Competition Rules (revised after AGM in June 2023)

General Rules For Internal Competitions

1. Entry to club competitions shall be limited to honorary and paid-up members of the club.
2. All images must be entered in accordance with the entry procedures currently published on the club website, as updated from time to time by the Internal Competition Secretary.
   
3. The content of a print or digital image must be entirely the work and copyright of the author. No form of “clip art” or stock photography is permissible; any textures or overlays used must be the work of the author. Where parties other than the photographer have made a significant creative contribution to the image (e.g. at photographic workshops), we encourage the photographer to consider whether their own contribution is sufficient to claim the image as their own work.
4. Images so similar as to be deemed identical by the Competition Secretary will be treated as identical for competition purposes.
   The Photographic Alliance of Great Britain (PAGB) offers the following advice about similarity:“An Image, which is sufficiently similar to another previously entered by the same Photographer, may be ruled as being effectively the same Image. […] Examples may include:
   • Monochrome and Colour versions from one original, unless the artistic treatment is significantly different.
   • Where important elements are repeated in different composite Images.
   • Where a principal element is repeated on a different background.”
   
5. Images may be rejected if, in the judgment of the Internal Competitions Secretary (or in the case of the exhibition, the Exhibition Organiser), they are likely to be offensive to other members, or do not comply with the law. Members have the right of appeal to the Club Chairman. For clarity, images containing tasteful nudity are permitted.
6. Prints must be no smaller than 165 X 115mm in size (excluding the mount), and no larger than 500mm X 400mm, including the mount.  The size of a print will have no direct bearing on its score.
7. All prints must be mounted.
8. Prints must bear on the back the competitor’s name and print title. If the competitor wishes, the title only may appear on the front of the mount.
9. Prints may be trade processed.
10. By submitting an image for a competition, the author grants to the club a non-exclusive royalty-free licence to reproduce that image electronically or in any other medium for publicity and any other non-commercial purposes.  The club will attempt to ensure that the author is credited whenever the image is used.
    Any member who does not wish their images to be used in this way must notify the Internal Competition Secretary in writing.

League Competition

1. All the General Rules for Internal Competitions listed above shall apply
2. Each member may submit up to two images in each round of the Print league and two images in each round of the PDI league.
3. All entries will be judged in a single class open to all members.
4. Marks will be awarded by the judge for each entry (to a maximum of 10), and these will be recorded. Half marks may be awarded. 
5. Only the best scores by each member in the competition will be included in their aggregate. This is for two reasons:
   • so that a member who misses one round remains in contention for the league competition and
   • to encourage members to enter more experimental images.

   In both the Print and PDI leagues only the seven highest marks for each member will count towards their aggregate score.

6. No image may be entered more than twice in rounds of the League competitions, whether as a Print or as a PDI entry. This includes entries to the League competitions in previous years.
7. Two awards will be made for each format. The member with the highest aggregate number of points for each format will be awarded the Cup Winners cup for that format. A Championship Cup will be awarded for each format to the member with the highest aggregate number of points who has not won a club cup in a previous season.
   In the event of a tie, the title will be shared, and the tying members will hold the trophy for an appropriate period of the year. All tied competitors will be counted as having won a club competition, and therefore not eligible for Championship cups in future years.
8. The League awards are as follows:

Annual Competition

These competitions are for the best Print and PDI images of the year. There are two classes of entry:- Championship and Cup Winners, the Championship being restricted to members who have not won a club cup in a previous season, and the Cup Winners restricted to members who have won a club cup in a previous season.

1. All the General Rules for Internal Competitions listed above shall apply.
2. Each member may submit up to two images in the Annual PDI competition and up to two images in the Annual Print competition.
3. An image may only be entered once in the AFFCC Annual Competitions, either as a Print or as a PDI
4. Images entered in any previous Annual Competition are not eligible.
5. No points will be awarded.  The judge will select First, Second and Third place images, and at his discretion a number of Highly Commended images, in each format.
6. The Annual awards are as follows:

Other Internal Competitions

The Don Beney and Charles Mutton Cups

1. Entries for the Don Beney Cup will be prints and for the Charles Mutton Cup will be digital images on a common theme selected at the previous Annual General Meeting.
2. All the General Rules for Internal Competitions listed above shall apply.
3. There will be only one class open to all members.
4. Each member may submit a total of four entries, which may be prints, digital images or a mixture of both.
5. Images used in previous club competitions are eligible without restriction.
6. No points will be awarded. The judge will select First, Second and Third place images, and at his discretion a number of Highly Commended images, in each competition.

Andrich Trophy ‘Pitch Your Picture’ Competition (no longer run)

1. The competition is for Projected Digital Images (PDIs). All submitted images must be in PDI format, but may be derived from original images in any format.
2. All the General Rules for Internal Competitions listed above shall apply.
3. Each member may submit up to three images.
4. Each member has one minute when each of their images is displayed to provide supporting information, to enhance the understanding of it or the chance of gaining votes.
5. Images must have been created within the last 24 months.
6. Images must not have been entered for any previous AFFCC competition.
7. Judging/voting will be by the members themselves.
   • Members eligible to vote are those present at the competition evening when the images are displayed.
   • Each member has ten points to allocate.
   • These points can be distributed amongst the images as the voting member sees fit i.e. they can give all ten points to just one image, or distribute their votes amongst other images as they choose.
   • A member may not vote for their own images
   • Voting is not anonymous so that the competition secretary can verify the voting.
8. The Andrich Trophy will be presented to the creator of the image with the maximum score.
9. In the event of a tie, the image with the highest number of members casting at least one vote for it will take precedence. In the event of the tie remaining, the image with the highest single vote (or highest number of these votes) will take precedence. (i.e. if one image had a highest vote of 8 points, and the other had 7, then the first image would win).