Focus 2020 Competition

1/20/2020

WHAT'S IN STORE?

Competition Officer for 2020

2019 Competition Officer Jing Calonge reprises her role and will continue to handle Focus Bulacan's contests this year. Competition Officer is still not eligible to enter Focus Bulacan's competition. She may, however, join the FPPF PhotoWorld Cup competition (in representing Focus Bulacan), the Scott Kelby Worldwide Photowalk contest, and other national/international contests that are not organized by Focus Bulacan.

Focus Bulacan 2020 Contests

Monthly PhotoMeet Contests

Monthly PhotoMeet contests shall continue. Photo entries for these contests will be shot during designated monthly PhotoMeets of Focus Bulacan.
There shall be a minimum of eight (8) PhotoMeet contests for 2020 : one for every month except January (General Assembly), May (SummerJam), July (Anniversary Exhibit), and December (Year-end Party), when annual Focus events are already scheduled.
PhotoMeets could also coincide with special events such as the Scott Kelby Worldwide Photowalk and the Fujifilm Nationwide Photowalk.

Monthly Theme Contests

Theme contests are meant to provide an extra challenge to Focus competition participants on how to interpret themes and execute ideas into photo output.
Theme contests also give an opportunity to Focus members who cannot join PhotoMeets to participate in the competition by shooting on their own.
Our theme contest format is retained. Themes will be announced at the beginning of each month. Photo entries must be shot/taken during the same month. Old/stock photos will not be allowed.
There shall be a minimum of eleven (11) Theme contests for 2020 : one for every month except December (month of annual Focus Portrait Project).

Photowalk Contests

Each year, Focus Bulacan makes it a point to participate in the Scott Kelby Worldwide Photowalk and the Fujifilm Nationwide Photowalk. They are annual events that are in line with our campaign to make new friends and expand horizons via photography. Both photowalks are followed by photo contests, facilitated by both Focus Bulacan and the organizers of the entire photowalk event (Scott Kelby group and Fujifilm Philippines).
The Scott Kelby and Fujifilm photowalks (almost always) are designated as October and August PhotoMeets, respectively.
Due to the bigger turnout of participants, we allocate higher contest points to winners of these special contests.

Special Contests

During the latter part of the year, Focus Bulacan has an annual "Focus Portrait Project" where members photograph their co-members. These portraits are entered into a contest.
Focus Bulacan encourages its members to participate in local or regional contests. Examples are "Larawang Bulakenyo" in 2016 and Mandala Art Festival in 2019.
Focus Bulacan aims to promote camaraderie through these contests and special contest points are given to winners of the mentioned contests.

PhotoWorld Cup Participation

Focus Bulacan will continue participating in the PhotoWorld Cup - a competition among Federation of Philippine Photographers Foundation, Inc. (FPPF)-affiliated photography clubs.
PhotoWorld contests are judged on-the-spot monthly. There are ten (10) PWC contests for 2020, one each for February until November.
Higher contest points are allocated to participants and winners in these PWC contests, to encourage participation among Focus members.

Contest Guidelines & Entry Submission Mechanics

Purpose. Focus Bulacan’s photocontests are meant to inspire improvement by providing an organized form of objective (votes and points) and subjective (critique) evaluation of photos. Photo 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 on 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.

PHOTOMEET & THEME CONTEST GENERAL GUIDELINES

Only Focus Bulacan official members and applicants may join PhotoMeet and Theme contests.
For PhotoMeet contests, entries must be shot during the day of the PhotoMeet. For Theme contests, entries must be shot during the same month of the contest. Old/stock photos are not allowed.
Entries must adhere to the theme of the contest.
Entries must be resized to 1,000 pixels (on the long side)
Post-processing is allowed (unless stated otherwise)
Photo entry files must be renamed in this format : FIRSTNAMESURNAME_NAMEOFPHOTOMEETORTHEME.JPG (Example : CardoDalisay_Singkaban.JPG)
No watermarks, no borders, no marks of distinction
Entries must not be posted on social media until after contest voting has finished
Entries must be emailed to focuscontest2020@gmail.com (Focus Bulacan 2020 competition email address)
When emailing entries, indicate in "Subject" field the name of the photomeet or theme contest (Example : "DULANSANGAN CONTEST ENTRY")
Entries will be subjected to a vote by official Focus Bulacan members, applicants, and guest judges.
Competition Officer Jing Calonge reserves the right to ask for raw copy of the entry, for verification purposes.

PHOTOWALK CONTEST GENERAL GUIDELINES

Photowalks are open to Focus members and non-members alike. Photowalk contests are also open and not exclusive to Focus members and applicants.
Mechanics of Photowalk (Kelby, Fujifilm) contests are similar to PhotoMeet and Theme contests but have a few different details. These may vary from year to year depending on the mechanics set forth by main organizers (the Scott Kelby group and Fujifilm Philippines).
For specific mechanics of Photowalk contests, it would be best to keep posted on our Facebook page where we announce photowalk schedules and contest mechanics.

PHOTOWORLD CUP CONTEST MECHANICS

Only Focus Bulacan official members may join and get the chance to represent Focus in the PhotoWorld Cup. As such, mechanics for sending entries for the PhotoWorld Cup will be detailed and discussed internally. General guidelines of the PhotoWorld Cup, however, are posted below.

PhotoWorld Cup 2020

MONTHLY JUDGING DATES / FOCUS DEADLINES

February & March Themes : March 28 (Focus Deadline : March 21)
April & May Themes : May 23 (Focus Deadline : May 16)
June Theme : June 27 (Focus Deadline : June 20)
July Theme : July 25 (Focus Deadline : July 18)
August Theme : August 29 (Focus Deadline : August 22)
September Theme : September 26 (Focus Deadline : September 19)
October & November Themes : December 5 (Focus Deadline : November 28)

Online Contest Voting Mechanics

Only Focus members and applicants are allowed to join and vote on our PhotoMeet and Theme contests. Photowalk contests may be joined by photowalk participants (Focus member or non-member) and they may also vote.
For photomeet and theme contests : only members, applicants, and guest judges may vote (public voting).
For 2020 contests (PhotoMeet/Theme/Photowalk), we will use a private voting system where votes will be sent to our Competition Officer via Google Forms. Voting mechanics are also published whenever a contest is posted for voting.

Voting Mechanics

Contests are open to Focus Bulacan official members, applicants, and Photowalk participants (who are confirmed to have attended). Voting is also open only to members, applicants, Photowalk participants, plus official guest judges.

There's no specific criteria where to base your vote. Just vote for the photo that you think best represents the activity or theme.

Please view each and every photo before casting your vote.

Pick one photo for 1st place, one for 2nd place, and one for 3rd place. Cast your vote by stating the entry numbers of your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place photos. 1st place votes get 3 points, 2nd place votes get 2 points, and 3rd place votes get 1 point. (Guest judge's votes count for 10 points for 1st place, 7 points for 2nd, and 5 points for 3rd.)

You need to pick three photos. If you name only one photo, your vote would only count for 1 point.
Although not required, voters are encouraged to offer constructive critique on their picks.
Participants may not vote for their own photo. Self-votes will be nullified and offender's entry (if he/she has one in the contest) will be automatically disqualified.

The entry that accumulates the most number of points wins.

Send your vote via the Google Forms link.

To the participants : win the contest thru the merit of your photo, not by other means.

Voting usually takes a week (7 days), with the winner announced the next day once voting ends.

Vote Solicitation/Influencing

Soliciting or influencing votes is strictly prohibited.
Do not ask voters to vote for your entry or influence them to do so by showing them your entry.
Keep your entry anonymous as much as possible. Do not post your entry on social media until after the voting period has ended.
Proven cases of vote solicitation/influencing will lead to disqualification of involved participant.
Please report cases of vote solicitation or vote influencing to Competition Officer Jing Calonge. Rest assured that your report will be handled confidentially.

2020 Contest Judges

To eliminate (or at least minimize) vote influencing, and also to intensify the challenge, Focus Bulacan's guest judges for 2020 shall be kept anonymous until after the 2020 Competition has concluded, or until the last PhotoMeet and Theme contests have ended. The identity of our judges will be announced during year's end. Rest assured that our judges are well-qualified to offer insight and critique on contest entries.

Focus Bulacan Photographer Of The Year (POTY) 2020 Competition

POTY 2020 Competition Mechanics

The competition runs from January until December and encapsulates all Focus contests during the period.
POTY is points-based, with members accumulating points based on their activity and performance in contests/activities.
All points will be tracked and recorded. The Focus member who has the most points at the end of the year will be recognized as Photographer Of The Year 2020.
The points and records will not be made available to the public but members will be updated individually - upon request - every quarter as to 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 (during the year) will then be carried over to the POTY scoring.
Focus Bulacan officers are allowed to join the contest, EXCEPT the Competition Officer, as standard for our contests.
Final details of prizes will be announced in the last quarter of the calendar year.
For points allocation/system for POTY, please refer below (Points Allocation).

POTY 2020 Points Allocation

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 : 5 points
             + 20 points : 1st Place
             + 15 points : 2nd Place
             + 10 points : 3rd Place
             + 7 points : 4th Place
             + 5 points : 5th Place

Scoring for Scott Kelby Worldwide Photowalk contest :

             Submission of entry : 3 points
             + 20 points : 1st Place
             + 15 points : 2nd Place
             + 10 points : 3rd Place
             + 7 points : 4th Place
             + 5 points : 5th Place
           Additional Bonus points :
             + 10 points : if included in Honorable Mentions list
             + 20 points : if included in Finalists list
             + 30 points : if People’s Choice winner
             + 50 points : if Grand Prize winner
             * +10 points for Photowalk Leader (who can only enter Leaders Contest, not the regular contest)

Scoring for Fujifilm Nationwide Photowalk contest :

             Submission of entry : 3 points
             + 20 points : 1st Place
             + 15 points : 2nd Place
             + 10 points : 3rd Place
             + 7 points : 4th Place
             + 5 points : 5th Place
           Additional Bonus points :
             + 10 points : if Top 30 Finalist
             + 15 points : if Top 5 placer (2nd-5th place)
             + 25 points : if Grand Prize winner / People's Choice winner
             * +10 points for Photowalk Leader (who cannot enter the regular contest; if not submitting entry)

Points for FPPF PhotoWorld Cup competition :

             + 5 points for submission of entry (regardless if approved for entry or not)

             Bonus points according to contest ranking :
             + 10 points : Enter the Top 30 of a PWC contest (13th-30th place)
             + 20 points : Place 2nd-12th (Top 12) in a PWC contest
             + 30 points : Place 1st in a PWC contest

             Bonus points according to year-end competition ranking :
             + 75 points : Finish 1st in PWC Photographer Of The Year competition
             + 50 points : Finish 2nd-5th (Place) in PWC POTY competition
             + 30 points : Finish in Top 10 of PWC POTY competition (6th-10th Place)
             + 50 points : Win PWC Rookie Of The Year award
             + 20 points for each Focus participant if Focus Bulacan finishes in Top 10 of Club Of The Year competition

GOOD LUCK TO ALL PARTICIPANTS!

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