Last updated February 2021
1. Structure of club exhibitions and competitions
a. Prints and projected images exhibitions
These are held on the 2nd Monday of February, April, June, August and October in both ‘Set Subject’ and ‘Open’ categories. On each exhibition night, members may submit one entry in each section (maximum four images in total). Each entry will be judged and critiqued by a WAPJA judge, or an experienced external photographer chosen by the committee.
MPC has adopted the WA Photographic Judges Association guidelines on Scoring for Exhibitions, with the following variations.
Gold with Distinction: The image displays the highest level of excellence in art photography. All judging criteria are strong, especially the message (emotion, story, mood, etc) and there are no flaws evident. The combined elements have produced a supreme example of art photography. Equivalent to Level 8 in the WAPJA Exhibition Scoring System.
Gold: A very strong image displaying a high level of excellence in art photography. Most judging criteria are expertly handled. The technical standard is very high. The image would be expected to do well in a higher level exhibition. Equivalent to Level 7 in the WAPJA Exhibition Scoring System.
Silver: A strong image with good evidence for classification as art photography. Successful visual communication has been achieved. Some elements are very good, the technical standard is high and significant flaws are not evident. Equivalent to Level 6 in the WAPJA Exhibition Scoring System.
Bronze: A sound image with at least one strong element. There is evidence of an intention to combine skill and artistry. The message is present but may not be strong. Any flaws are minor or compensated by other successful elements. Equivalent to Level 5 in the WAPJA Exhibition Scoring System.
Merit: A competent image with a clear center of interest. Composition, lighting, technical and other elements may be satisfactory but the image does not transmit a clear message (emotion, story, mood, etc). It has not quite reached the standard of art photography as defined by the awards above. Equivalent to Level 4 in the WAPJA Exhibition Scoring System.
In addition to the official judging, members are given a Members Choice voting slip and asked to choose what they consider the best print in the ‘Set Subject Small Print’ category only. These votes are tallied by the prints stewards and the Members Choice winner announced on the night. No competition-of-the-year points are awarded for Members Choice winners.
b. Large Print exhibitions
These are held on the 2nd Monday of March, May and September in ‘Set Subject’ only. Each member may enter one large print only in these exhibitions. The entries are assessed and awarded by an appointed judge as above.
c. Annual Competitions (based on accumulated points)
Annual awards are presented in each category (Projected Image Open, Projected Image Subject, Print Open, Print Subject and Large Print Subject) based on points accumulated throughout the year in monthly exhibitions. For each category, awards are presented to winners and runners-up for those gaining the highest and second highest aggregate points respectively.
Scores for end-of-year competitions: for each monthly exhibition the following points are awarded:
Entry: 1 point
Merit: 1 additional point (total 2)
Bronze: 2 additional points (total 3)
Silver: 3 additional points (total 4)
Gold: 4 additional points (total 5)
Gold Distinction: 5 additional points (total 6)
All annual awards and trophies are presented at the December club meeting.
d. Image of the Year Competitions
One projected image, one print and one large print are selected by an appointed judge for the Images of the Year awards. All images having gained Gold or Silver awards in both subject and open exhibitions in the course of the year are eligible for judging. All gold and silver entries must be made available for delivery to the appointed judge after the October meeting. Entries for these awards are judged as “Open” submissions.
e. Club Outings, Rallies and Workshop Competitions
There may be occasions throughout the year when members are invited to submit prints or projected images on a subject relevant to a club outing, rally, or educational workshop. For these competitions, the winning entries are selected by a vote of the members present on the competition night. There are no points given for the annual aggregate awards but the winning photographer may receive a small prize at that meeting.
f. Annual “Athol Wellman” Memorial Trophy
Each July, members are invited to submit a group of four images in print format in the following subjects: portrait, landscape, architecture and close-up; competing for a perpetual trophy with the winner determined by member voting.
2. Eligibility
Exhibitions and competitions are open only to Financial Members and Honorary Life Members of the Club.
No image may be entered into more than one of the club’s exhibitions in the same year. Images that have won a gold award in any Melville Photography Club exhibition may not be entered again in any of the club’s monthly exhibitions.
All projected image and print exhibition and competition entries must have been photographed and post-processed by the member submitting them. Prints may be produced by someone else, but the preparation and choice of paper must be those of the creator of the image. Any photograph in which the main content is a representation of another artist’s pictorial work is not acceptable.
3. Judging
For all exhibitions and the end-of-year competitions, experienced external judges are chosen by the Committee. In the unforeseen absence of a chosen judge, a members vote may take place in accordance with Item 4 below.
4. Policy on the non-attendance of a Judge
In the event that a judge gives a late indication of his/her inability to attend an MPC competition or exhibition event, and the club is unable to procure a replacement, the following policy applies. If there is a WAPJA Judge present amongst the members attending on the night, he or she is asked to conduct the judging. If there is an agreement to do the judging, the member’s entries in the competition/exhibition are withdrawn to avoid a conflict of interest. The withdrawn images are then presented to the next WAPJA judge attending an MPC competition/exhibition – the judge is asked to score the images according to the same criteria and definitions that applied on the night the images were withdrawn.
If a WAPJA Judge is not present amongst the members, the judging is conducted by a panel of four (4) experienced members chosen on the night by those present. The panel evaluates each image according to the WAPJA Judging Method and scores images consistent with the WAPJA Awards System (as best they are able). The scores given by panel members are averaged to produce a final result for each image. When images from an individual panel member are evaluated, the owner temporarily withdraws from the panel.
5. Definition of Set Subjects for Club Exhibitions
A program of set subjects for the club’s exhibition year, and relevant dates, are provided to members at or prior to the final meeting in December. Melville Photography Club acknowledges the value in freedom of interpretation and the artistic expression of subject matter and tries not to impose tightly restrictive definitions of set subjects. However, to help members avoid having an image rejected because it does not fit the set subject, the Competition Director offers a set of brief subject definitions. Each definition is as precise and concise as possible. Definitions may include items that will not be accepted for the topic chosen. The definitions are posted on the MPC website before the start of the exhibition year. Each issue of Sharpshooter includes the definition for the following exhibition so that members are made fully aware of what will and will not be eligible.
On the exhibition night, the MPC Competition Director (CD) will determine the eligibility of images submitted in a ‘set subject’ category, and inform the judge that ineligible images should be critiqued but not scored. The judge will announce that the decision to declare an image ineligible has been taken by the CD.
6. Presentation of Entries
a. Projected Images
All digital projected images must be submitted in JPG format, no larger than 5MB in size and in the sRGB colour space. It is recommended that JPGs be saved at a minimum quality of 8. Images should be sized no smaller than, and preferably, 1920 x 1080 to best suit the club’s projector. Projected images must be submitted on-line here, one week or more before the exhibition night. The club’s laptop will retain all projected images for the Image of the Year competition in December.
b. Prints
The member decides on the size and aspect ratio of the prints and mount board. All entries must be mounted in a suitable mount board no smaller than 25 x 20 cm (10 x 8 in) and no larger than 40 x 50 cm (15.75 x 19.75 in) on the outer edge. The back of each print must be marked with category, membership number and title.
e.g. Subject. Member 100. “Leaf Pattern.”; Open. Member 100. “My Garden”
Large Print Exhibitions – March, May and September
These are held on the 2nd Monday of March, May and September in ‘Set Subject’ only. Each member may enter one large print only in these exhibitions. The entries are assessed and awarded by an appointed judge as above.
Large prints ( may be presented in WAPF mount boards or any commercially purchased or owner-cut matt with window sizes A3 (29 x 41 cm; 11.5 x 16 in), A4 (20 x 29 cm; 8 x 11.5 in), panorama (14 x 41 cm; 5.5 x 16.5 in), square (20 x 20 cm; 8 x 8 in), on any mount board no larger than 40 x 50 cm (15.75 x 19.75 in) on the outer edge. The back of each print must be marked with exhibition category, membership number and title as for small prints. All prints should have some sort of backing board to avoid damage.
Members names should not appear on any competition entries and all entries should be handed to the print stewards no later than 7:30 pm on the night of the exhibition.