2007-2008 PHOTO COMPETITION
The
New York State Associated Press Association annual photo contest will accept
only digital entries. The photographs may have originally been shot on film or
with a digital camera, but entries must be submitted as JPG files. No slide or print entries, and no altered photographs will be accepted.
ELIGIBILITY:
All photographs must be the work of photographers or
photo editors who work for an AP member daily newspaper published in
Generally, a photo that was entered in a previous NYAPA contest
year may not be entered again.
However, a photo that was entered in a previous year’s NYAPA contest may be
included if it is part of a photo gallery or a retrospective package. If
a previously entered photo is included in coverage that was entered in a
subsequent contest year, the entrant is asked to identify it as such. This
is not intended to exclude the package from consideration, but to prevent that
single image from being considered for special recognition, such as “Best in
Show.”
DEADLINE:
Entries must be postmarked by Monday,
June 16, 2008.
AWARDS: Winners will be notified by wire
advisories. The awards will be
presented at the annual banquet on
Thursday, Sept. 25,
2008, at The Century House in
SPECIAL AWARDS:
The Bernard J. Kolenberg Award will be presented for the best photo in
the show. The
Kolenberg award is named for an Albany Times-Union photographer killed in a
plane crash in
The Cromie Award recognizes the best photo transmitted by a member newspaper
photographer to Associated Press members. The award is named for the late Bruce
Cromie, an
judged best among the winners of
the AP’s monthly photo incentive contest. The prize is a plaque and a check for $500.
FEES: Each
entrant may submit a maximum of six
entries for categories 1-7. Photo essay or
series will count as one entry. There is an entry fee of $5 per entry. The
checks should be made payable to
Associated Press Associations.
ENTRIES: Are based
on newspaper’s daily circulation. There
are two classes: Over 50,000 circulation and Under 50,000 circulation. Please mark the enclosed entry blank with the
appropriate circulation.
CATEGORIES:
Photos
involving breaking news events that are not under the control of the
photographer and are produced under deadline pressure.
2. FEATURES
A single whimsical, evocative or human-interest photo of general interest, which is not staged or posed. (See photo illustration category for posed photos).
3. SPORTS
A spot or feature photo of a sports event or sports personality.
4. PHOTO ILLUSTRATION
A pre-conceived photo that illustrates a story by making a point,
such as in a posed studio picture. Photo composites and computer-generated
images must be submitted in the graphics contest.
5. PORTRAITS &
PERSONALITIES
A single photo of a person or persons that portrays character,
emotion, or other aspects of the individual’s personality.
6. PHOTO ESSAY OR SERIES
A group of photos that tells a story. Each
entry may include up to a maximum of 26 photos that were published together as
a photo essay or series. A TEAR SHEET
MUST BE ATTACHED TO THE PHOTO ESSAY
OR SERIES ENTRIES (tear sheets are not required in other categories).
7. ONLINE
PHOTOGRAPHY
This entry is for Web-exclusive photography, including audio
slideshows, videos, photo galleries, etc. Materials to include in the entry can
be through live Web links, archived Web pages, CDs, screen captures, etc.
You
will need to use Adobe Photoshop 3.0 or higher to prepare your images. We will
accept Macintosh or PC-formatted disks, Zips, or CD-ROMs. The image orientation
must read in normal viewing position, with top of the image actually being at
the top. We will not flop or rotate images.
CHOOSING YOUR ENTRY CODE:
You
must choose your unique photographer’s code. This is important, as you will use
this code in naming all your files. You must use a lower case five-letter sequence.
Every photographer must have a unique code so do not spell words or names and
if you are preparing entries for multiple photographers, be sure their codes
vary.
A
photographer’s code might contain initials or abbreviations and look like this:
mgab (but don’t use this exact code).
SIZING YOUR IMAGES:
Set
your resolution to 200 dpi; the largest image dimension must be less than 10
inches.
CAPTIONING YOUR IMAGES:
Using
PhotoShop’s File Info option (under the File menu), caption the photo in no
more than 50 words. Enter this information in the Caption section of the File
Info window. Following the caption, add your photographer’s code and a title. Do not put your name or the newspaper
name anywhere in the File Info section.
Use only your entry code.
For
example: Jane Doe and her daughter,
Emily Doe, 6, watch as their dog, Buffy, races to catch a plastic flying disc
during a day in Central Park. mgab JUMPING FOR THE DISC
Use
the File Info option, not a captioning plug-in such as SCC. Even if your photos
are already captioned using a captioning plug-in, you must re-enter the
information directly into File Info.
In
addition to captioning the files you will need to submit hard copy versions of
your captions on the enclosed ENTRY
BLANK.
FILE COMPRESSION:
Save
the image in RGB mode and compress the file using JPEG compression set to 5, or
Medium with Format Option ABaseline standard@. Do
not use Progressive JPEG option.
NAMING YOUR FILES:
Name
your picture files beginning with the one-digit category number, followed by
your unique photographer’s code, followed by sequential one-digit numbers
corresponding to the number of photos you are entering in that category. Add
sequential letters to the string for each photo in a picture story entry. End
it all with .jpg (Sounds complicated, but it’s not).
A
single photo entry might have a file name like this: 2mgab1.jpg (2 is the category number for
features, mgab is the photographer’s code, 1 is your
first entry within this category, and .jpg is the mandatory suffix). Other
entries within the same category would be 2mgab2.jpg and 2mgab3.jpg.
Photos
in a picture story entry might look like this:
6mgab1a.jpg, 6mgab1b.jpg, 6mgab1c.jpg (6 is the category number; mgab is the photographer’s code; 1 is your first entry in
the category; a, b and c indicate the first three photos in a picture story,
and .jpg is the mandatory suffix).
SUBMITTING YOUR IMAGES:
Files
may be submitted on floppies, Zip disks or CD-ROM. If you are submitting the
work of more than one photographer and using floppies, please use a different
diskette for each photographer. More
than one photographer’s work may be placed on a Zip or CD-ROM as long as each
photographer’s entries are placed in a clearly marked folder. Use the
photographer’s code to name the master folder for each photographer.
Picture
stories may contain a maximum of 26 photographs. Place the files comprising a
single picture story together in a folder. Title the folder with the category
file name of the photos it contains. For example: 6mgab1a.jpg, 6mgab1b.jpg, 6mgab1c.jpg. The
folder they are placed in would be titled 6mgab1. To clarify, if you have two Photo Essay or
Series entries, you will have two folders, each folder containing the photos
that make up a single entry.
Sample entry:
Here’s
how a hypothetical entry might look. Mike Groll photographer’s code will be mgab. His submission to the contest consists of four single
picture category entries, and a Photo Essay. He prepares and captions his files
and names them:
1mgab1.jpg
1mgab2.jpg
2mgab1.jpg
3mgab1.jpg
Here
is how the Photo Essay or series entry would look:
6mgab1a.jpg
6mgab1b.jpg
6mgab1c.jpg
6mgab1d.jpg
6mgab1e.jpg
CHECK YOUR DISKS:
Before
sending us your disks verify their integrity by making certain that they are
readable and do not contain any type of virus. The AP reserves the right to disqualify any disk that is unreadable,
defective or found to contain a virus or other suspicious files.
LABELING YOUR DISKS, ETC.:
Label
each disk with your unique photographer’s code and your name. For Zip or
CD-ROM, enclose a list of photographer’s codes and their names. Label the disk,
Zip or CD-ROM as MAC or PC.