2023 TCPPA Image Competition Rules 

Image Judging Date: 2/19/2023

Time & Location: 1 pm; online

Registration Deadline:  2/18/2023 12:00pm

Registration Website: printcompetition.com

Entry Fee: 

$20/image entry for TCPPA Members/ $25 for Non-Members

All images must be pre-registered and pre-paid at printcompetition.com by: 2/18/2023 12:00pm

NUMBER OF ENTRIES ALLOWED: 3 Cases (4 images per case) 

IMPORTANT 

• Please read the following competition rules carefully. 

• This competition will be 100% digital. You may only enter digital images. 

• All images must be pre-registered and pre-paid at printcompetition.com by 2/18/2023 12:00pm 

DIGITAL ENTRIES 

All digital 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 (if exporting from Lightroom or using Photoshop Export use 80). Total file size should not exceed 10 MB. 

Judging will be to PPA standards, but it should be noted that this is NOT a PPA Affiliated Competition and PPA merits can NOT be earned. The purpose of this competition is to allow photographers to enter digital images to be judged relative to the 12 Elements of a Merit Print for the purpose of critique and/or competing for awards. For more information on what judges are looking for, see: https://www.ppa.com/events/photo-competitions/the-12-elements-of-a-merit-image  

PrintCompetition.com:  You may view live judging through the Print Competition Game Day app on your computer, smart phone or tablet that will allow you to watch the judging as it happens. You will see current image that is being seen by the judges and watch the results come in. The app automatically refreshes so you just sit back and watch. In addition to the current image being judged, you will also see thumbnails of the top 16, a list of the last 20 scores and a list of the next 15 coming up. With an upgrade to a Premium Membership, you get even more features such as past discussions and a database of searchable images. 

Additional rules and information follow below and is also available at the printcompetition.com website, TCPPA association website or by contacting: board@tcppa.org

ELIGIBILITY

1. The entrant must have captured and created the original exposure. 
2. Any entry which has been reproduced from an existing photograph, portrait, graphic or any other artwork produced by another person is a violation of the competition rules and will not be judged, accepted, or displayed. If an entry, in the good-faith opinion of the Photographic Competition Committee, violates copyright, trademark or any other applicable law that entry shall be disqualified. 
3. The entrant’s name shall not appear anywhere on the face of the entry. 
4. Entrant must have a model release on file for each entry submitted. 
   
5. No entry will be eligible that has been made under the supervision of an instructor, speaker or workshop.  
6. The same subject may be in more than one of the entrant’s submitted images. 
7. Entries previously merited at any TCPPA or PPA International Competition are not eligible, including any image from a merited album. 
8. Entry media includes only digital images. 
9. No Late Entries will be accepted - please note the deadlines above.
10. Entry fees will be paid on PrintCompetition.com at the time you register. 

The competition chairperson and/or board have the right to question the category of any entry. The judges have the option to change the classification and their decision is final. 

CATEGORIES

• PORTRAIT

• General Portraits - general portrait, single or multiple subject

• HS Seniors - male or female high school senior.

• Beauty/Boudoir - male or female in beauty/boudoir 

• Babies - male or female baby image (newborn to 11 months)

• Children - male or female child (age 1 year to 16 years)

• Family - family (3 or more people including at least one adult and at least one child)

• Pets - domesticated pet images (animal portrait using structured lighting in a studio or outdoor environment where the owner or photographer controlled the animal)

• Reportage/Photo Journalist - Images that illustrate an actual public or non-public event, life, an area of human interest, telling news that have meaning on the context or record of events, high impact and/or lasting emotional response. Image that illustrate sporting events are included in this category. ONLY basic color and brightness adjustments, cropping, dodging, and burning in are allowed.

• ILLUSTRATIVE

• Illustrative/Commercial - single image of fine art, abstract, architectural, creative in the Illustrative and Commercial genre.

• Nature/Landscape - single image of nature or landscape image (wild animal in an uncontrolled lighting environment, zoo animals, flowers, seascapes, cityscapes, and sunsets without people)

• WEDDINGS - single image of a bride/groom/couple/wedding ceremony/wedding candid

• ARTIST -  A conceptual image altered or manipulated from its original condition. Creations can be a subtle application using post-processing techniques or a dramatic combination of details to suggest a larger story. The artist is responsible for the idea behind the image and the work done to create the finished art piece.

Awards

Please read carefully as we have updated the awards for 2023. To be eligible for the following awards, you must be an active TCPPA member, with the exception of High Scoring Image by a Non-Member.

• Category Awards: We will award 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in each category. An Image Maker is only eligible to win one award per category.

• TCPPA Grand Photographer of the Year - Judged from 1st place entries

• TCPPA Non-Master Photographer of the Year - This will be a non-master.  Given to the non-master photographer having the highest average image case score (case = four images) of entries in any category.  

• TCPPA Master Photographer of the Year - This will be a master photographer.  Given to the master photographer having the highest average image case score (case = four images) of entries in any category.

• TCPPA Photographer to Watch – top scoring image from a TCPPA member who has never entered a TCPPA image competition.

• Certified Professional Photographer of the Year - highest image score by Certified Professional Photographer.

• ASP member Award

• Judge’s Choice – After all judging is completed, each judge will be able to select their favorite entry of choice.

• High Scoring Image by a Non-Member.  Given to the image having the highest score in any genre and is not a member of TCPPA.