N4C is expanding digital competitions this year, and will award points for the winners . In order for the winners of our competitions to be admissible in the N4C competitions, they must meet certain criteria. The rules for the LCC digital competitions follow.

LCC Digital Photo Competition Rules

1. All photos to be either of the following three N4C categories:

Pictorial Photography--all photo subjects qualify; “interest” accounts for 1/3 of the score.

Nature--photos must be absent any evidence of the presence of, or interference by man. Zoo animals are accepted if the setting is natural with no depiction of the cage or bars. Domestic animals and plants are rejected.

Digital Adjustment Guidelines. The following guidelines apply to Nature only. ACCEPTABLE ADJUSTMENTS
     
a. Cropping
b. Color correction
c. Overall brightness correction
d. White balance correction
e. Flare reduction or removal
f. Saturation
g. Recovering shadow detail
h. Resizing
i. Straightening
j. Flipping or reversing the image
k. Contrast control
l. Noise reduction
m. Sharpening
n. All adjustments must look natural
 

Contemporary/Creative photography - is an opportunity for those who dare to explore the experimental and creative forms of photographic expression. These will include, but not be limited to derived images, ultrahigh contrast, black light, bas-relief, solarization, multi-images, trick lenses and filters, and other ways to alter the image to produce a new abstract effect. Just about anything goes. The important thing is the result, not the means to create it. This area of photography bridges between photographic realism and creative art. It is very difficult to judge and there are literally no rules to follow. Generally concentration on form and color rather than detail in the image will help you succeed.
 

Photojournalism -  means simply the telling of a story by the use of a picture. The type of photograph that one sees in the newspaper or magazines that depicts some event or activity is what is meant. The caption is important, but the best journalistic photographs tell their own stories and don’t always need a caption. A good picture is, after all, worth more than a thousand words. An element of human interest is important and virtually essential for pictures to succeed in competition. Interest is paramount, but good composition and technique will often make the difference that decides the winners.The only digital editing that can be allowed must fit with the N4C definition for acceptable Photojournalism or Nature images (*see below). In the interest of credibility, photographs which misrepresent the truth, such as manipulation to alter the subject matter, or situations which are set up for the purpose of photography, are unacceptable. No elements may be moved, cloned, added, deleted, rearranged, combined or changed in any way that affects the integrity of the image content. No manipulation or modification is permitted except resizing, cropping, selective lightening or darkening, and restoration of original color of the scene. No special effect filters can be added or applied, and any sharpening must appear natural.
*Digital Adjustment Guidelines. The following guidelines apply to Nature and Photojournalism only. ACCEPTABLE ADJUSTMENTS
a. Cropping
b. Color correction
c. Overall brightness correction
d. White balance correction
e. Flare reduction or removal
f.  Saturation
g. Recovering shadow detail
h. Resizing
i.  Straightening
j.  Flipping or reversing the image
k. Contrast control
l.  Noise reduction
m.Sharpening
n. All adjustments must look natural
Below is an example of how to format the file name for Photojournalism.
It is the same as the other classes except the DJ. DJ is used to represent Digital Journalism. Note the use of commas between fields. Photoshop (and possibly other image editing programs) will not let you use commas. Save the file without commas and rename later adding the commas.
01,LR104,DJ,Dog jumps over school bus.jpg

2. Photos may be with digital camera, or scanned from film.

3. Photographs must be taken by the entrant.

4. Entrants give LCC and N4C the right to reproduce their images in any way.

5. Images must be in .jpg format.

6. Maximum image size is 1024 pixels (on the longest side)  Max. file size is 500 kb. sRGB color.

7. Naming your image files is critical: follow this example: 01,LR028,DP,Beautiful Sunset.jpg

01 = to be used by Competition Committee
LR028 = LR indicates Lincoln Camera Club. 028 is entrant’s personal N4C member number (contact Karen Harris if you do not have a number assigned).
DP = contest category (DP is for “Pictorial“, DN is for “Nature“ DC for Contemporary/Creative).
Beautiful Sunset = image title
Note: .jpg is the file extension; commas are required as indicated.

8. Images may be sent by e-mail to Steve This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it by no later than 5:00PM the Wednesday before the competition date or brought to the competition meeting on CD.

9. Maximum of 3 entries per person per category for a total of 9 entries. No distinction is made between black and white, and color images.

10. Images may be manipulated as desired.

11. Judging will be at the “Competition” night announced in the Bulletin and Website.