PURPOSE The Washington County Photography Contest encourages self-expression and allows youth to demonstrate skills learned in the area of photography, including the use of photographic equipment and process of photographs. 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 Junior, Intermediate, and Senior 4-H members. To continue to share the message of 4-H. To utilize photographs to promote and strengthen the 4-H program. RULES AND PROCEDURES Participation Grades Photo Eligibility Any bonafide 4-H members between 3 rd 12 th grades as of 9/1/2016 may participate. Photo must be taken by participants between the dates of 1/1/2016 and the entry date. Photos may only be submitted one time and in only one category. Photo Format Advancement Beyond County A member may only enter ONE photo per category. Photos must be in.jpeg,.jpg, or.gif formats. The first place photo from each category within the junior and intermediate age divisions will advance to the District 11 Photography Contest. The first place photo from each category in the Senior division will advance to the Texas 4-H Photography Contest. Entry Fee None. E-Mail photo entries to Charles Seely at CLSeely@ag.tamu.edu. Include Entry Method contestant name, category for photo(s) to be judged, and school grade of contestant. Entry Deadline February 13 th, 2017. Size Must be 8 x 10 in size and can be either portrait or landscape layout. Photos should be at least 800 pixels by 1000 pixels. The ideal 8 10 quality is 2400 pixels by 3000 pixels, which is the same as an 8 10 photo at 300 dpi (resolution). Higher variations of the 8 10 ratio are allowed but the final file size may not be larger than 2,048k (2MB). The best way to tell is to take the lower pixel number and divide by the higher pixel number. If you get 0.8 then you ve successfully hit the mark. If your photos have a different pixel ratio you may still submit. However the photos will be judged using the 8 10 pixel dimensions. Which may cause your photo to appear stretched, compressed, or distorted. If you
Alterations and Text Usage Original Work Of 4-H Member view a photo s properties on your computer it will tell you the width and height in pixels. View the resources for information on a free online photo resizer to assist with this process. Alterations Although slight alterations such as crop, trimming, adjusted lighting, and red eye reduction are allowed; Substantially altered photos such as changing colors or applying design styles, using computer graphics will disqualify an entry. Any other alteration, manipulation, or edits to a photo would require the photo to be entered into the digital darkroom category. Text on Photographs Beyond the Storyboard category and digital darkroom categories, photographs MUST NOT contain camera or user placed text. This includes things such as date stamps, comments, or titles. Text or wording that is part of the photograph (i.e. photo of a street sign) is acceptable. Entry must be original photographic work of the 4-H member and not a photo taken by family members, other 4-H members, or secured from any other printed/electronic source. Any photo proven to be found as not original work will result in disqualification of ALL the 4-H member s entries into the Photography Contest. AWARDS, DISPLAY, AND JUDGING Judging Display Awards Each photograph will be judged by a non-partisan judge or judges. The top three photos will be ranked in each category, within each age division. The remaining photos will either be given a blue, red, or white ribbon, depending on the quality of the work. A Best In Show work will also be selected within each age division. The Judge(s) will determine the placings and all decisions are final. Results will be available at Washington County 4-H Roundup. All photos will be displayed via PowerPoint Slideshow at Washington County 4-H Roundup on February 28, 2017. A Best In Show Award will be given to the top photo entry in each age division. Ribbons will be given to the top three entries within each photo category, in each age division. Quality ribbons of blue, red, or white will be awarded to non-placing photos, based on the quality of the entry.
CATEGORIES It is extremely important that 4-H members and families review the descriptions of each category very carefully. Please do not enter photographs into categories that are duplicates from other categories, or ones that do not clearly meet the category description. Photographs that do not meet the category description will be disqualified.