2007-2008 ENHG Photography Competition: Guidelines and Rules

This is to announce the 2007-08 version of the Al Ain ENHG's annual photography competition, where the UAE's finest amateur photographers (you) vie for glory and prizes.

The date for the show and awarding of prizes is May 27th, 2008; the location is the Al Ain InterContinental Resort.

The competition is open to amateur photographers who are members of the Al Ain chapter of the ENHG.

All photos must have a natural history theme and have been taken in the UAE or Oman. They may be oriented either horizontally or vertically ('landscape' or 'portrait'). Photos must be mounted (matted). The long side of the photo (without the matting) can be between 20 and 30 cm (8-12 inches). Panoramas with a maximum short dimension of 4 inches (10 cm) will also be accepted. Each member may enter a maximum of 8 photos.

Categories:

Architecture and Archaeology
Culture and Heritage
Field Trips and Care of the Environment
Plants and Animals in the Wild
People of the UAE and Oman
'Scapes (landscapes, seascapes, skyscapes, cityscapes, etc.)
Miscellaneous (pictures that don't fit easily into the other 6 headings)
Give it a go, mate! For those who have never entered the ENHG Photo Contest before (limit 2 per entrant)
Youth: for those 16 and under

(The organizers and judges reserve the right to alter/amend these categories or to add other categories. A category with fewer than 10 entries will likely be scrapped and entries slotted into other categories while categories with a large number of entries may be split. For the 2006-2007 competition, Flora and Fauna was split into "Aerial & Marine" and "Terrestrial".)

There is a major change in the categories this year. Rather than "Flora and Fauna," we are changing the category to "Plants and Animals in the Wild." This means that we are expecting photographs of indigenous plants and animals that are not domesticated, captive or cultivated. This excludes photographs of camels, goats, dogs, cats, zoo animals, date palms, gardens and farms among others. Does this mean that these photographs can't be entered in the contest? No, it just means they need to go in another category. Depending on the subject, they could fit in Culture and Heritage, Care of the Environment, 'Scapes or Miscellaneous. There IS a category for any picture you take in UAE or Oman.

The committee has been concerned that the number of entrants dropped off last year and we wanted to find a way to encourage broader participation. With digital cameras becoming ubiquitous, just about everyone is taking pictures these days. If you haven't entered before, we encourage you to review the pictures you've taken of natural history subjects (ideally fitting into one of the six categories) and select your best few. You can submit up to two pictures to the special category, so Give It A Go, Mate! You are also encouraged to make entries to the normal categories as well.

We would also like to encourage young people to get out and photograph so are creating a special Youth category this year. In past years, photographs created by our young photographers have been entered in the regular categories and we have recognized their efforts with an individual award. This year, our young photographers can compete against each other. Photographs should be of natural history subjects. If you are 16 years of age or younger, you can enter up to 8 photographs in this category or any of the other normal categories.

Digital Manipulation: It is expected that entrants will present their photographs to their best advantage. Judicious cropping is always recommended by the judges. Changing levels, curves, colour, saturation and contrast, sharpening, and cleaning of dust spots are allowed. These are analogous to traditional darkroom techniques such as dodging and burning.

Deadlines: All entries must be delivered to a member of the Committee by the end of the ENHG meeting of May 13th, 2008. Earlier delivery of entries will be appreciated. If your entry was captured with a digital camera or digitized when you had your film processed, please submit a digital version of the photograph as well so the image can be presented in our PowerPoint presentation is at its best. The digital version should be no smaller than 800 pixels on the longest side. Larger can easily be resized down, but smaller cannot be resized up and still retain good quality.

Identification: All photos entered MUST have the following information on the back:

Photographer's name,
E-mail address and/or phone number,
A title for the photo,
The location the photo was taken and approximate date, and
The category entered.

Be as specific as possible when giving the location (e.g. "Dubai Creek" or "Al Ain Oasis" rather than "UAE"; "Nizwa Souq" or "Wadi Khutwa", not "Oman"). Entries not adhering to these rules may be displayed, but will not be judged. A Word template for creating labels for the back of your entry is available here.

Judging: Decisions of the judges are final. The People's Choice Award will be given to the photographer whose photograph receives the most votes by the people attending on the night of the exhibit.

Copyright: Copyright remains with the photographer. However, by entering, the ENHG assumes that you give us the right to scan the photo and display it on the website, in the newsletter and in a CD-ROM which may be offered for sale to members.

Questions or concerns? Contact me or one of the members of the Committee.

Good shooting,
Bob

P.S. If you are printing your photographs at home, please use proper photo paper and not plain paper. Mounting enhances the appearance of your photo so it should be done well. If you don't know where to have this done in Al Ain, ask one of us.

P.P.S. A piece of advice: if your camera has a 'date' function, disable it. A date running down the side of a photo can spoil an otherwise lovely picture and judges deal harshly with that sort of thing.