And this time it's bigger and better than ever before!
Hopefully you've had time since globbits' league table to recharge your batteries and format your memory cards. Because it's all kicking off again!
We're pleased to report that this year the prize fund is the largest we've ever had for a photo competition. We have over twenty-five thousand Rpoints to give away. Yes, that is in excess of £250 when converted into cash.
This year's competition will last for a full year. There will be a number of individual rounds, each with their own theme (see below). Prizes will be awarded for the best three photos in each round. Anyone winning a prize in a round is also invited to enter the final.
The pictures will be hosted by Chadwick on an online gallery. After the deadline for each round the gallery will be made public with the address posted here for everyone to view and discuss the pictures.
An independent panel of judges will decide the main prizes. They have no photographic training at all (or even ability in some cases), so they won't be looking for technical perfection. The winning pictures will be those that just attract and hold the judges' attention. Colourful, interesting, amusing, unusual, dramatic - stuff like that is probably what you'll need to win.
As well as the judges' prizes, we're also bringing back the "Members Award" for each round. This is simply the opportunity for everyone on Rpoints to vote for their favourite picture. And yes, there will be Rpoints given to the winner of this too, although no invite to the final.
There is no need to "register" anywhere (you just need to be an Rpoints member) and there is no entry fee. Just take a picture, host it somewhere and send the link. You can enter one, some, all or none of the rounds (although if you enter none, you probably won't win anything).
You won't need a top-end SLR camera. By all means use one if you've got it, but pocket-sized point-and-shoots or phone cameras are just as likely to win. More often than not, the real secret to a good picture is simply being in the right place at the right time. There's a theme for each round, but you can submit anything you like that fits the theme. Portrait, still life, macro, wildlife, landscape, sports, night, wide-angle, underwater, studio, abstract, black and white, tinted, colour, infra-red, whatever - it's all good!
There will be twelve open rounds, each with a different theme. You have 4 weeks for each round to submit your images.
You can enter up to two different photos for each round:
1. Post your photo on Imageshack or a similar site. Instructions on how to do this are here.
2. Send a PM to Chadwick (click here) with the url link to your photo. Do not post your photo or the link on the forums.
Photos must be in JPG format and will be printed at 7”x5” size for judging. Recommended resolution is 300dpi. Images with dimensions smaller than 7”x5” at this resolution will be printed at 100% of their normal size.
At the end of the twelve rounds, there will be a Final. Only the winners of the previous rounds will be invited to enter the Final. The theme will not be announced until the start of the Final.
Round 1 : Curves: Monday 8th September 2008 - Sunday 5th October 2008
There are curved edges and surfaces throughout the natural world, from trees, grasses and flowers to insects, fish and elephants. And although much of the man-made world features straight lines, there are plenty of curves there too - roads winding away, bottles and glasses, vases or lightbulbs. Don't forget the human body - how often do we talk of curves in relation to that? There are less obvious ways of showing curves too. Perhaps identifying something that we know is curvy, but in a way that doesn't show the curves?
Round 2 : From Dusk til Dawn: Monday 6th October 2008 - Sunday 2nd November 2008
As daylight fades and darkness falls, the light changes dramatically and quickly. We're all familiar with sunset shots, but how many of us would get up before the sun rises? The pre-dawn light is a delicate pink colour and at this time of year it's not too early for those of us who aren't nocturnal. Between sunset and sunrise, the world comes alive with man-made lighting in every shade of neon. City streets can be good, with traffic lights, vehicles, adverts and shop fronts. Out in the country, long exposures (several minutes) can produce stunning star trails. Forgetting the light for a moment, why not try to capture the people who are around at night? The workers, revellers or those who are otherwise out late or early. This round does go over Hallow'een - are you brave enough to venture out at night then....?
Round 3 : Elements: Monday 3rd November 2008 - Sunday 30th November 2008
Earth, Air, Fire and Water. No, not some 70s prog rock outfit, but the four elements that were once believed to be at the core of the physical world. Your challenge this month is to get images that show one or more of these elements. Water has scope for reflections, and the inherent photogenic qualities of lakes, streams, waterfalls and waves. Earth too is all around us, in the form of rocks and soil, but consider also the possibilities in built up areas - stone-built cottages, cobbled streets, glass (it's just sand, after all). Fire is one of nature's most impressive wild forces, but also one that mankind has tamed for our own devices. Threatening or comforting? - show me what you think. Finally, air is invisible, but the effects of the wind are not. There are plenty of subjects reliant on or affected by the movement of air.
Round 4 : Past and Future: Monday 1st December 2008 - Sunday 28th December 2008
Round 5 : Faces: Monday 29th December 2008 - Sunday 25th January 2009
Round 6 : Cold: Monday 26th January 2009 - Sunday 22nd February 2009
Round 7 : Motion and Movement: Monday 23rd February 2009 - Sunday 22nd March 2009
Round 8 : Green: Monday 23rd March 2009 - Sunday 19th April 2009
Round 9 : Landscape: Monday 20th April 2009 - Sunday 17th May 2009
Round 10 : The Animal Kingdom: Monday 18th May 2009 - Sunday 14th June 2009
Round 11 : Architecture and Buildings: Monday 15th June 2009 - Sunday 12th July 2009
Round 12 : Summer: Monday 13th July 2009 - Sunday 9th August 2009
Final : Theme tba: Monday 17th August 2009 - Sunday 6th September 2009
Results will be announced on the Rpoints website shortly after the end of each round.
The Final results announcement and prize-giving will be at the 2009 Rpoints Party.
We have over £250 worth of Rpoints to give out!
For each of the twelve open rounds, four prizes will be awarded; the Winner and two Runners-Up will be selected by the judges, and a Members' Award will be voted for by the Rpoints community on this site.
In the Final there will be an overall Winner, and Second and Third place, selected by the judges. There will also be a Members' Award voted for by the Rpoints community on this site. Only winners of the previous open rounds will be considered for the Final prizes.
The Winner and Runner-Up prizes will be given to different people within each round (ie. you can only win one of these within each single round), but you could win a prize in more than one (or even all!) of the open rounds. The Members' Award will go to whoever gets the most votes, regardless of whether they have already won a prize from the judges.
Round Winner: 1000 Rpoints (£10)
Round Runner-Up: 250 Rpoints (£2.50) (two runner-up prizes will be awarded per round)
Members' Award: 250 Rpoints (£2.50)
Final Winner: 2500 Rpoints (£25)
Second Place: 1000 Rpoints (£10)
Third Place: 500 Rpoints (£5)
Final Members' Award: 500 Rpoints (£5)
All prizes will be awarded in Rpoints.
Terms and Conditions:
1. Maximum of two images per member, per round.
2. Images to be posted on imageshack or similar and url PM'd to Chadwick. Images and urls must NOT be posted on the forums. Images will be disqualified if this happens. Repeat offenders will be disqualified from the round and/or the competition.
3. Images must be photographs. Photoshop can be used for touching up and improving, but not creation or major transformation of the image.
4. The photos must have been taken after 1st January 2003.
5. Rpoints regrets that we can only accept digital images submitted as described above. Please do not send prints, negatives, slides, memory cards, CDs, etc as we will NOT be able to return them to you.
6. Pornographic, obscene or libellous images will not be accepted.
7. Images must have been taken by the member submitting them and the member must have the right and authority to submit the image. Please do not embarrass yourself by submitting someone else's work.
8. By submitting your photographs you agree to grant Rpoints Ltd. a perpetual, royalty-free, non-exclusive, sub-licensable right and licence to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute and exercise all copyright and publicity rights with respect to your photographs worldwide and/or to incorporate your photographs in other works in any media now known or later developed for the full term of any rights that may exist in your photographs, and in accordance with privacy restrictions set out in the Rpoints Privacy Policy.
9. By submitting your photographs to the competition, you:
a) warrant that your photograph(s) is/are your own original work and that you have the right to make it/them available for all the purposes specified above; that they do not infringe any law; that they are not obscene or libelous; and they do not violate the right of privacy or publicity of any third party;
b) agree to indemnify Rpoints Ltd against all legal fees, damages and other expenses that may be incurred as a result of your breach of the above warranty;
c) agree to waive any moral rights in your photographs for the purposes of its/their submission to and publication on rpoints.com and the purposes specified above.
10. Where photographs of people are submitted, you agree to having the consent of those people wherever possible and if applicable (ie. members of the general public). If children are featured the consent of their parents/guardians is needed.
11. Wherever used, we agree to credit your images to you.
12. We reserve the right not to publish images that are submitted.
13. Prizes will be awarded in Rpoints to the winners' accounts. There is no cash alternative and they are not transferrable or exchangeable.
14. Rpoints Ltd reserves the right to cancel this competition or to alter these rules at any stage, if deemed necessary in its opinion, and if circumstances arise outside of its control.
15. By submitting a photograph for this competition, entrants will be deemed to have accepted these rules and to agree to be bound by them.
16. Any member of Rpoints who is found to be in breach of these rules faces immediate removal from the competition and termination of their Rpoints account at the discretion of Rpoints Ltd.
17. These rules are governed by the laws of England and Wales.
18. This competition is administered by Rpoints Ltd.