After the successful photographic competitions in 2010 and 2011 we are holding another one in 2012. Rules will be similar to previous contests, and we will be retaining the "club activity' and "short video" classes, but will be choosing another two classes to try to make entry equally attractive to all club sections. Suggestions are welcome both for the new categories and for any other changes that might help increase the number of entries - the rules are under review but are unlikely to change drastically from previous years.

1. Club Activity (best representation of) to be taken on a Club Event
2. 
3. 
4. Short Video (the subject for videos should be club members involved in any of the activities covered by any of the club sections (interpreted fairly broadly), whether or not these are part of a programmed club meet)

There are a few basic rules but bear in mind this is a fun event and will not be as strictly judged as a photographic club competition might be. Equally, some entrants go to a lot of trouble to stick to the rules (keeping the videos under three minutes, for example) so it is not fair play to bend the rules...

Each Club member can enter one photograph for each of categories 1 to 3. These should be digital still photographs (or scanned from film) and should be submitted accompanied by a short caption (no more than 10 words – if the caption is longer than 10 words then the organiser will edit it), and a longer description (up to 1000 words, but a paragraph or two is all that is really needed) which will be added to the website gallery only after the results are announced. The photographs should not be used elsewhere on the website before voting closes, but feel free to include them with articles afterwards.

Judging of categories 1 to 3 will be based on photos we can show on the website, which will be limited to 1024x768. However, we will require higher resolution copies if an entry is wanted for a calendar.

A "Club event" is defined for the purposes of this competition as an event which was advertised to club members via the programme or a mailing list and was open to all suitably skilled club members (rather than by private invitation, for example).

All photographs in the "Club Activity" category should have been taken since October 1st 2011; videos should feature footage, the majority of which was taken since that date, and photos for the other two categories should have been taken since 1st October 2010.

Videos might be a compilation of footage taken by more than one person. The limit of one entry will apply to the person who was mainly responsible for compiling and producing the video – that individual may in addition contribute footage to other videos provided they are not the main compiler or producer.

Videos should be no longer than 3 minutes in total (including titles and credits). They are allowed to have sound tracks including pre-recorded music - getting permission to use such music is the responsibility of the entrant. In 2011, we linked videos from YouTube to show on the club site - if you use a different video host (vimeo for example), let us know early, as we may need to do some work on the website to support other hosts. On the awards evening they will be shown using the Club's projector, which is 1024x768. We will be happy to show HD video reduced to that size, or if entrants can provide a HD-resolution projector, we'll try to accommodate that.

Entries should be submitted to Andy Waddington via email or on a CD, DVD, memory stick or external hard disc by midnight 7th October 2012. Memory sticks (and rewritable discs) will be returned. Please send us the URL of  your hosted video (for the website), as well as a high quality version for projection. The photographs will be loaded onto, and videos linked from, the Club's website by 14th October 2012.

The winners will be decided by the rating system available to registered website users. Each member will be permitted to rate each entry (from 1 to 5 stars) during the period 15th October to 13th November, similar to the 2010 and 2011 contests.

An awards evening will be held at the Clubhouse on the evening of Friday 16th November 2012 when all the photographs and videos will be projected, the winners announced, and prizes awarded. This will be a social evening probably also including other slide shows or videos.

My thanks to James for having established the competition format and organised the first two contests.

Andy Waddington and James Gravenor