2023 COMPETITION

Registration: June 14 - June 19 by 11:59 pm.

Judging: June 20, 5:00 pm

Scores & Image Feedback: June 20, 7:00 pm.

Location:

Cox Science Center STEM Building

4800 Dreher Trail North

West Pam Beach, FL 33405

Recommend set GPS for Palm Beach Zoo

off of Summit Boulevard and follow our yard signs on Dreher Trail North

Prices:

Members: $10/image - You can upload up to 10 Images.

In order to compete in the member category, you have to be a member for more than 1 year or have your 2023 membership paid in full.

Non-Members $12.5/image - You can upload up to 10 Images.

Non-members will get feedback and a score but do not compete for first, second, third place, or photographer of the year.

Maximum Quantity of Entries: 10 Images

Competition Rules & Guidelines: You can find more information about your file guidelines here: rules.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS?

Is this a Print or Digital Competition?

All images must be submitted in Digital Format. For more information please check our rules.

How are images judged?

Scoring Scale Images at the PPAPB Photographic Competitions can receive scores up to 100 points, dependent on how they meet the 12 Elements of a Merit Image. Images are scored using the following scale:

100 - 95: Exceptional

94 - 90: Superior

89 - 85: Excellent

84 - 80: Deserving of a Merit

79 - 75: Above Average

74 - 70: Average

69 - 65: Below Exhibition Standards

How does the scoring work?

There's a panel of 3 judges and a Jury Chairman. All PPA Master Photographers. Each Juror has a keypad in their hand. After inspecting the image, a Juror will place the image into one of the above-mentioned categories on the scoring scale. Then the Juror will place a numerical score on the image, then proceed to enter their score into the keypad. A central unit will average the scores, which is then read aloud. The Jury Chairman oversees the process from an iPad/Computer and can tell who's entered scores and who hasn't. It also allows the Chairman to see individual scores and may address a Juror who may be consistently judging the competition a bit too harshly or too softly when compared to the other jurors.

Challenges: Scores may be challenged by a Juror who feels an image should score higher or lower than the score announced. An automatic challenge to the score occurs when one juror is high/low of the overall average score by 10 or more points. Any Juror may challenge an announced score or even call back an image after it's been judged. The challenger will only challenge the score if he/she is attempting to get the image into another score category. In other words: Image scores 82 but is challenged by a judge trying to get it into the “Excellent” category (85-89). A juror may also try to challenge an image score down. After a challenge has been announced, the challenger gives the reasoning for challenging, good or bad. Each Juror on the panel is then asked to announce the score they gave the image, then describe the reasons why they gave that score. It's important that the other Jurors take the challengers point into consideration before re-judging. This is known as "moving with the panel". Jurors are encouraged to listen and take other comments into account instead of simply digging in with their opinion. The challenger then must address every adverse comment drawn by other Jurors during the rebuttal. The challenger then announces the score that he/she will be entering, and the image is then rescored by the entire panel.

Majority Challenge: in this case, a score is automatically challenged if an image receives a "merit" score, but majority of the jurors have scores below merit. The opposite also applies. An image will be automatically challenged if it does not merit, yet a majority of the jurors have placed it in the merit category.

Callbacks: Jurors may "call back" an image after it's been judged. This may be because he/she is still haunted by the image and feels it needs to score higher or lower than it did. A Chairman may also call back an image. If this happens, the same process explained in the How Challenges work section will take place again.

When jurors comment and when they don't: On occasion, a piece may not draw any commentary from the panel. This can be frustrating to an entrant trying to find where they are on the Image competition ladder. This is especially true if the image lacks impact and the score is lower than 80. It can also happen if every one of the Jurors are in the same place on the score scale. In this instance, there's really nothing to discuss. Commentary usually happens when there IS something to discuss. For example, there may be a flaw in the image that draws a comment from a Juror, which will spur additional comments from the other jurors. An image may be intriguing to one juror but not another, or the entrant may have pushed the boundaries of one of the 12 Elements. Keep in mind the jurors are tempering jury responsibilities with the added weight of trying to complete the overall judging in a timely manner. Occasionally this means an image will not draw any commentary.

Who are the judges?

PPAPB follow PPA District Rules and strives to give the highest service to their members by bringing judges who have earned the PPA Master of Photography Degree.

When do I get my Critique?

After the competition finishes, judges will go again over all images and give a detailed critique. Owners of the image being critiqued can identified themselves and ask questions.

Why is important to enter a PPA affiliated Local Competition?

The Four Levels of Image Competition Photographic competition for professional photographers generally takes place at four distinct levels: Local Guilds, State, District and International. (There is also a recently created level of competition among world-wide countries know as, “The World Cup”.) When you look at the Four Levels of Competition, you see a simple pathway to preparing for competition. As you move through these levels, the caliber of competition increases. That is why many photographers use each of the first three levels to prepare for the final level of competition at the International level. 1. Guild level image competition may be the first step in your photographic competition journey.

Is this a friendly competition?

Yes, this is a very friendly competition. Members are encouraged to think about competition, not as competing against each other, but rather competing against oneself. Being the goal become a better photographer.

Where do I submit my Files?

Files must be uploaded to www.printcompetiton.com

Participants must register or have an account with them. After signing-in look for PPAPB competition and follow instructions. You can find more information about your file guidelines here: rules.

Who can I contact If I have more questions?

You can send us message here.