INTRODUCTION TO DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITIONS

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1 INTRODUCTION TO DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITIONS JUMP IN WITH CONFIDENCE Adventures in Photography - October 1st, 2014 Copyright Boris Hardouin-Deleuze 1 October 1st, 2014

2 ADVENTURES IN PHOTOGRAPHY Passionate about Photography - By Photographers for Photographers Share our passion with other like-minded photo enthusiasts to create a premier photography community Field Trips, Workshops, Speaker events Xtended Trips, Gallery Shows From beginners to experts Improve skills, new creative outlets, connect with a friendly group of people to socialize and talk shop Very active Meetup group with 900+ members Featured Events: Tough Mudder Challenge - Englishtown NJ - Sun Oct 12 Macro and Close Up Photography - WoW Teaneck - Fri Oct 17 Painting with Light - Woodland Cemetery - Sun Oct 26 Visit us at PhotoPlus Expo - Jacob Javits Center, NYC Thu Oct 30 - Sat Nov 1st Booth #14 (right behind Olympus) Copyright Boris Hardouin-Deleuze 2

3 A FEW QUESTIONS Who belongs to a club? Who has already tried competitions More than 1 season? Who wants to start competing? Lightroom - Photoshop - Aperture? PC - Mac? Copyright Boris Hardouin-Deleuze 3

4 AGENDA FOR TODAY Why Competing Make Sense of Classes, Categories, Selecting an Image Preparing an Image for submission Learning by Listening to the Judge What Makes a Winning Image Competing at PSA Level Copyright Boris Hardouin-Deleuze 4

5 WHY COMPETING Motivation Factor to Shoot and Process Images Learning Tool Shooting with Intent Basic Photography Techniques Post-Processing Techniques Image Culling Get Feedback from Others than Friends and Family Socialize with Other Photographers Way to Measure Personal Improvement Measure Yourself Against your Peers (be careful!) Define How Good Your Photography Is Copyright Boris Hardouin-Deleuze 5

6 HOW TO START COMPETING? 1) Your Images ARE Good Enough 2) Join a local Camera / Photography Club 3) Cull and Select your BEST Images 4) Read Your Club Competitions Rules 5) Prepare 1 or 2 Images 6) Submit your Images 7) Write Down the Judge s Comments 8) Ask for Help Copyright Boris Hardouin-Deleuze 6

7 CLASSES AND ORGANIZATIONS B for Beginner Where you start Judge provides more detailed feedback Judge more lenient A for Advanced Study their images S for Salon Top level Classes Not in all clubs Organizations Club Individual Competitions Interclub Club Competitions Club chair selects images NJFCC - New Jersey Federation of CC Now individual Club chair selects images PSA Individuals Club (Club chair selects images) Copyright Boris Hardouin-Deleuze 7

8 SCORING AND AWARDS 1 Judge (most club competitions and NJFCC) 1st pass scoring 5: Below Average 6: Average 7: Above Average - Held for review 2nd pass - Review 7: Stay at 7 8: Honorable Mention 9: Award n Judges (3) 1st pass scoring Each judge score individually (0-9) Scores added (0-27) HM/Acceptances - Top ~20% Medals and Places assigned by score Ties - Judges discuss Copyright Boris Hardouin-Deleuze 8

9 CATEGORIES can get confusing Pictorial Open: any subject, style, colors, Any post-processing goes Nature No hand of man Print Nature Photojournalism 3D Pictorial Monochrome Projected Image Photo Travel No lawns, fields, sheds, fences (or their shadows) No domesticated/farm animals, mounted specimens and obviously set arrangements No image manipulation - must appear natural Basic development OK (temp, tint, exposure, contrast, shadows, whites and black) Dodge and Burn, Vignettes OK Noise reduction, Sharpening OK Copyright Boris Hardouin-Deleuze 9

10 NATURE CATEGORIES General Nature: Landscapes, seascapes, rock formations and anything else that does not fall into other categories Botanical: Plants and fungi Ornithological: Birds Zoological: Animals except for birds. Basically, if it walks, crawls, flies or swims, it is an animal and must be entered in this category Wildlife: One or more organisms living free and unrestrained in a natural or adopted habitat In doubt, ask your Nature Chair or someone experienced Copyright Boris Hardouin-Deleuze 10

11 QUIZ - IDENTIFY THE CATEGORY Pictorial, General Nature, Botanical,Ornithological, Zoological Copyright Boris Hardouin-Deleuze 11

12 SELECTING IMAGES Start Simple Simplify and Keep it Simple Composition Quality of Light Tone Colors Sharpness and Depth of Field Keep an eye on the background, the edges, details, bright spots, distracting elements Impact and story Very Artistic, Out There, Copyright Boris Hardouin-Deleuze 12

13 EXAMPLES Copyright Boris Hardouin-Deleuze 13

14 PREPARING IMAGES Few Things out of Your Control Projector (Quality, Brightness, Color Calibration, ) Room conditions, Screen, Stop Complaining, All images are projected the same way Will Not Look Like on Your Screen What is in Your Control? Story, Impact, Composition, Quality of Light, Tones, Sharpness, Depth of Field, Follow the Rules (size, format, category, borders) Quality, Brightness, Color Calibration, Sharpness of Your Image Copyright Boris Hardouin-Deleuze 14

Requires mapping when the image is transformed into srgb ProPhoto RGB Reserved for advanced users Use srgb

15 COLOR SPACE srgb: Used everywhere; Web, Printers, Cameras, etc Covers a very limited spectrum of visible colors Adobe RGB Used mostly for image editing Covers a larger spectrum than srgb and most printers Requires mapping when the image is transformed into srgb ProPhoto RGB Reserved for advanced users Use srgb for Competitions Has to be embedded in your image Image source: wikipedia.org Copyright Boris Hardouin-Deleuze 15

BASIC EXPORT File Name: Image Title Size Some clubs have rules 768, 1024, 1050 on the longest edge 1024w x 768h Always export at exactly the maximum size

16 BASIC EXPORT File Name: Image Title Size Some clubs have rules 768, 1024, 1050 on the longest edge 1024w x 768h Always export at exactly the maximum size allowed Format: JPEG Quality 80 or more Color space: srgb Sharpen: For Screen Standard or High Resolution: N/A Copyright Boris Hardouin-Deleuze 16

17 DEMONSTRATION Lightroom Photoshop? Aperture? Copyright Boris Hardouin-Deleuze 17

Configuration Best: Use a device (Color Munki, Spyder, ) Soft proofing Verify your image can

18 CALIBRATION Make your monitor reproduce Colors and Tones as close as possible to a universal reference If your club has a calibrated videoprojector Tools Display image or OS Configuration Best: Use a device (Color Munki, Spyder, ) Soft proofing Verify your image can be displayed in srgb Against your club s calibration profile Copyright Boris Hardouin-Deleuze 18

19 TAKING CARE OF DETAILS Sharpening The more you reduce size, the more you need to sharpen 5,000x3,000 px => 768x600 px 1,280x1,000 px => 1024x768 px Lightroom sharpening may not be enough, use a Plugin Easy with Photoshop Actions Borders Add a thin white border on ALL dark background images Lightroom requires a Plugin Easy with Photoshop Actions Copyright Boris Hardouin-Deleuze 19

20 DEMONSTRATION Lightroom Photoshop? Aperture? Copyright Boris Hardouin-Deleuze 20

21 SUBMITTING YOUR IMAGES Web Uploads PhotoContest Pro Tool used by NJFCC and many affiliated clubs You must have an account created (ask your club) 2 Options Method 1: Best if you have Windows Requires a Microsoft browser plugin (Silverlight) On Mac, use Safari Method 2: If Method 1 does not work No plugin required Works with most browsers Copyright Boris Hardouin-Deleuze 21

22 DEMONSTRATION Copyright Boris Hardouin-Deleuze 22

23 LISTENING TO THE JUDGE Don t take the comments personally 1 person s opinion Never argue with a judge Instead ask him/her after the judging what you could have done differently Listen to the Comments Made on your image Made on ALL the images Take Notes Review the HM and Award Images Study what makes them standing out Don t get Mad Use your energy to improve Copyright Boris Hardouin-Deleuze 23

24 THANK YOU Questions? The material will be posted within 24 hours Contact me: Copyright Boris Hardouin-Deleuze 24

25 REFERENCES NJFCC Competitions: 0/CompetitionRules.aspx PSA Competitions: PhotoContest Pro: Photographer s Toolbox - LR Plugin: Copyright Boris Hardouin-Deleuze 25

Monmouth Camera Club

These Guidelines are targeted for all members of the Monmouth Camera Club, whether novice or experienced, in preparing digital images for judging. Subjects include: importing photos from cameras into cataloging