x1050 tall; Vertical Images may be something like 700 wide x 1050 tall or square images may be 1050 wide x 1050 tall.

COMMON MISTAKES TO AVOID:

1. Correctly sizing the horizontal width to 1400 or less but not sizing the vertical to less than 1050 or less.

2. Resizing the image and then saving it in smaller size. – this can result in very small projected images

Title of Image Files: All image files must follow this File Naming Convention in order to be accepted into the competition. Failure to follow this convention can result in your image(s) not being accepted into the competition.

Each title must be in this sequence

(Category)(Class)~Image-Title~(MemberNumber).jpg:

Categories=P for Pictorial; N for Nature and C for Creative (Must be uppercase)

Class= B, A or AA (Must be uppercase)

ImageTitle: up to maker – DASHES to be used for spaces

MemberNumberassigned by Chairperson

Fileextension = jpg

DO NOT use spaces or any other special characters in the file name other than ~ (tilde) as indicted or – (dash) in the title as shown in the following examples.

PB~Pretty-Flower~125.jpg = this image is called “Pretty Flower”. It belongs in the Pictorial  (Open) Category, in B Class submitted by Member 125.

CA~Big-Bopper~125.jpg = this image is called “Big Bopper”. It belongs in the Creative Category, A Class submitted by Member 125.

NAA~Flying-Bird1A~125.jpg = this image is called “Flying Bird1A”. It belongs in the Nature Category, AA Class submitted by Member 125.

How to Submit Entries: Entries may be entered as follows:

1. PREFERRED METHOD: Via the web based system: all digital competition images can be sent to:

   http://quartomese.com/cgi-bin/gatewayUpload.pl?up=down

1.  

   • This is the preferred method and eventually will be the only method of submission.

   • The site is always available to provide near instant feedback to you during the submission process.

   • You will obtain instant (upload time delayed) confirmation that your images have been submitted and saved.

   • You will be required to properly name your image files

   • You will obtain a visual and written reminder if an image is undersized.

Some very useful comments for web-site submissions:

You should upload all of your images at one time. After you select final submission confirmation (last step in process), no changes or additions are allowed.

You can submit up to four images per contest consisting of up to two P (Pictorial) images, one N (Nature) image, and one C (Creative) image.

Please be sure to insert these images in the appropriate form positions.

Your images will be checked for proper naming by the server. If an image file is not properly named, you will not be able to complete the submission of your images. So, to not waste your time, check that your image filenames are correct before uploading them!

Be sure to enter "Your Member Number" and "Your Last Name" in the indicated boxes.

2. By an attachment to an e-mail to Thomas Aprille at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it The email message must include the maker’s name, phone number, and competition class (B, A, or AA).

3. LEAST PREFERRED METHOD: By a CD given or mailed to the Competition Chairman. If provided on a CD, a legible note with the maker’s name, phone number, and competition class (B, A, or AA) must be provided.

Deadline for Submission: Image files MUST be submitted IN ADVANCE of the competitions according to the time and date specified on the Calendar of Events on club Web site for each competition. PLEASE NOTE: The deadline date refers to the date the images are accepted by the Competition Chairperson or Tom Aprille. If you are mailing a CD, be sure to allow adequate time for the CD to be delivered as image files will NOT be accepted after the submission deadline.

Confirmation of Receipt: The Web entry system will confirm receipt of submissions by accepting them. For those submitted by alternative methods, the Competition Chairperson (or designee) will confirm receipt of your submissions by mail; do not assume that the images have been received. If you have not received a response within a reasonable time, call or email to confirm receipt of images PRIOR to the deadline date.

Make-ups: No make-ups will be allowed in digital image competitions as a result of failure to meet these competition rules. However, in the event a submitted image is inadvertently excluded from the image file list or accidentally deleted by the competition committee prior to the competition, the image in question will be entered in the subsequent competition in addition to the competitor’s normal entries for that competition. Any errors in projections and errors due to issues associated with image collection will be adjudicated by the Competition Chairperson.

Eligible Images:

1. All work, including photographic and any digital or other type of manipulation, MUST be solely the work of the competitor.

2. Any image that has won a ribbon (1^st,2^nd,3^rd)in any Gateway digital competition may never again be entered in any subsequent Gateway digital competition in that season or any season, regardless of competitor’s class or category.

3. Any image that can be clearly recognized as a near duplicate of a ribbon-winning image, even if it has been modified through cropping or exposure adjustment is not eligible to be entered in a subsequent competition as detailed above. A goal of our competitions is to expand and enhance the skills and capabilities of competitors by encouraging the creation of new work, not the re-treading of old. Images of the same subject taken through a different lens, or at a recognizably different time, or at a significantly different angle, or from a significantly different position, or transformed into an altered reality image (for example,as if shot through rippled glass), or changed into a derivation ofthe original image ARE usually acceptable as new work. Rotating a camera from horizontal to vertical to create a near-duplicate exposure of the same static subject (for example, a scenic subject) seconds after the first image is taken is not acceptable as new work. If you are unsure of whether an image meets these standards and you wish to eliminate the chance that it could be disqualified, be certain to check with the competition chairperson BEFORE you enter it into competition.

6. It is the responsibility of each competitor, not the competition chairperson, to keep a record of winning images to avoid disqualification and the loss of points that would result from such disqualification.

7. Judgments regarding image eligibility will be made by the digital Competition Chairperson and are final.

Judging: All scores awarded by the judge are considered to be final. During the course of the year, any discrepancies due to mistakes in overall scoring or issues associated with errors in projecting or misplacing of images will be resolved by the Competition Chairperson.

Ribbons: Ribbons for first place, second place, third place, will be awarded in each category, within each class. More than one first, second, or third place ribbon will be awarded in case of a ties (e.g. if more than one image has the same score).

Scoring: Each image will receive a point score between 1 and 30 although most scores have historically been between 18 and 30. Scores for each competition as well as cumulative scores for the season will be published on the club Web site. At the end of the season, the competitor with the highest cumulative score in each class (B, A, and AA) will receive an appropriate award at the annual Awards Ceremony at the end of the season.

Image of the Year Competition: All digital images that have won 1st-, 2nd, and 3rd-place awards (blue, red, and yellow ribbons) in Gateway digital competitions during the season will be eligible for the Image of the Year Competition. All eligible images will automatically be submitted for Image of the Year, unless specifically requested otherwise by the maker. The competition will be conducted as an In/Out tournament to determine a winner in each class and category. The awards will normally be presented at the annual Awards Ceremony.

PSA Nature Rules quoted from PSA web site:  Nature Photography is restricted to the use of the photographic process to depict observations from all branches of natural history, except anthropology and archeology, in such a fashion that a well-informed person will be able to identify the subject material and certify as to its honest presentation. The story telling value of a photograph must be weighed more than the pictorial quality. Human elements shall not be present, except on the rare occasion where those human elements enhance the nature story. The presence of scientific bands on wild animals is acceptable. Photographs of artificially produced hybrid plants or animals, mounted specimens, or obviously set arrangements, are ineligible, as is any form of manipulation that alters the truth of the photographic statement. No elements may be moved, cloned, added, deleted, rearranged or combined. No manipulation or modification is permitted except sharpening, resizing, cropping, selective lightening or darkening, and restoration of original color to the scene. No special effects filters can be applied. Any adjustments must appear natural.”

All digital images used in PSA Nature Division approved competitions or for competitions or for competitions governed by PSA Nature Division rules must be considered “Digital Realism”.

Makers may perform any enhancements and modifications that improve the presentation of the image that could have been done at the time the image was taken but that does not change the truth of the original nature story.  Cropping and horizontal flipping (equivalent to reversing a slide) are acceptable modifications.  Addition of elements, removal of elements other than by cropping, combining elements from separate images, rearranging elements or cloning elements are not acceptable.