PPSCV Image Competition Details
PPSCV Print Competition has gone digital!
It’s now called PPSCV Image Competition, and will allow members to enter digital images, saving time and expense and making it easier to participate.
During the Covid-19 shelter-in-place, we will be holding the competition fully online.
Why participate in PPSCV Image Competition?
One of the PPSCV member benefits is being able to participate in image competitions similar to those provided annually at the PPA Photo Competitions, but at our local affiliate level. We encourage all members to participate and take advantage of this opportunity to sharpen your photographic skills and improve your art.
Having a judge critique your work can feel intimidating, but it can provide insights for improving your images, and build your confidence. By making you aware of details you may have overlooked, the feedback you receive can increase your skills and help you create better images.
If you want to earn one of the PPA member degrees, such as Master of Photography (M. Photog) or Master Artist (M. Artist), submitting merit-worthy images to the district and international image competitions is a requirement. That makes PPSCV Image Competition a great place to start or to continue with your quest for the Merit level image submissions needed to earn a degree.
PPSCV Image Competitions can be held in-person or online. For In-person image competitions, submitted images are displayed on a projector for the audience, and on a color calibrated monitor for the judges. For online image competitions the judges and online audience review the images over the Internet from a web browser or online meeting App. A panel of trained and qualified image competition judges carefully examine each image based on how well it addresses the 12 Elements of a Merit Image. One or more judges will provide an immediate critique of the image, and give constructive feedback encouraging improvements in the future.
On getting a score and a critique yourself, or seeing the results for others, you can become more attuned to composition, lighting etc., before you shoot an image, and have a better understanding of how post processing can be used to make a good image better.
Here is the PPSCV Image Competition scoring guide
(As per PPA District and International competition rules for 2019.)
- 95-100 Exceptional
- 90-94 Superior
- 85-89 Excellent
- 80-84 Deserving of a Merit
- 75-79 Above Average
- 70-74 Average
- 69-0 Below Exhibition Standards
A Merit Image has a score of 80 and above.
Note: images recognized by PPSCV as meeting the standard for a PPA merit is a guide only, it does not guarantee a merit by judges at PPA competitions.
Note: PPA District and International competition rules changed in 2020 replacing numerical scoring with a simpler merit/non-merit voting system for judging (details here). However, at this time PPSCV will continue to use the numerical scoring method to provide more detailed feedback on how close images are to the merit categories.
Pro tip: Try to guess the score for each entry before the judges’ score is posted. This helps you understand how well you can judge the 12 elements yourself – the closer you get, the better you can judge your own work.
How many members do you know in PPSCV? Image Competition is also a way to socialize and learn more about your fellow photographers, what they shoot, where they go, how they shoot, and where they are in their journey, so perhaps you’ll find inspiration, or maybe a mentor or a buddy for that photoshoot you were thinking of arranging.
If you have any questions that are not answered here please contact the Image Competition Chairperson directly at the PPSCV Image Competition email address PPSCVImageComp@gmail.com. See also Info->About PPSCV for the current board members and committee chairpersons.
Start with Image Competition: How to Enter?