15
MAGALIES FOTO FUN CLUB - HOUSE RULES
(as amended during September 2012)
The MFFC committee welcomes you as a valued member of the club. The various activities, arrangements and information regarding the club are highlighted in this document. Please read it and acquaint yourself with the rules & regulations of our club. You are welcome to direct any problems, enquiries, suggestions and hints to the committee.
1. MANAGEMENT:
The following management positions will be voted for every year at the October Annual General Meeting.
1. Chairman
2. Vice Chairman
3. Treasurer
4. Secretary
5. Competition Secretary
6. Editor
7. Reception
8. Refreshments
9. Web Master
10. PSSA related issues
11. Social Media
12. Additional Member 1
13. Additional Member 2
Please see the Club Constitution for further information regarding the election of management members. The list with the current management team will be published on the website. Any person on the management team that wants to resign must give written notice to the Chairperson.
CLUB POSTAL ADDRESS:
P O Box 2808
MONTANAPARK
0159
Details of the management team will be published in the Magalies Pix. Please contact any of them if any of the information in this document is not clear.
2. MEMBERSHIP
2.1 Membership Fees:
Fees are paid for one calendar year (1 October – 30 September) and consist of:
i) Initiation Fee that is a once off payment made when you register
ii) Annual membership fees
2.2 New members that join after 31 August will only pay 50% of the annual fees. The Initiation fee stays the same.
2.3 Membership fees are payable within the last three months of the year. If the fees are not fully paid, membership will automatically expire at the end of December.
If a member is not fully paid up by end of December, no entries will be accepted for the January club evening.
2.4 Members who have been with the club for more that 10 years and who are older than 60 years will be eligible to a 15% discount of annual fees.
2.5 Members who are 60 years and older will be able to pay annual fees in two equal payments on 1 October and 1 April
2.6 If a person wants to quit the club, written notice must be given.
3. CLUB MEETINGS:
Unless otherwise organized, there will be a club meeting (18h30 for 19h00) on the allocated date each month to be held at the Sinoville Methodist Church.Corner of 3rd & Jan Bantjies road, Montana Agricultural Holdings, Pretoria. Committee members should be there no later than 18h30. During these meetings, member’s entries in the various categories will be judged by a panel of no less than 3 judges. Guest speakers may be invited to lecture members on a specific subject.
4. STAR GRADING SYSTEM:
MFFC makes use of the star grading system for grading and promotion. Apart from a couple of small adjustments this system is consistent with PSSA recommendations. See point 8 and 8.1 for more information.
5. GROUPING
For competition and promotion purposes members are placed into one of the following mentioned groups:
a) Five Star groups:
1 Star; 2 Star; 3 Star; 4 Star; 5 Star.
b) Five Master groups (M):
Master Bronze; M Silver; M Gold; M Platinum en M Diamond.
c) Five Senior Master groups (SM):
Senior Master Bronze; SM Silver; SM Gold; SM Platinum and SM Diamond
d) Five Big Master groups (BM):
Big Master Bronze; BM Silver; BM Gold; BM Platinum and
BM Diamond.
e) Five Honour Master groups (HM):
Honours Master Bronze; HM Silver; HM Gold; HM Platinum and HM Diamond.
6. NEW MEMBERS:
a) See constitution regarding joining and membership acceptance.
b) Any new member (from another club or not) will begin at 1 Star status. If the member belonged to a previous club and was on a higher star level, the member will be asked to submit 20 photo’s which will be given to management to grade and make the necessary Star placement. Please note that this will not necessarily be on the same status as at the previous club.
Members may, however, appeal to the committee if they are uncomfortable with this ruling. The committee may also approach a member to submit a panel for reclassification purposes.
New members of other clubs have to submit the following before the committee to consider any grading whatsoever.
i) Name & contact details of previous club
ii) Proof of current status with previous club
iii) Name of every salon (stating national or international) entered
iv) Title of every salon acceptance
c) Given the above mentioned, the management of MFFC will then be able to decide on what star level the member will join. The member will start in the star level without any Gold awards or class points, but Salon points will be credited.
7. MONTHLY CLUB COMPETITIONS:
7.1 Competition year:
A Competition year starts on 1 October and ends on 30 September of the next year. Only paid up members will be in the running.
7.2 Sections:
The club has the following 3 sections:
i) Colour – See 7.7 for definition
ii) Monochrome– see 7.7 for definition
iii) Altered Reality/Visual art – see 7.7 for definition
7.3 Set subject
Only one prescribed topic is allowed per event. The photograph may be color, monochrome or altered reality/visual art. The points collected will be added to the section in which the particular picture is entered, ie color, monochrome or altered reality/visual art. See also 7.7 (h)
7.4 Amount of entries:
Each member may enter a maximum of 4 photos per night as well as a set subject photo, with the understanding that each member may register no more than 5 entries per night. The total / maximum per member per month will be 4 + 1 set subject. Should no set subject be submitted it will only total 4 entries per member per meeting.
The 4 photos should be divided between the different sections of the club (color / monochrome / Altered Reality/Visual art) but there may not be more than 2 photos entered per division.
No photograph may be entered more than ONCE at a club meeting. Near-duplicates of photos that were previously enrolled, are not allowed. If a member has enrolled a photo that was previously enrolled, that photo will be disqualified and will gain no points for that photo.
Pictures used in Series / AV 's may be entered.
7.5 Entering and judging procedure:
a) All entries are to be titled and submitted via the EMMA website.
No late entries will be accepted.
b) When a club member judges, he / she may not enroll themselves on the particular evening. Such a member may, however, enter his photo’s (including prescribed topic) within the next 2 months. Points earned may only apply for the current competition year and may not be carried over to the following year.
c) If an entry does not meet the standard and/or definition, it will be disqualified and not be eligible for the evening's competition. (see point 7.6)
d) If a member is not satisfied with the scoring at a specific
meeting, he may enter the picture again the following month. The results must then be accepted as final.
7.6 Requirements for entries:
a) Prints
i) Prints must be mounted in a mounting board.
ii) Prints must be no larger than 40 x 50 cm (mount included) or smaller than 20 x 25 cm (excluding mount)
iii) The title of the photo and the name and address the photographer must appear on the back of the print. (preferably above left)
iv) Date of entry must be added to the picture.
b) Digital entries
i) Images must be prepared in JPG file format.
ii) The size of the images must not exceed 500kb when saved.
iii) The maximum size on the horizontal axis may be 1024 pixels and the maximum size on the vertical axis may be 768 pixels.
iv) No text or wording may be added to the displayed images.
v) It is recommended to save images in sRGB color space.
vi) Images must be 72 dpi.
7.7 Definitions:
a) COLOUR
Ø A colour photo is defined as a photo having more than two colours.
Ø Any subject is acceptable and the photo may have a frame / border as long as the photo stays within the size limits.
Ø The photo may be enhanced but with no visible manipulation or altered reality.
Ø Orton & HDR techniques are accepted as long as it does not result in a visually manipulated/altered photo.
b) MONOCHROME
Ø A monochrome photo is defined as a black-and-white or sepia photograph.
Ø Any subject is acceptable and the photo may have a frame / border as long as the photo stays within the size limits.
Ø The photo may be enhanced but with no visible manipulation or altered reality.
Ø Orton & HDR techniques are accepted as long as it does not result in a visually manipulated/altered photo.
c) ALTERED REALITY / VISUAL ART
Ø Altered reality / Visual Art may be defined as the creative use of any technique to alter the recorded image in a way that simulates or produces an artistic representation.
Ø An image in which the photographic truth has been altered would fit into this category.
Ø In this section, manipulation or a form of visual art to the eye is the key to a successful image.
Ø The original image must have been captured by a camera and the author must be the responsible person for the image as well as the manipulation.
Ø The photo may have a frame / border as long as the photo stays within the size limits.
Ø Any subject can be covered.
Ø The photo may be visibly manipulated but should it lean towards visual art it might not necessary need any manipulation.
Ø The photo may be in colour, monochrome or a combination of both.
Ø Visual Art falls within this category and there are no limits on manipulation.
Ø Each element that you add to the photo must have been created by the photographer himself.
d) PHOTO ORIGIN
The original image must have been made using any recognized photographic process/camera. Upon entry the club member certifies the work as his/her own from the capturing of the image, through digital and photographic enhancement & manipulation (where applicable) up to the final presentation (excluding printing at a commercial lab). See also 7.8
e) PRINT PRODUCTION
Any recognized means of reproduction may be used.
f) MOUNTING
Mounting is for internal club entries, and framed or blocked prints are not acceptable for competition purposes
g) CLASS WINNER
There will be a class winner chosen in every star status in the 3 separate sections
h) SET SUBJECT
Prescribed themes are set for each club evening, in the Set Subject
Calendar. See the Pix for more details. It gives members a chance
to expand their photographic skills, by shooting subjects that they
normally wouldn’t even consider.
7.8 Judging:
1 STAR: The beginner must show that he / she has mastered the technical aspects of photography. Entries must therefore the exposure must be correct and it must be sharp focus
2 STAR: Besides the above requirements, the entry also contains the basic elements of composition. It must have some impact
3 STAR: In addition to the foregoing requirements, the photograph must, through improved lighting and mood make an impact. He should have an understanding of lines, volumes and color contrasts and the role it plays in composition.
4 STAR: An additional requirement is that a subscription must have sufficient impact and composition to meet national salon standards.
5 STAR and Master Groups:
Entries in this group should meet the requirements for acceptance in international salons.
7.9 Point Awards:
a) Class Point Awards:
Bronze 1 point
Silver 2 points
Gold 3 points
Merit 5 points
Classwinner 1 point extra
SS Winner 1 point extra
Evening Winner 2 points extra
b) Salonpoints:
Total points awarded for:
National Salons: Acceptance = 1 point
Merits = 2 points
Medals = 3 points
International Salons: Acceptance = 2 points Merits = 3 points
Medals = 4 points
A member judging a salon will receive the maxsimum number of
possible points in the section judged by that member.
c) Series and Mini Series:
Bronze 1 point
Silver 2 points
Gold 3 points
Merit or honourable mention 5 points
Class winner 1 point
See point 9 for more information regarding series’.
7.10 Points for Year-end Competition:
At the end of the competition year (September 30) all points earned by a member during the year will add to an annual total for the award of the "Photographer of the Year" form. It includes the following:
- Points earned at monthly club entries (Junior and Senior sections awarded seperately)
- Points earned at salons during the competition year. (Junior and senior sections awarded together)
8. PROMOTION FROM 1-STAR TO BIG MASTER