Bylaws

Section 1:

Any person with an expressed interest in photography may become a member of the club with payment of annual dues.

Section 2:

For outstanding services to the club, honorary memberships may be awarded by the executive committee.  Honorary members shall have the same rights and privileges as all other members.

Section 1:

The annual dues of this club shall be established by the executive committee and approved by a majority of those members present at a regularly scheduled meeting.  Dues are payable on or before the first meeting in January.  When the admittance of a new member is after January, the dues shall be prorated for the balance of the year.

Section 2:

Both single and family memberships are available.  Family membership is defined as a husband and wife or single parent with children sixteen years of age and younger.

Section 3:

Any member whose dues are in arrears for more than two months shall be dropped from the roster.  The treasurer must notify the delinquent member at least 15 days before taking this action.

Section 1:

On or before the first October meeting, the president shall appoint a nominating committee of at least three members in good standing.  The committee shall nominate a slate of officers and chairs for the next year, which shall be presented at the second November meeting.  The president shall accept additional nominations from the floor at that time.

Section 2:

A vote shall be taken on or before the second December meeting, after the nominations have been closed.  This vote shall be by written ballot or by a show of hands, at the discretion of the Executive Committee.  Those receiving the highest vote for each office and chair shall take office at the first meeting in January.

Section 1:

One-third of the membership of this club shall constitute a quorum.

Section 2:

A majority of the executive committee shall constitute a quorum.

All business meetings of the club shall be conducted in accordance with the newest edition of “Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised.”

The various club activities shall be in the hands of the standing or special chairs.  Standing chairs are:

• 1. Membership

  2. Programs

  3. Pictorial Prints

  4. Nature Prints

  5. Pictorial PDI

  6. Nature PDI

  7. PDI Tech (Laptop & Projector)

  8. Field Trips

  9. Newsletter

  10. Equipment

  11. Location & Set-Up

  12. Exhibits & Publicity

  13. Refreshments & Banquet

  14. List Serve News Groups & E-Mail

  15. Website

  16. Awards

  17. PSA

  18. Facebook Manager

For purposes of end-of-year (EOY) awards, the competition year shall begin January 1 and end December 31.

Rules for the semi-monthly PCS and annual EOY competitions may be modified and approved by a majority vote of the club members.

Section 1:

The club will conduct three (3) different formats for PCS and EOY competitions:  informal prints, formal prints, and projected digital images (PDI).  All PCS and EOY competitions will be regulated by the rules that follow:

The intent and spirit of the PCS and EOY competitions is that all significant creative input into the final image is to be the work of the photographer.  Given that, parts of the process used to create the final image can be executed by someone else – a commercial printer, for example – in any of the print categories.  Computer (digital) printers may be used to create the final print in any of the print categories.  When the final image is produced by someone else, he or she should not contribute any modifications or enhancements to it.

On each regular meeting night, each member may not submit more than two images to be included in the PCS.  Images may be print, PDI, or one of each.

When each print or PDI is presented at a PCS, the makers of each image are encouraged to provide information about their image, including what they like about their image, location, and technical aspects.  Other members are then encouraged to add their own positive comments.  

Appendix A is a list of suggested factors to critique.

The awards chair will record and keep a permanent record of all entries submitted, including the title of the entry.  All entries are eligible for submission in the EOY competitions for informal print, formal print, and PDI awards in each division (Nature and Pictorial).  Entries must be submitted in the same format in which they were originally submitted.

Section 2:

A.  Informal Print PCS

Informal print PCS will be held on each regular meeting night, except when formal PCS are held. 

• 1. Prints must not be matted or framed, but they may have plain and unprinted borders.  Maximum size for informal prints is eight and one-half by twelve (8-1/2X12) inches.  Prints can be mounted on a backing not greater than 1/8 inch thick and may not exceed the dimensions of an informal print (8-1/2X12 inches).

  2. Signatures, titles, and other writing must not be visible on the front.

  3. A label on the back of the print at the bottom must include title and photographer’s name.  All labels must be legible to everyone.  An arrow showing directionality is optional.

B.  Formal Print PCS

Formal print PCS (color and monochrome) will be held during the months of March, July, and November for Pictorial PCS, and April and August for Nature PCS. 

Formal print PCS will have monochrome and color prints as two separate sessions.  Each member may submit only one print according to the following specifications:

• 1. All Formal prints must be mounted or matted, with a maximum outside dimension of twenty by twenty-four (20x24) inches.  Mounting media can be mat board, foam board or gator board, not to exceed one-quarter (1/4) inch. Images must be printed on photo paper.  Frames are not permitted. 

  2. Signatures must be completely covered.

  3. A label on the back of the print at the bottom must include title, photographer’s name, Color (C) or Monochrome (B/W).  All labels must be legible to everyone.  An arrow showing directionality is optional.

  4. If the Print chairs discover a mistake has been made in the placement of an image in the wrong PCS (color or monochrome), they may place that image in the proper category, even after critiquing has been completed.

C.  Projected Digital Image (PDI) PCS. 

Positive Critique Sessions for PDI will be held on each regular meeting night.  

• • Digital image files should be in Jpeg format (.jpg) with the horizontal side no more than 1920 pixels and the vertical side no more than 1080 pixels. Digital images should be emailed to the PDI chair at least 2 (two) days before the competition (midnight on the Wednesday before the meeting) and must be accompanied by a title and the photographer’s name. At the discretion of the PDI chair, a digital image entry may be accepted if brought to a meeting.

  • After a PCS, any PDI image may be improved and re-submitted for EOY competitions, based on critiques at the PCS. 

  • The following procedures will be used for viewing PDI entries:

    • PDI will be shown once for general viewing, then again for positive critiquing by the membership. The title of each PDI will be read as it is shown for the general viewing.

    • At the time of the final showing, chairs will read the maker’s name and title of all entries.

The following rules apply to Nature PCS’s and EOY competitions.  A PDI or print must meet the following requirements to qualify as a Nature entry.

• • Subject matter is restricted to nature in all its forms including the facets of botany, zoology, geology, chemistry, meteorology, paleontology, etc. (anthropology and archaeology are excluded.)

  • Human elements, “hand of man,” shall not be evident or observable except when such elements are a normal part of the life cycle of a species; examples would be barn owls, chimney swifts, and pigeons and peregrine falcons in or on buildings.  Bands or tags used for animal identification or tracking may be included.  The natural appearing backgrounds of zoo shots are acceptable.  Eligibility of an entry shall be determined by the nature chairs, or, if not present, a majority of members present at the meeting.  To encourage flexibility and variety in Nature photography, at our June “open Nature” meeting each year, any Nature-oriented entries will be allowed, even if the “hand of man” is clearly observable.

  • Images depicting still-life, mounted specimens, museum habitats or groups, or similar subjects which are no longer alive are ineligible.  Non-living specimens such as shells, fossils, dead or decaying vegetative matter, geological formations, etc. are, of course, eligible.

  • Images depicting domestic hybridized animals are ineligible (e.g., farm animals and pets). Plants that are obvious hybrids (such as farm plants and garden plants) are ineligible.  Other wild and cultivated plants (i.e., plants that have been planted by humans) are eligible.  Images which depict macro details of unidentifiable plants are acceptable.

  • Images that have been altered in any manner (except for mounting, remounting, and/or cropping) are ineligible.  Ineligible alterations include anything that makes the image look unnatural; examples would include: over saturating, tinting, inverting colors, and posterizing.

  • Techniques that add, relocate, replace or remove pictorial elements (except for cropping) are not permitted.  Infrared images, either direct-captures or derivations, are not permitted.

  • The following digital editing techniques are permitted: cropping, high dynamic range (HDR), focus stacking, stitching images, dodging/burning and horizontal flipping.  Techniques that remove elements added by the camera such as dust spots, digital noise and film scratches are allowed.  Colored images can be converted to grey-scale/monochrome (e.g. black & white, or sepia or cyanochrome), but not infrared.

  • The use of artificial light, microscopes, telescopes, and telephoto lenses are acceptable. Acceptable filters are polarizer, warming, neutral density, skylight, and UV. 

Section 1:

All eligible entries from bi-monthly PCS during the year are eligible for the informal print, formal print, and PDI EOY competitions in February of the following year.  These prints and PDI must have titles as well as photographer’s name, for identification in the monthly records.  All entries must be in the media in which they were originally critiqued. The entries must be given to the appropriate chairs no later than the second January meeting.

Section 2:

The Nature and Pictorial chairs shall choose the EOY judge(s) from outside the club membership.  These judge(s) shall not have participated in our PCS’s for that year.  

Section 3:

At the judging session – before the awards program – the judge(s) shall view the prints and PDI’s.  The judge(s) are encouraged to discuss the entries among themselves while judging.  They shall rank the top six entries and shall select two entries for honorable mention in each format and division.

Section 4: 

At the awards program, images in all competitions will be presented in reverse order, the honorable mention images, and then the placing images. 

Section 5:

Honorable mentions will be “honorably mentioned” at the awards program.  Ribbons and certificates will be awarded to the photographers in each category winning first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth place. These will be awarded in each of the following eight categories: Nature PDI, Nature formal color print, Nature formal monochrome print, Pictorial PDI, Pictorial formal color print, Pictorial formal monochrome print, and Pictorial informal print.   

Section 6:

An “Image of the Year” plaque will be awarded to the photographer whose image is selected by the judges as being the best of all images entered in the EOY competitions.

Section 7:

A president’s award may be given at the discretion of the current president to a member who has given outstanding service to the club during the year.  

Section 8:

The Bill West Critter Award is given to the photographer with the best Pictorial or Nature small animal shot.  This award is given in honor and memory of Bill West who was a member from 1985 to 2003.  Photographs considered for the Bill West Critter Award are small cold-blooded wild land animals.  Examples are: insects, spiders, millipedes, snails, frogs and lizards.

For more information see special document.

Section 9: 

The Pete Reeme Spirit Award honors the enthusiasm for participation, activities, competitions, and desire to improve photographic abilities as demonstrated by Pete Reeme, who passed away in May, 2015.  The certificate, not necessarily a yearly award, is given to the photographer who shows exceptional improvement in photography.  Print and PDI chairs, and the Awards chair, will serve on the committee to select the winner.

For more information see special document.

Section 10: 

The Maurice Jennings Creative Photography Award honors the creativity of Maurice (pronounced Morris) Jennings, who passed away in July, 2015.  The award will be given for the image(s) that exhibit excellence in Pictorial composition with VIVID colors and simple composition.  Judges for this award will be the Pictorial chairs in each media (prints and PDI’s).  Each chair should nominate deserving entries, if any, from the EOY entries in their media.  At the determination of the chairs, multiple awards may be given in a single year.

For more information see special document.