Contest Deadline: Monday Feb. 27, 2023,
Contest Judging: Saturday, March 4, 2023
Contest Chairperson: Denny Simmons, Evansville Courier & Press, den4life@yahoo.com
I. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
The purpose of the INPA College Photographer of the Year contest is to promote excellence in student news photography; to persuade the general public that news photographers are instrumental and important in the reporting of news and the recording of daily life in their communities; to teach beginning photographers about photojournalism; and to help working news photographers improve their photo-reporting abilities.
II. ELIGIBILITY
Section 1. DEFINITION OF A STUDENT
Any person who has attended an accredited college or university in the State of Indiana in the [2022 calendar year (January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022 ), or who interned for an Indiana news outlet while attending a college or university in another state is eligible to enter. There is no fee for entering the INPA College Photographer of the Year contest. Students are encouraged to join INPA, and may enter the Annual Still Contest, Annual Multimedia Contest, and Monthly Clip Contest after doing so, but may not enter the professional and student contests in the same year.
Section 2. DEFINITION OF PHOTOJOURNALISM
This is a photojournalism contest.
Photojournalism is defined as the craft of employing photographic storytelling to document life while adhering to the principles outlined in the NPPA Code of Ethics.
Section 3. ELIGIBLE WORK
Photographs taken or initially published between January 1 and December 31 of the contest year (2022) are eligible for entry in the contest, so long as they were taken while a student, or while on an internship during that year. Work made while an employee in a non-internship or educational setting is not eligible.
Photographs taken at restricted events, or in restricted areas, are not eligible (i.e. events or areas where only photographers commissioned by those organizing the event have access, for example, photographs commissioned by governments, political parties, corporations, or other non-journalistic organizations).
Screen grabs from a video are not eligible for the still photo competition.
III. RULES
Section 1. ETHICS
Entrants certify that they practice ethical photojournalism, and subscribe, whether an NPPA member or not, to the principles outlined in the NPPA Code of Ethics. The content of an image must not be altered. Only retouching which conforms to currently accepted news industry standards, and is able to exist in the framework of the NPPA Code of Ethics, is allowed.
The annual contest chairman may request original files for images that may appear to be problematic with regard to toning, content or ethics. The original and the entered image will be presented to the judges for a final determination. The judges may also disqualify any images they feel go beyond the allowable industry practices at any point in the competition.
Section 2. INPA COLLEGE PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR PORTFOLIO (CPOY)
This category determines the Indiana College Photographer of the Year (Indiana CPOY). It is a body of work by one photographer from the previous year, displaying photographic excellence, versatility, technical quality and originality.
- A portfolio may contain no more than 20 entries. A story or essay counts as one entry.
- A portfolio must contain images from at least two of the following categories of images: news, feature, sports, portrait/personality, news story, feature story or a sports story.
- Portfolios are judged on the basis of photographic excellence, subject matter, versatility, technical quality, and originality.
- Images can be arranged in any order but picture stories must be last. A story or essay must be separated from the singles by a black frame. This frame does not count towards the image total.
- Portfolio is a still photo only competition.
- Entrants are not required to compete in the singles categories in order to compete in the portfolio competition.
- Judges must award a first place (Indiana College Photographer of the Year). All other places are optional at the discretion of the Judges.
Section 3. CATEGORIES
The INPA College Photographer of the Year contest consists of the following categories:
- cn – News: A photo from a news event – spot or general – which has immediate news value.
- cf – Feature: An unposed photo that celebrates life. Respect for the dignity of the subject is important.
- cs – Sports: A photo from a sports event capturing athletic competition at any level. May be either feature or peak action.
- cp – Portrait/Personality: A picture of a person that reveals the essence of the subject’s character.
- cm – Story: A series of photographs from the News, Feature or Sports categories above, with a narrative theme on the subject. Each story counts as one entry against the 15 entry limit.
Section 4. NUMBER OF ENTRIES
A student may enter up to 15 entries in the contest. A single picture counts as one entry as does a multiple entry (story or essay).
For example, an entrant may include 12 single entries and two multiple entries and a CPOY portfolio for a total of 15 entries.
A portfolio will consist of up to a total of 20 entries. A single picture counts as one entry as does a multiple entry (story or essay).
For example, an entrant can include 18 single entries and two multiple entries for a total of 20 entries. (Refer to Section 2 for more specifics on the College Photographer of the Year Portfolio).
Section 5. PARTICIPATION
A minimum of five entrants must enter each category (cpoy, cn, cf, cs, cp) for it to be judged.
Section 6. DISCLAIMER
Contestants who do not follow the rules will be disqualified. INPA will take every precaution in handling entries, but cannot be responsible for loss, damage or non-receipt of entries.
Section 7. DEADLINE
All entries must be uploaded by Monday Feb. 27, 2023,
Section 8. JUDGING
The contest will have three judges as selected by the annual contest chairman. Judging is open, which means spectators are invited to watch and listen as the judges make their determinations. Spectators must not talk to the judges or make loud comments, which could be overheard by the judges. After each category is judged, spectators are encouraged to ask questions and discuss the category with the judges, only in general terms. Discussion of specific images should be held until all judging is complete.
IV. ENTRY FILE REQUIREMENTS
Section 1. IMAGE SIZING
All entries must be saved as a JPEG file with IPTC standard caption and file information. Files should be sized at 2000 pixels on the longest side. Files small or larger than 2000 pixels will be automatically resized by the entry software. Files should be saved at a JPEG compression level of 8 or 9 (high). Images deemed too large may be resized at the discretion of the annual contest chairperson.
Section 2. IPTC FIELDS
The only required IPTC field is the Description/Caption field:
- Description/Caption: The photo caption. This field MUST NOT include the photographer’s name or affiliation. If the photographer’s name and/or affiliation is found in this field, it will result in an automatic disqualification. It is recommended that picture story entries include a paragraph explaining the package before the caption of the first photo.
Section 3. IMAGE FILENAMES
Entry images must be named using the following format:
Singles (cn, cf, cs, cp): CATEGORYCODE_uniquieslug.jpg
Examples:
cn_ralley.jpg
cf_sun.jpg
cs_touchdown.jpg
cp_mary.jpg
Story (cm): cm_uniquieslug_SEQUENCENUMBER.jpg
Story 1: protest
cm_protest_01.jpg
cm_protest_02.jpg
cm_protest_03.jpg
cm_protest_04.jpg
Story 2: church
cm_church_01.jpg
cm_church_02.jpg
cm_church_03.jpg
cm_church_04.jpg
CPOY: cpoy_SEQUENCENUMBER.jpg
Examples:
cpoy_01.jpg
cpoy_02.jpg
cpoy_03.jpg
Section 4. PREPARING TO UPLOAD
No folders or zip files may be uploaded. It is suggested you put your entire entry (singles and CPOY) in one folder in preparation to drag and drop your entry after following the link below.
Section 5. ENTRY UPLOAD
All entries are uploaded via our web uploader below.
The entry deadline, 02-27-23 12:00pm eastern, has passed.Curent Time: 01-17-25 9:18am