Starfest International Salon of Astrophotography

Competitions provide an opportunity to improve technical skills and broaden the ability to see in a more sensitive and artistic manner. Competitions allow makers to show their work to objective judges, to see the work of their peers and to exchange ideas, problems and information in an informal, friendly atmosphere. However, competitions do represent the subjective opinions only of the judges and should not be taken either personally or overly-seriously. Competitions should be fun and these Rules should be interpreted liberally and fairly but also consistently.

Definitions

1. An image must originate as a photograph (image-capture of objects via light sensitivity) made by the entrant on photographic emulsion (i.e. film) or acquired digitally.
2. All components of an image must have been captured by the entrant. An image or any component of an image, whether digital or film, may not be entered having originated otherwise.
3. All images and components of an image must be the entire work of the entrant. All work in creating an image that involves the application of more than nominal skill must be done by the entrant.

Divisions

1. There shall be 2 divisions of entrants.
2. B (Beginners) Division: An image shall be chosen as Top, Runner-up or Honourable Mention in B Division.
3. A (Advanced) Division: An image shall be chosen as Top, Runner-up or Honourable Mention in A Division.

General Rules

1. The competition is open to all entrants.
2. Entrants may submit 2 images.
3. Judging will be by a panel of three judges.
4. Images must contain an Astronomical subject.
5. Images are to be submitted in digital format. Emulsion images must be scanned into digital.
6. By virtue of submitting an entry, the entrant certifies the work as not infringing on anyone elses copyright and permits the NYAA to reproduce, in printed or electronic form, all or part of the entered material free of charge for publication and/or display in media related to the promotion of Starfest and to effectively operate and promote the competition.
7. The NYAA assumes no liability for any misuse of copyright and is not responsible for any loss of or damage to any images submitted.
8. The entrant is responsible for ensuring his/her entries are delivered to the competition organizer by email to starfestsalon
9. No identifying information (e.g. title, photographer) shall be included in the image itself.
10. DEADLINE FOR SUBMITTING IMAGES IS: July 1st 2008
11. Please include technical details of the image(s) in the body of the email.
12. The judges shall select HMs, Runner-up and Top Image, if any of the entries are deemed so worthy. These awards shall total approximately 10% of images submitted.
13. The Top image, if awarded, shall be selected from the images scoring the highest in the competition. The Runner-Up image, if awarded, shall be selected from the images with scores equal to or in the next highest group in relation to the Top image. Honourable Mention (HM) images shall be selected from the next highest scoring images.
14. All entries must conform with the technical rules, and failure to so comply will result in the entries being disqualified.

Technical Rules

1. The image must be in JPEG and sRGB format and no more than 1024 pixels wide and 1024 pixels high (i.e. at most 1024 pixels wide and at most 1024 pixels high). [Note that only the pixel dimensions matter, the resolution (pixels/inch) is irrelevant for displayed images. If not in sRGB format, the colours displayed to the judges will not be accurate.]
2. Standard file naming format: Division-Name-Title.jpg where...
DIVISION is either B (beginner), or A(advanced)
NAME is the full name of the entrant (spaces are allowed)
TITLE is the title of the image or series (spaces are allowed)
Please note that there is a hyphen as a separator.
For example: A-Dave Smith-Alnitak Region.jpg

Instructions to Competition Chair and Judges.

1. The primary role of the Competition Chair is to conduct the competitions in accordance with the Rules. Accordingly, the interpretation of the Rules is within the Chairs responsibility. Ultimately how the, rules should be applied in a particular case before a competition is completed is the decision of the Competition Chair. If an issue regarding the interpretation of the Rules arises after a competition is completed, the decision should be made by the Chair.
2. The primary role of the Judges is to award marks to each image submitted to them for marking and to break ties if called upon by the Competition Chair to do so.
3. The decision to disqualify an image before or during a competition is to be made by the Competition Chair (NOT by the Judges). All images not so disqualified, or if there is uncertainty as to whether an image is to be disqualified, should be awarded marks by the Judges even if one or more of the Judges believes that an image should be disqualified. After a competition has been completed, the decision to disqualify an image is to be made by the Chair. If at any time an image is disqualified, if feasible the entrant shall be given the opportunity to submit an alternate image.
4. Decisions regarding how many images should receive awards and whether ties need to be broken are to be made by the Competition Chair. The 10% award is a rule of thumb and may be deviated from in circumstances deemed appropriate by the Competition Chair. Ties for Top and Runner-up always should be broken unless the Judges simply are unable to make a differentiation. In general it is desirable that all images tied for HMs receive an award but this depends on the numbers. Where feasible, it is desirable that these rules of thumb be applied liberally but if the numbers so require then ties should be broken by the Judges.
5. Judges should refrain from commentary and discussion regarding a specific image prior to its being marked. Of course, after the marks have been awarded the Judges are free and indeed encouraged to discuss and comment on the reasons for their marks, but the marks awarded should not be changed as a result unless there has been a fundamental misunderstanding.
6. A panel of 3 judges shall judge the competition.
7. The panel of judges shall consist of qualified persons selected by the Chair.
8. Evaluations shall be recorded as a score between 1 and 10 by each judge. The combined scores of the 3 judges shall be the score for that image.
9. Image titles shall be read aloud at the judging to introduce the mage to the judges. Imagers names will not be mentioned.
10. Insofar as is practical, at the commencement of the judging approximately 5%-10% of the entries, chosen at random by the Chair, should be exhibited expeditiously to the Judges so that they can obtain a sense of the quality of the entries before actually awarding marks.
11. A judge may not enter the competition.