RULES OF THE SOLENT CAMERA CLUB
1.Title
The Club shall be called the “Solent Camera Club”
2. Object
To bring together persons actively interested in any of the branches of Photography and generally to promote any activity for the mutual assistance of members and improvements of the standard of Photography, both artistically and technically
3. Membership
Membership shall be open to any person who is interested in Photography at the discretion of the Executive Committee. Members shall be paid up members of the Southsea Community Centre.
4. Officers
The Honorary Officers shall be a Chairman, a Secretary and a Treasurer, to be elected at the Annual General Meeting of the Club. An individual may hold a maximum of TWO honorary positions. They shall be “ex officio” members of all committees. The officers shall retire each year and be eligible for re-election, the Chairman to hold office for a period not exceeding three consecutive years.
5. Management
For the purposes of general management the Club shall be governed by an Executive Committee of not less than THREE members including the Officers of the Club all of whom shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting of the Club.
The Executive Committee shall :-
arrange a programme of such lectures, competitions and social functions and make regulations thereto, as it may be deemed necessary;
meet as often as necessary to ensure the smooth running of the Club;
have control of all business transacted by the Club and the right to co-opt additional members to the Committee as may be found necessary;
in the case of the absence of a member, invite a substitute to attend, the substitute having no power to vote.
6. Meetings
Meetings will be held on Fridays at the Southsea Community Centre, St Pauls Square, Southsea unless otherwise notified.
General Meetings
The Executive Committee may call a General Meeting of members when necessary.
On receipt by the Honorary Secretary of an application in writing, signed by at least 25% of members and stating the reason (s) for the application, an Extraordinary General Meeting shall be called within 21 days thereof (during the Club programme year).
The quorum for a General Meeting shall be greater than twice the number of members of the Executive Committee present at the meeting and at least 60% of the Club membership.
The Annual General Meeting shall be held within the first 3 (three) weeks of April each year, the date of this meeting shall be included in the Club formal programme.
8. Finance
The Executive Committee shall have the power to open a bank account. All withdrawals from the account shall be signed by any two of the three following signatories, Chairman, Secretary or Treasurer.
There shall be no limit placed on the amount of petty cash held by the Treasurer.
The Club’s financial status shall be reviewed at each Committee meeting and at the AGM.
The Treasurer shall present a set of independently audited accounts for the closing year at the AGM.
9. Subscriptions
The Club subscription for the following year shall be determined at the Annual General Meeting, this amount shall be payable by members irrespective of attendance but the Executive Committee shall have the power to reduce or waive this subscription under special circumstances. In addition to the annual subscription each member shall pay an attendance levy at each meeting he/she attends, the amount to be determined at the Annual General Meeting.
The Club subscription shall be paid in two half-yearly instalments due on 1st February and 1st September respectively.
Any member may introduce a visitor as a prospective member for two meetings without obligation to join (attendance levies only payable). The visitor must join the Club on the third visit.
10. Winding-up of the Club
In the event of the Club ceasing to meet, the material assets of the Club shall be sold, or disposed of by consensus. The Financial assets of the Club shall be divided equally amongst paid-up members at the time of dissolution.
11. General
No alteration in, or addition to the Rules of the Club shall be made without the sanction of a General Meeting, and any alteration or addition shall not be valid unless supported by at least two thirds of the members present at the meeting. Any matter not governed by these Rules, or question as to the interpretation thereof shall be dealt with by the Executive Committee by simple majority.
Competition rules
General
1. There shall be 8 monthly competitions held between 1st September and 31st May each year, each consisting of a Print Competition and a Projected Image Competition. The subjects will be notified in advance in the annual programme. In addition there will be an annual “Print and Slide of the Year Competition” normally held in May.
2. There shall be one section only for both Print and Projected Image Competitions, i.e. not separate “advanced” and “beginners” sections.
3. The constituent parts of an image must be the authors own work, and must not include any ’Royalty Free’ images, or any image, the copyright of which, is not held by the author.
Monthly Print Competitions.
1. Prints may be in monochrome or colour.
2. Prints may be derived from any photographic process but copyright must be at the disposal of the author.
3. Members may submit a maximum of THREE prints for each competition but only the highest marked will count towards the “monthly print competition trophy”.
4. All prints shall be mounted.
5.The mount shall not be greater than 50cms x 40cms.
6. Every print shall be marked on the back with the official Club stamp, a unique title and the member’s name.
7. A print which is un-placed in a competition may be entered in ONE more monthly competition. The Print must retain its original entry sticker, and be marked “2nd entry” on the new entry sticker. A negative, transparency or digital file may be re- used to produce a dissimilar print for a future Club competition. Prints entered for the Bert Rogers competition are eligible for subsequent monthly competitions.
8. Prints shall normally be marked to a maximum of 20 points by an “outside” Judge. In the event of an “outside” Judge being unable to attend at short notice, the following rules shall apply :-
a). Members shall mark prints to a maximum of 20 points.
b). Members shall not mark their own prints.
c). Members who submit prints for competitions but are not present at the time of marking shall have the total marks awarded to their prints reduced by a percentage dependent on the number of members marking.
9. Marks awarded for both “Set” and “Open” competitions shall count towards the annual print trophies. The first, second and third ranked prints of both “Set” and “Open” subjects shall qualify for the “Print of the Year” competition.
Monthly Projected Image Competitions.
1. Images may be in monochrome or colour.
2. Transparencies must have been taken by the member but not necessarily processed by him/her.
3. Digital Images.
a). All images must be shot as JPEGS – NO RAW Files. In the event of a dispute, the original .jpg (with exif data intact) must be made available.
b). Files shall be presented as follows:
i. Named as ‘name-title.jpg’, i.e. ‘JoeBloggs-Mypicture.jpg’
ii. Size should be no bigger than the resolution of the club projector (currently 1024x768)
c). Only minimal corrections: Cropping, Rotating, Dust removal – no removal or addition of any picture element.
4. Members may submit a maximum of THREE images for each competition but only the highest marked image will count towards the “monthly projected image competition” trophy.
5. Slides shall be correctly “spotted” (bottom left hand corner as you view the slide), and marked with a unique title and the members name.
6. An image which is un-placed in a competition may be entered in ONE more monthly competition. The Slide must retain its original entry sticker, and be marked “2nd entry” on the new entry sticker. A slide may be re-used to produce a dissimilar image for a future Club competition.
7. Images shall normally be marked to a maximum of 20 points by an “outside” Judge. In the event of an “outside” Judge being unable to attend at short notice the following rules shall apply :-
a). Members shall mark prints to a maximum of 20 points.
b). Members shall not mark their own prints.
c). Members who submit prints for competitions but are not present at the time of marking shall have the total marks awarded to their prints reduced by a percentage dependent on the number of members marking.
8. Marks awarded for both “Set” and “Open” competitions shall count towards the annual print trophies. The first, second and third ranked prints of both “Set” and “Open” subjects shall qualify for the “Print of the Year” competition.
MASTER PHOTOGRAPHER COMPETITION FOR THE BERT ROGERS TROPHY
This competition is held annually in memory of Bert Rogers, a talented amateur photographer and member of the Solent Camera Club, who died in July 1987.
The aim of the competition is to encourage members to prepare a portfolio of photographs to demonstrate their photographic skills and versatility.
There are some basic and some variable rules :-
BASIC RULES
The competition will be run in two sections, one for prints and one for slides.
Members may not enter more than 2 (TWO) portfolios in any ONE section. They may also enter a single portfolio in the other section.
Each portfolio must be accompanied by a completed entry form and entry fee (if any).
All prints shall be mounted, the mount shall not be greater than 50cm x 40cm.
Slides shall be correctly “spotted” (in the bottom left hand corner as you view the slide).
All photographs must have been produced after the (variable) rules have been announced for the year.
No photograph shall have been entered in a previous Club competition.
Trade processing of negative and transparency film is allowed but all other work must be solely that of the author.
The author’s name must not be shown on any print or slide.
At judging each print or slide will be marked out of 10, and in addition each portfolio will receive marks out of 20 based on its presentation as a theme.
In the event of a tie the judge(s) will have the power to award an additional mark to one portfolio to determine a winner. This decision will be final.
The winner will hold the “Bert Rogers Trophy” for one year.
VARIABLE RULES.
The Club Executive Committee shall decide, at their first meeting of the new Club year, the format of the Bert Rogers Competition for that year, i.e.
whether the theme should be “Set” or “Open”,
if “Set” then the titles for, and the number of, categories from which entrants can make a choice,
the number of prints or slides to constitute a portfolio,
the entry fee for each portfolio submitted,
the closing date for entries,
the way the judging shall be carried out,
the number of judges
the way in which the competition and the result shall be presented on the night.
