General Rules and Information

Photocomp home | Judges | Rules and information | 2009 winners

General Rules and Information

The NZAC holds a national photographic competition each year. The objectives of the competition are to stimulate interest in mountain and rockclimbing photography and assist members to attain a higher standard of photography. A panel of selected judges determines the winners. At the conclusion of the competition each year a duplicate set of selected images is circulated around all the sections for viewing at the various section evenings. The results of the competition are announced and selected winning entries reproduced in The Climber, the NZ Alpine Journal, The Photographers Mail, and on the NZAC website.

Competition Categories

There are seven categories. Digital images and slides may be entered.

Alpine Activity

Photographs where the subject is people doing some activity that is related to the alpine environment (e.g. placing protection, skiing, cooking dinner in a snow cave).

Alpine General

Photographs in an obvious mountain setting, where an activity is not the major feature (e.g. mountain landscapes, portraits, and subjects not covered by other categories).

Alpine Nature

Photographs of natural subjects in the mountain environment, where the emphasis is on artistic rendition. Photographs of the kind that would be expected in a scientific journal are now no longer sought after. Subjects may include geological features, plants (or parts of plants), animals, water, snow and ice formations etc. Rockclimbing Photographs relating to rockclimbing that have strong visual impact and good composition.

Humour

Photographs related to climbing or the alpine environment that get a laugh. Naked bodies are not considered humorous in this instance!

Photojournalism

Photographs that record an event that is relevant to climbing. Judged on how well an image tells a story rather than its artistic composition. Examples are mountain cultures, rescues, natural disasters, climbing competitions, and instruction.

Youth Photographs that fall into any of the above categories but are taken by people under 19 years at July 31st in the year of the competition. Submissions will be accepted by non-members.

Image Specifications

  • All images must have been taken by the competitor and be his or her property, but need not have been processed by him or her.
  • Images need not necessarily have been taken in New Zealand.
  • Slides must each bear the competitor's name, slide title and category, and must be marked with a conspicuous spot in the lower left-hand corner when held for viewing.
  • Digital images: digital files in jpeg format between 500KB and 2MB will be accepted. Please use the online form at the alpineclub.org.nz website to enter, or send in a CD with the entry form. Images must not be digitally manipulated in any way apart from cropping, resizing, exposure or tonal adjustments. Obvious modification of images is not in keeping with the objectives of this competition and may result in disqualification.
  • Slides or images not meeting these specifications will not be judged.
  • Slides should be packaged in plastic slide boxes so as not to be damaged in the post. Equal care will be taken with packaging when returning slides.

Judging

  • Judging will be carried out on the basis of the criteria listed above. The judges and the organisers of the competition may reject images that are not of an alpine, mountain or climbing nature and may transfer entries from one category to another.
  • Points for individual winners and place-getters shall be awarded for an Inter-Section competition (acceptances receive 1 point, honours 2 points and champions 4 points)
  • The judges will also select the overall champion image, irrespective of category.
  • The judges may choose not to award category winners/ honours/acceptances for any of the above if they feel a suitably high standard has not been achieved.
  • Judges decisions are final and no correspondence shall be entered into.

Notes

  • By entering competitors must agree to their images being displayed in the NZAC publications including the Annual Report, NZ Alpine Journal and Climber Magazine. The images can also be used on the NZAC website and for NZAC promotional material, including promotion of the photographic competition. The images can also be published in The Photographers Mail.
  • The NZAC encourages entrants to support the competition sponsors and negotiate with the sponsors should they wish to use the images for future promotions.
  • Ownership of images remains with the photographer. However the NZAC cannot guarantee copyright of images that appear on the website.

Entry Criteria

  • The competition is open to NZAC members only with the exception of the youth category.
  • Individual competitors enter images depicting subjects appropriate to any of the seven theme categories (as noted above).
  • Each competitor may enter no more than three images in each category.
  • Images that have been entered in previous Club competitions may not be entered a second time.
  • Entries are judged by a panel of two or more judges and individual winners and place-getters are chosen for each category.
  • The winners of the 'Youth Category' must supply proof of their age as of July 31 of the year of the competition before the award can be officially made.
  • A copy of winning entries will be made and slide entries will then be returned to competitors by normal post.

Trophies and Prizes

Each year sponsors supply prizes for competiton winners, so these vary from year to year. There are also four historical trophies, awarded to specfic winners.Details of these awards, their history and awarding criteria can be found on this webpage: History - Photographic Competition Awards