I. ELIGIBILITY

Section 1. Definition of members in good standing

The Indiana News Photographers Association Clip Contest is open to all members who have paid their dues and are in good standing with the association. A member in good standing is a photojournalist who has paid his or her dues and lives in Indiana or works for an Indiana-based news organization. All entries submitted must meet the rules set forth below. Entries that do not meet the rule requirements are subject to disqualification by the clip contest chairperson.

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

Only photos taken while a resident of Indiana or while employed by an Indiana-based news organization are eligible for entry.
Screen grabs from a video are not eligible for the still photo competition.

II. 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 clip 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. CATEGORIES

The monthly clip contest consists of seven categories, two of which (spot news and portrait) are judged quarterly.

• SA – Sports Action: A photograph that emphasizes the athleticism and skill of the players/participants.
• SF – Sports Feature: An unposed sports-related photo that celebrates the role athletics play in the lives of amateur and/or professional athletes and fans.
• GN – General News: A picture of a scheduled political, social or cultural event for which advance planning was possible. (Examples: demonstrations, staged entertainment and promotional events.)
• SN – Spot News: A picture of an unscheduled event for which no advance planning was possible and a picture taken in the course of daily coverage. (Examples: fires, accidents, and local natural disasters.) Enter monthly, judged quarterly.
• F – Feature: An unposed photo that celebrates life. Respect for the dignity of the subject is important.
• P – Portrait: A picture of a person that reveals the essence of the subject’s character. Enter monthly, judged quarterly.
• M – Multiple: A story, series or sequence of a spot, general sports or feature photographs as defined above.

Section 3. NUMBER OF ENTRIES

There is a limit of 12 entries per person each month.
A multiple entry counts as a single entry and may contain no more than 15 images.

Pictures can only be entered in one category, except for multiples. A single can be pulled from multiples and entered in a single category, but it must be entered in the same monthly contest as the multiple. A photo or story may only be entered one time during the contest year. If a single is pulled from multiple entries, both the single and the multiple must be entered in the same contest month. A photo or multiple entries may only be entered in one contest month.

Section 4. PARTICIPATION

A minimum of two people (entrants) must enter each category for the category to be judged.

Section 5. DEADLINE

Clip contest entries must be uploaded by midnight Eastern Time on the tenth of each month.

III. ENTRIES

NPPA Monthly clip contest entries prepared to the NPPA Guidelines may be directly entered into the INPA Monthly Clip Contest, without change or modification in any way (EXCEPT Illustrations which the INPA contest does not accept and should not be entered). All NPPA multiples entries will be recategorized to the INPA Multi category. You do not need to change filenames or IPTC information.  All other categories align. The guidelines below are for entries that are not going into the NPPA Contest.

Section 1. IMAGE SIZING

There is no restriction on maximum image size, but all entries will be resized (up or down) to 1000px on the longest side.

Section 2. IPTC FIELDS

The caption field  is the only field required by the contest:

• Description/Caption: The photo caption. This field MUST NOT include the photographer’s name or affiliation.
  It is recommended that multiple entries include a paragraph explaining the package before the caption of the first photo.

Section 3. IMAGE FILENAMES

Single Category Images:

• categorycode_unique-one-word-slug.jpg

Multiple Category Images:

• m_unique-to-story-one-word-slug_sequence.jpg
  (The sequence number should be zero base i.e. 01,02,03,04…)

Examples:

• sa_jump.jpg – Sports Action
• sa_dunk.jpg – Sports Action
• sf_hug.jpg – Sports Feature
• gn_speech.jpg – General News
• sn_wreck.jpg – Spot News
• sn_arrest.jpg – Spot News
• f_swing.jpg – Feature
• p_chris.jpg – Portrait
• m_party_01.jpg – 1st Multi-Story
• m_party_02.jpg – 1st Multi-Story
• m_party_03.jpg – 1st Multi-Story
• m_party_04.jpg – 1st Multi-Story
• m_party_05.jpg – 1st Multi-Story
• m_championships_01.jpg – 2nd Multi-Story
• m_championships_02.jpg – 2nd Multi-Story
• m_championships_03.jpg – 2nd Multi-Story
• m_championships_04.jpg – 2nd Multi-Story
• m_championships_05.jpg – 2nd Multi-Story
• m_championships_06.jpg – 2nd Multi-Story

Section 4. FINAL ENTRY ORGANIZATION

There should be no folders in your entry. Only .jpg files may be entered.

Section 5. ENTRY UPLOAD

All entries are uploaded via our web uploader. You will need your INPA username and password to upload.

IV. SCORING

Section 1. POINT SYSTEM

Each photographer who enters the contest receives two points per month entered. Winning entries receive:

• 1st place – 50 points
• 2nd place – 40 points
• 3rd place – 30 points
• Honorable mention – 10 points
• Cream of the Crop – 10 points in addition to 1st-place points

The Cream of the Crop is the image/multiple entries selected by the judges as the best work in the contest from the first-place winners. This image receives an additional ten points.

Section 2. CLIP CONTEST PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

The photographer who accumulates the most points in a given calendar year will be named the INPA clip contest photographer of the year. In the event of a tie, the winner will be determined by the number of first-place wins in the year followed by the second, third and honorable mentions. When available, the winner will receive a camera from Nikon or Canon at the annual contest.