2016 Brazos County Photography Contest Rules and Guidelines

OBJECTIVES

• To develop life skills in composition, light, story line, posing, and awareness. • To encourage 4-H members to use photography as a meaningful communication tool in their lives. • To provide photography project showcase opportunity for senior 4-H members. • To continue to share the message of 4-H. • To utilize photographs which promote and strengthen the 4-H program.

CONTEST CATEGORIES: Animals – Domestic Animals – Wildlife Catch-All Details & Macro Digital Darkroom Dominant Color Elements of Design Food Marine/Aquatic

Nature & Landscape Night Photography People

Plant/Flora Storyboard Theme – “4-H, Ribbons, Awards and Recognition”

RESOURCES

• Adventures with Your Camera – B (Grades 6 to 9) (Available from National 4-H Council Supply) • 4-H Guide to Digital Photography by Daniel Johnson. (Available from Amazon.com) • Digital Photography for Teens by Marc Campbell and Dave Long (Available from Amazon.com) • Free picture resizer: http://freepicresizer.com • Texas 4-H Youth Development Photography Project Resource Page located on the 4-H website. Any reference to a product or company

is not to endorse or support them and their causes. Links to companies are provided for their educational resources only.

RULES AND GUIDELINES Participation Age

The Brazos County Photography contest is open to all enrolled 4-H members age 8 and in the 3rd grade through 18 years as of September 1, 2015. Exhibitors will be divided into age categories of Junior, Intermediate, and Senior levels.

• Juniors 8-10 years old (3rd – 5th grade) • Intermediates 11-13 years old (6th – 8th grade) • Seniors 14-18 years old (9th – 12th grade)

Photo Eligibility All photographs must have been taken by 4-H members between the dates of January 1, 2015 and the

time of entry. Photos may be submitted only one time and in only one category to the Brazos County photography contest.

Photo Size/Format The longest side of any submission must not exceed 850 pixels in size. All files must be saved in RGB mode with a sRGB embedded color profile. Images must be JPEG/jpg format and must not exceed 1 MB. Full resolution or original camera files will be requested from select entrants.

Number of Entries An exhibitor may have only one entry per category for a total of 6 entries per exhibitor. A single photo cannot be entered in multiple categories.

Entry Fee A fee of $1.00 per picture must accompany the Photo Submission Form. Please make check or

money order payable to Brazos Adult Leaders.

Negatives Entrants must be able to provide original photo file, transparencies, negative, disk or print if requested. Judging Judges will determine the placing. Their decision on all entries is final.

Entry Period

Entries must be online and Photo Submission Form with payment must arrive in the Brazos County Extension Office no later than February 8, 2016 by 4:00pm. Late Entries will be accepted until February 15, 2016 by 4:00pm at 10 times the entry fee, or $10 per photograph.

Refusal Rights

The Brazos County Photography Committee reserves the right to refuse inappropriate or unsuitable entries. Photographs must not be offensive, degrading, racist, or contain pornography of any form.

Judging Criteria: Photographers entering the Brazos County Photography contest should be mindful of the

criteria used in judging entries. Participants should use the following criteria as guidelines:

Impact Impact is the sense one gets upon viewing an image for the first time. Compelling images evoke laughter, sadness, anger, pride, wonder or another intense emotion. There can be impact in any of these twelve elements.

Creativity

Creativity is the original, fresh, and external expression of the imagination of the maker by using the medium to convey an idea, message or thought.

Technical

Technical is the quality of the image itself as it is presented for viewing, which includes the following aspects:

•allowable amounts of retouching and adjustments (removal of red eye, cropping, minor straightening) •sharpness and correct color balance. •lighting, which includes the use and control of light. The use of lighting whether natural or man-made and its proper use to enhance the image. •posing and capturing of the image.

Composition

Composition is important to the design of an image, bringing all of the visual elements together in concert to express the purpose of the image. Proper composition holds the viewer in the image and prompts the viewer to look where the creator intends. Effective composition can be pleasing or disturbing, depending on the intent of the image maker.

Subject Matter

Subject Matter should always be appropriate to the story being told (i.e. category the photo is entered into) in an image. Subject matter also includes the center of interest for the photograph or where the maker wants the viewer to stop and they view the image.

Story Telling

Story Telling refers to the image’s ability to evoke imagination. One beautiful thing about art is that each viewer might collect his own message or read her own story in an image.

CATEGORY DESCRIPTIONS

ANIMALS – DOMESTIC Description Examples Photos focusing on the various animals that have been tamed and made fit for a human environment. To be Dog, Sheep, Pig, Goat, Cow, Cat, Chicken, considered domesticated, the animal must have their behavior, life cycle, or physiology systemically altered as Horse, Camel, Goose, Ducks (domestic use), a result of being under human control for many generations. Hamsters. ANIMALS - WILDLIFE Description Examples Category focuses on animals not tamed or domesticated and commonly found in the wild throughout the Deer, snakes, insects, rodents, elephants, country and world. Photos can be of wildlife in nature, zoos, and/or petting zoos. etc. CATCH-ALL Description What is NOT Allowed Examples Category for photos that do not fit into one of the other Do not submit a photo in this category which can Polaroid image & emulsion transfers, still-life, categories. This includes such photos as still-life, mo- clearly be submitted in another photography cate- long exposure zoomed images, and painting with tion-blur, Polaroid transfers, SX-70 images, handcol- gory. Catch-all is not intended for counties to use to light. ored photos. eliminate duplicate photos from multiple 4-H mem-

bers. DETAILS & MACRO Description Examples Getting in close is the name of the game for this category. We welcome pictures of small details that suggest a Detail of a knot, a lock, or an abstract close-up - larger story. This is also the place for macro photographs (although a macro image of a flower might equally go anything as long as it is a tight composition of a into the Flowers category). detail. Macro examples include parts of a flower

bloom, insects, stamps, ice crystals, etc. DIGITAL DARKROOM Description Examples Photos are for digital art - images created or drastically altered in software like Adobe Photoshop®. For this Photoshop® composits and creations, images category, a 4-H member will submit a minimum of at least two photos that demonstrate the before photo(s) and greatly manipulated with a variety of filters, the altered, or final, digital piece. photos with artistic borders, photos stitched into a

panoramic. DOMINANT COLOR Description Examples Photos with a dominant color. The dominant element in the image must be a specific color, such as red, yellow, Bowl of lemons, in a yellow bowl, on top of a blue, white, black, white, green, etc. Black & White photos, duotones, are excluded from this category. yellow table covering, with a bright yellow tone

sunlighting on it.

ELEMENTS OF DESIGN Description Images use of graphic elements of design. Photos that showcase line, shape, pattern, form, texture, perspective, etc. Photo can consist of any subject matter. Category is not for graphic illustrations made in commercial pro- grams (i.e. Adobe Illustrator®) nor for extreme digital creations.

Examples Perspective, Line, Pattern.

FOOD Description Category is a still life specialization of photography, aimed at producing attractive photographs of food for use in such items of advertisements, packaging, menus and/or cookbooks.

What is NOT Allowed Photos of alcoholic beverages.

Examples Thanksgiving dinner, cakes/pies, fruits and place settings, Easter eggs, sandwiches, ingredients, etc.

MARINE/AQUATIC Description Photos of any LIVING ORGANISM in bodies of ei- ther fresh or ocean (salt) water.

What is NOT Allowed Photos of boats, ships or fishing supplies

Examples Fish, stingrays, whales, starfish, divers under water, etc.

NATURE & LANDSCAPE Description The focus of this category includes landscapes, outdoor scenics, nature images, sunsets, urban landscapes, seascapes, cityscapes, and farms. Images focus on the beauty of the outdoors.

Examples Landscapes, Scenics, Outdoors.

NIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY Description Photos taken outdoors between after-dusk and before dawn. Generally these photos are achieved by using artificial light or using a long exposure. This category can include any subject as long as the focus is on the skill and technique used to acquire the photograph.

What is NOT Allowed Photos containing any natural light from the sun (sunset and sunrise).

Examples Fireworks, lighting on buildings/structures, ani- mals, plant/flora, people, etc.

PEOPLE Description Photos focus from all walks of life, parenting and family, children, babies, models/ fashion, sports, and couples. See the Model and Property Release.

Examples Kids & Family, Models/Fashion, Sports.

PLANT/FLORA Description Photos of interesting, unique, and beautiful flowers and flora. Photography can occur outdoors or indoors. Photo subject should be that of a single flower, plant, bush, tree, etc. Large collections of plant/flora should be considered for entry into the Nature & Landscape category.

Examples A rose, an upward shot of a tree, a flower bou- quet, etc.

STORYBOARD Description A storyboard is one digital entry (one photo) that contains three smaller images and minimal text that tells a story. The story should be easily understood by the viewer. This entry is one single file.

Examples Three images depicting the blooming of a rose bud at different stages, with the title of “Begin- ning of Beauty”.

THEME Description For 2015-16 the theme is “4-H, Ribbons, Awards and Recognition”. This year the theme will focus on still life arrangements of 4-H awards, ribbons, recognition. The arrangement and positioning of items will be strongly evaluated as well as the quality of the photo. Photo should create emotion and have impact!

What is NOT Allowed Photos entered in any other categories. Livestock Show auction, winning photos. School, sports, church, or any outside of 4-H awards. The theme is to highlight 4-H awards.

Examples A senior 4-H members awards, ribbons, belt buckles, and/or plaques arranged so it creates a strong story of success or the impact of 4-H.

AWARDS

Awards and Recognition

Blue, Red, and White quality awards will be given to entries. Participants’ photographs will be awarded during County Round Up. Quality ribbons and score sheets may be mailed after the event.

PROPER ENTRY OF PHOTOS: Each entry must be submitted online and using the Photo Submission Form. Include the following information to ensure proper entry. Some information will be based on the division and class entered. Steps for submitting your digital photos online: 1. Set up a Shutterfly account if you don’t already have one. It’s simple & FREE!

a. Go to http://www.shutterfly.com/?esch=1 b. Click on ‘sign up’ & follow the steps.

2. Once your account is set up, begin uploading your photos to an album.

a. Title the album with your name. b. Upload all photos to one album.

i. Once your pictures are in one album… 1. Click on your first picture; on the toolbar above the picture click ‘Edit’, then ‘Edit picture caption’.

ii. In the description box of each photo, include: 1. 4-Her’s name 2. Age division 3. Title of photo 4. Division 5. Class

*Repeat steps i and ii for each photo. 3. Once your photos are uploaded to one album, you are ready to ‘share’ your photos.

a. Be sure all photos in the album are selected (click ‘select all’ on right of screen). b. Click ‘share’ at the top, right of your screen.

i. Select ‘email selected pictures’, and then click ‘next’. ii. In the ‘To” box, enter ashley.skinner@ag.tamu.edu and click send.

DISQUALIFICATIONS OF ENTRIES:

Entries that do not follow the rules, division and class guidelines or any general guidelines will automatically be disqualified. Disqualifications forfeit all entry fees. A general form letter specifying reason(s) for disqualification will be returned together with photo. Reasons for disqualification:

• Information incomplete. • Entered into incorrect division and/or class. • Same photo entered into multiple divisions and/or classes. No signature(s). • Entry fee not paid or only partial fee paid. • Inappropriate or unsuitable photograph. • More than one entry in a division and class from a member.

•For black and white photos – not a true black and white photo

Educational programs of the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service are open to all people without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetic information or veteran status. The Texas A&M University System, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the County Commissioners Courts

of Texas Cooperating

BRAZOS COUNTY 4-H PHOTOGRAPHY SUBMISSION FORM

Complete form & turn in with payment

Name: __________________________ Club: ________________________ Age Division (check one): O Junior O Intermediate O Senior

County-$1 per photo, Entrant responsible for fees, bring checks payable to Brazos Adult Leaders to the County Extension office

Fee Total: ______

Educational programs of the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service are open to all people without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetic information or veteran status. The Texas A&M University System, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the County Commissioners Courts

of Texas Cooperating

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