Image Competition Rules

New 2025 Rules - Please Read:

PPA of PA’s 2025 Capture
Image Competition Rules
Eligibility:
• PPA of PA’s Image Competitions are open to anyone. Members of PPA of PA, whose current year dues are paid
30 days prior to the competition, are eligible for awards.
• There is no limit to the number of images an entrant may submit.
• No photograph, or any other entry which has previously received a merit (score of 80 or higher) in a prior PPA of
PA Inspire or Capture competition shall be eligible for awards in future competitions.
• Images that were accepted into PPA’s International Photographic Competition (IPC) or received a Merit through
PPA’s Merit Image Review (MIR) are eligible for awards (provided all other eligibility criteria is met).
Entrant Certification: • By submitting images into the competition, entrants certify that they have created, composed and made the
original exposures; and that the processing, printing, and any special effects were done solely by them or under
their direction.
• No entry will be eligible that was made under the supervision of an instructor, as a class assignment, at a
seminar, workshop or similar situation.
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not permitted to be used on any entries in the competitions at this time.
Legal Release: • It shall be the sole responsibility of each entrant to obtain a proper legal release form, correctly executed and
signed by the person(s) (or guardian in the case of a minor), for an exhibition entry in which a likeness is
recognizable. This must be made available, upon request, to the Image Competition Chairperson.
• Entrant agrees to hold PPA of PA, Inc. harmless against any liabilities or claims arising out of display,
publication, promotion, or other use of each photograph or other materials submitted to PPA of PA, Inc.
Entry Fees: • $20 per image - PPA of PA Member
• $25 per image - Non-Member
• Individual critiques are available for $10 per image
Submitting your images: • PPA of PA’s Image Competitions are held through PrintCompetition.com
• Entries must be uploaded to Printcompetition.com to be judged in the competition.
• Uploaded files must be sized so the longest dimension is 4,000 pixels (20 inches at 200 ppi). Each file must
contain an embedded color profile of either sRGB or Adobe RGB1998 and be saved at a JPEG quality setting
of 10.
• No identifying information of the maker shall be included in the image title.
Scoring: • 100 to 95 Exceptional
• 94 to 90 Superior
• 89 to 85 Excellent
• 84 to 80 Deserving of a Merit
• 79 to 75 Above Average
• 74 to 70 Average
• 69 & under Below Exhibition Standards
Merits:
• Members may enter unlimited images into each category: Photographic Open, Artist, and Wedding.
• Only the top eight (8) highest scoring images per section per competition year are eligible for exhibition merits.
• A maximum of eight (8) exhibition merits per category shall be awarded per calendar year.
• Trophies do NOT earn additional merits. They are honorary recognitions only.
• ANY image that receives a merit (score 80+) in PPA of PA competitions is ineligible for future entry into any
PPA of PA image competition even if it was in addition to the eight merits counting towards a degree.
Competition Categories
Photographic Competition
Entrants must have captured and/or created the original exposure(s). All elements within the image must have been
created or captured by the entrant. All artwork or post-processing must be done solely by the entrant or under their
direct supervision. Digital backgrounds or other elements not created by the entrant are NOT permitted to be included
in the image.
The Image Competition Committee reserves the right to change the category of an entry if they feel it does not qualify
for the entered category. All decisions of the Image Competition Committee are final.
Categories:
Portrait
• General Portrait - This sub-category includes families, groups, couples and adults (18 and older),
relationships, models and fashion portraits, in addition to tastefully artistic figure studies.
• Child Portrait - This sub-category includes a child, or children, from birth through 16 years old.
• High School Senior - This sub-category includes a child, or children over 16 years old.
• Animal Portrait - This sub-category captures an animal(s) using structured lighting in a studio or outdoor
environment, where the animal is controlled by the owner or photographer.
Illustrative
• Landscape - This category includes, but is not limited to, mountain ranges, cityscapes, sunrises & sunsets
with or without people, urban landscapes, waterfalls, rivers, etc.
• Nature - This category includes wild animals in an uncontrolled lighting environment, flowers & plants, or other
aspects of nature that do not meet the Landscape category requirements. Animals photographed on a safari,
in a wild animal park or zoo would be placed in this category.
• General Illustrative - Images that do meet the criteria of the Landscape or Nature category. Entries can be,
but are not limited to, conceptual or abstract images.
• Pennsylvania - PPA of PA members are allowed one free entry in this category
• Images in this category should be representative of the state of Pennsylvania. All images must be captured
within the state of Pennsylvania. Illustrative portraits, commercial or artistic images are accepted.
• Commercial This category is for images created to help promote, market, or sell a product or service. A tear
sheet is optional but highly recommended as it shows how the image is used for commercial purposes.
Reportage
• Images that illustrate an actual public or non-public event, life, an area of human interest or telling news, that
have meaning on the context or record of events, high impact and/or lasting emotional response. Images that
illustrate sporting events are included in this category. ONLY basic color and brightness adjustments,
cropping, dodging, and burning in are allowed. Only single-capture images will be accepted.
Wedding Competition
The purpose of this competition is to allow photographers to enter images created during the actual wedding event.
For an image to be merit worthy in the wedding competition, additional evaluation may be considered for the entries
that illustrate the personality of the subject or subjects and the story of the wedding as well as the artistic and
technical skills of the image maker. Judges will keep in mind that the maker may have limited control over many
aspects of a wedding - subject matter, environment and time of day, etc. Ultimately, additional consideration may be
given to the maker for technically and artistically executing at a merit level despite challenges involved at an actual
wedding. The entrant must have captured and created the original exposure(s) during the time constraints of
the actual wedding event.
The Image Competition Committee reserves the right to change the category of an entry if they feel it does not qualify
for the entered category. All decisions of the Image Competition Committee are final.
Categories:
• Wedding Portrait Portraits created during an actual wedding event.
• Wedding Candid Candid (non-orchestrated) image created during an actual wedding event.
Artist Competition
Images in the Artist category are judged for artistic, digital and technical proficiency. Entries can be created from
existing photographs, portraits, graphics or any other artwork provided the entrant is able to provide appropriate
written documentation verifying permission for use, if requested. All processing and manipulation of artwork or
rendering must be done by the entrant. Guide images of elements not created by the entrant MUST be included on
the submitted image.
The Image Competition Committee reserves the right to change the category of an entry if they feel it does not qualify
for the entered category. All decisions of the Image Competition Committee are final.
Categories:
• Restoration The reconstruction of an old or damaged image.
• Creative Images created by any artistic technique (not restoration).
Trophy Judging and Honors
Trophy Judging Process
• Trophy judging is head-to-head among all merited images (80+ scores) created by members in good standing
who have paid dues 30 days prior to image competition.
• There must be one member in good standing entrant per image category for a trophy to be awarded.
• Winning a trophy or Top Photographer of the Year does NOT grant additional merits.
• If winners are unable to receive their trophies in person, there is a $25 shipping fee to have a trophy mailed.
INSPIRE Specific Awards
• Best of Category: Every category with at least one merit image created by a member in good standing whose
dues are current 30 days prior to the competition is eligible for an award which will be chosen by Jury Panel
• Best of Show: Chosen by Jury Panel
• ASP State Elite Award, Highest Scoring Image by an ASP member
• CPP Award: Highest Scoring Image by a Certified Professional Photographer
• Non-member Best of Show: chosen by the Jury Panel
CAPTURE Specific Awards
• Best of Category: Every category with at least one merit image created by a member in good standing whose
dues are current 30 days prior to the competition is eligible for an award which will be chosen by Jury Panel
• Best of Show: Chosen by Jury Panel
• Non-member Best of Show: chosen by the Jury Panel
Annual Top Awards Process
The annual top awards shall be presented at a date chosen by the Image Competition committee following the Inspire
and Capture events. To qualify for the title and trophy for “Photographer of the Year,” members in good standing must
have both:
1. Earned at least 1 service merit in the current year, by participating in an approved volunteer capacity
(committee, event, mentorship) and
2. Attended either Inspire or Capture, or PPA of PA continuing education event in the current calendar year.
Categories:
Photographer of the Year (Photographic Open Section):
Combined cumulative scores of each maker's top 8 highest-scoring merited Photographic Open images from
Inspire and Capture.
Wedding Photographer of the Year (Wedding Section):
Combined cumulative scores of each maker's top 8 highest-scoring merited Wedding images from Inspire and
Capture.
Artist of the Year (Artist Section):
Combined cumulative scores of each maker's top 8 highest-scoring merited Artist images from Inspire and
Capture.
In the event of a tie, there will be two Photographers of the Year for the category.
In the event no maker has 8 meriting images for the year in a category, the top three contender’s images will be
reviewed by the Capture Jury panel in head-to-head judging.
The Image Competition Committee reserves the right to change the category of an entry if they feel it does not qualify
for the entered category. All efforts will be made to contact the maker prior to the competition. All decisions of the
Image Competition Committee are final. Please contact an image competition member for further questions.
Revised 6/1/2025

2025 PPA of PA Image Competition Rules PDF