Focus 2016 Competition

We have some changes to announce for our 2016 competition. To all participants in our contests, please be guided by these information.


1. NEW COMPETITION OFFICER

Focus competition for 2016 will now be handled by Amen Alcoriza, our lead Competition Officer. He will be assisted by Erika Santos. Jer Sandel, Competition Officer from 2013 until 2015, will be assuming a new post as External Affairs Officer and will no longer be involved in Focus contests. As such, Mr. Sandel will now be able to join contests, while Mr. Alcoriza and Ms. Santos will no longer be allowed to enter Focus contests. It is a requirement of our Competition Officer to prohibit himself/herself from contests to avoid conflict of interest and eliminate bias.


2. REVISED POINTS ALLOCATION
Competition Officer Amen Alcoriza has revised the points system for our 2016 competition, with minor changes from the previous year's :

Points/Scoring System - Points awarded for contests and accomplishments :

• For every submission of entry to a Focus PhotoMeet or Theme contest : 3 points
• Bonus points for placing in the Top 5 of a PhotoMeet or Theme contest :

          + 10 points - 1st Place
          + 7 points - 2nd Place
          + 5 points - 3rd Place
          + 3 points - 4th Place
          + 2 points - 5th Place
          (No additional points for 6th place onwards)

• Scoring for Focus Portrait Project :

             Submission of entry : 7 points
             + 15 points : 1st Place
             + 10 points : 2nd Place
             + 7 points : 3rd Place
             + 5 points : 4th Place
             + 3 points : 5th Place

• Scoring for Scott Kelby Photowalk contest :

             Submission of entry : 3 points
             + 20 points : 1st Place
             + 14 points : 2nd Place
             + 10 points : 3rd Place
             + 6 points : 4th Place
             + 4 points : 5th Place
             Bonus points :
             + 10 points : if included in Honorable Mentions list
             + 20 points : if included in Finalists list
             + 30 points : if Grand Prize winner

• Scoring for Exhibit and People's Choice + Juror's Choice contest :

             Submission of entries for exhibit : 10 points
             Bonus points for People's Choice :
             + 10 points : 1st Place
             + 7 points : 2nd Place
             + 5 points : 3rd Place
             + 3 points : 4th Place
             + 2 points : 5th Place
             Bonus points for Juror's Choice :
             + 15 points : Juror's Choice (only 1)

• Scoring for Larawang Bulakenyo competition :

             Submission of entry : 5 points for EACH entry (max of 20 points if entered in all 4 categories)
             Bonus points :
             + 15 points if Finalist in a category
             + 25 points if Best in category
             + 30 points if 2nd-Runnerup overall
             + 40 points if 1st-Runnerup overall
             + 50 points if Grand Winner

• Participation in Focus Bulacan's PP Nights / Inspirational Talk / Insight activities (sharing of photography knowledge) : 3 points
• Sharing knowledge / being resource speaker in Focus Bulacan seminars or workshops (to be announced beforehand) : 10 points
• Official representation of Focus Bulacan in covering a sponsored event (to be announced beforehand) : 5 points
• Participation in featured online activities/posts (to be announced beforehand): 3 points

3. REVISED ENTRY SUBMISSION PROCEDURE
We have some slight changes to sending contest entries. Please take note.

• Follow contest general guidelines (regarding restrictions and photo resizing).
• Rename your entry in this format :

              If PhotoMeet contest : PHOTOMEET_YOURNAME.JPG
              If Theme contest : THEME_YOURNAME.JPG

• We have a new email address where to send your entries, please take note. For contest entries, please email to focusentry@gmail.com and NOT the old email address.

4. NEW CONTEST VOTING PROCEDURE
Only Focus members and applicants are allowed to join and vote in our contests. Starting this 2016, we will be having a new voting procedure, one that keeps votes and critique (unfortunately) private until after the result has been announced.

• Please add Focus Bulacan Contest on Facebook, using your personal account (Focus Bulacan Contest will only add/approve Focus members and applicants)
• When voting opens for a contest, you may vote - together with optional critique - by sending it via Facebook private message to Focus Bulacan Contest. Do so within the prescribed duration of contest voting.
• Focus Bulacan Contest is accessed by Focus Competition Officer Amen Alcoriza and no one else, unless he gives permission to fellow Officer Erika Santos to operate in his stead due to unavoidable circumstances.
• Please note that Focus Bulacan Contest account will only entertain votes in private messages, and will not reply to your questions or concerns about Focus contests. For your questions about Focus contests, please post on Focus Bulacan Contest's timeline or post it in Focus Insider, so that any question will be seen in public and other participants are also made aware of the concern. (Privacy for votes, transparency for other concerns.)
• After voting has ended, Competition Officer Amen Alcoriza will tally the votes and announce the results, while also compiling and publishing the private messages containing the votes.

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Some things have remained the same, though. We are including them here to make this a comprehensive post about Focus competition.

PHOTOCONTEST GENERAL GUIDELINES

Purpose. Focus Bulacan’s photocontests are meant to inspire improvement by providing an organized form of objective and subjective evaluation. Photograph entries are individually assessed, then compared to other entries, with these assessments being the basis for voting. The results and feedback of the contests should serve as critique, which in turn would guide the participants as to where improvements should be made in their next photos.

Approach. Contests are competitive in nature. Competitiveness - within the boundary of rules, fairness and sportsmanship – spurs improvement. Participants are urged to do their best to win contests while adhering to these guidelines. However, may we remind everyone that there will be winners, there will be losers, yet the ultimate goal is for participants to learn something from the feedback and critique on their photo entries. Winning isn’t everything. Wanting to win AND learning from trying are everything.

Methodology. Focus Bulacan contests are open only to official members and applicants. Likewise, only members and applicants are allowed to vote on the photos. Entries will be kept anonymous so as to eliminate bias and make voters assess the photos purely on their merit.

CONTEST GENERAL MECHANICS :

• Make sure your photos comply with the category or theme of the contest.
• Only one (1) entry is allowed per participant.

• Do not put borders or watermarks or any other mark of distinction on the photos.

• Please resize your entries to 1000 pixels on the long side to make downloading them easier (1000 pixels width if landscape orientation, or 1000 pixels height if portrait orientation, or 1000 x 1000 pixels if square format). Photos should be in JPEG format.

• Post-processing is allowed, unless stated otherwise. Creativity doesn’t end at the click of the shutter. However, putting text or borders on the photos are not allowed, unless specifically instructed by the Competition Officer to be allowed for a particular contest.

• Entries will be subjected to a vote by official Focus Bulacan members and applicants.
• Contest organizer reserves the right to ask for RAW copy of the entry, for authentication purposes.

THEME COMPETITION

The Theme Competition is another version of Focus Bulacan's contests. The other kind, as you may already know, involves photos coming from our monthly PhotoMeets or scheduled shoots. This one, however, will come from themes or concepts which will serve as guide or inspiration for the participants in taking their photo entries. The Theme Competition's main purpose is to inspire and challenge Focus Bulacan members to keep on shooting during the break between PhotoMeets or shoots.


Here's how we do it :

• Every month, we will assign a specific theme or concept. This will be announced during the 1st or 2nd day of each month.
• It is up to the participants to interpret and showcase the theme/concept in their entries. We will not provide sample photos, to avoid creating stereotypes and limiting participants' creative discretion.
• Photo entries MUST be taken DURING the theme competition's duration. Old photos or those taken prior to the period of the theme contest will not be allowed. The Theme Competition's goal (of encouraging participants to keep on shooting) will be compromised if we allow old photos. The Competition Officer reserves the right to ask for the original photo files from participants (so please keep your original RAW or JPEG copy). The Officer also reserves the right to disqualify participants who cannot prove the date of their photos. (Note : Please set your camera's date and time to the current and correct info.)
• Participants will be given approximately three weeks to produce their entry and submit it according to our photocontest regulations. Deadlines of submission would usually fall on the 20th to the 23rd of each month.
• The entries will be put to a vote, a process which will take one week. This way, before the month is over, a contest winner should already be determined.
• Regarding submission of entries, Focus Bulacan's PhotoContest General Guidelines still apply.

PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR COMPETITION

POTY Mechanics:

• The competition runs from January until December of a calendar year.
• POTY is points-based, with members accumulating points based on their activity and performance in contests.
• All points will be tracked and recorded. The Focus member who has the most points at the end of 2015 will be recognized as Photographer Of The Year.
• The points and records will not be made available to the public but members will be updated individually - upon request - every quarter how many points they have accumulated and what is their current ranking. They will not be given access to other members' stats or standings.
• Only official Focus Bulacan members will be allowed to participate in POTY. Focus applicants MAY join our contests, but they will not accumulate points to be included in the POTY competition. However, once they become official members, their points in previous contests will then be carried over to the POTY scoring. 
• Focus Bulacan officers are allowed to join the contest, EXCEPT the Competition Committee Officer, as standard procedure for our photocontests.
• Final details of prize options will be announced in the last quarter of a calendar year.
• For points allocation/system for POTY, please refer above (REVISED POINTS ALLOCATION).

The race is on.

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For other details not discussed here, you may ask our Competition Officer by posting on the timeline of Focus Bulacan Contest account.

Good luck in the competition, Focus folks!