still rules


		The contest judging will be held Saturday, April 12, 2008. As in the past, the contest will remain open to the public for free. Presentations from still and broadcast speakers will be Sunday, April 13, 2008. The fee for Sunday’s events will be $35. We are working hard to offer a great inspirational, educational and fun weekend. To help us keep this event going, please encourage others to come (including amateur photographers, editors, page designers and reporters). Also, it is looking like we will have a few small workshops on Saturday afternoon during the professional judging. Both Canon and Nikon have offered to give small seminars, and some local professionals will also try to lend their expertise to the educational day. Following the judging, local professionals and the judges will offer portfolio reviews. Professionals who are members of NPPA must pay $15.00 to enter the contest (non-members pay $20.00). We are waiving the fee for the student categories and for professionals who have not entered for the past 3 years. Once again, we’re using the same caption information as Best of Photojournalism, which can be read online at-- http://bop.nppa.org/2008/ Changes for the 2007 Contest: In order to recognize the best visual journalism being produced online, we now have a MULTIMEDIA category. ***PLEASE NOTE: All multimedia entries will be judged before the still contest and have an earlier deadline of Friday, February 1, 2008.* The rules are being sent to past participants, those who have expressed interest and the NNPA email list. Please let others know they can contact us and we will add them to the email list. BE AWARE that we will not be correcting any entries. If you want us to review your entry, please send it one week early. If you have any questions about the contest or suggestions on rule changes for next year, please feel free to contact Rebecca Gratz. Deadline Friday March 7, 2008 (State boys basketball) Send your entries to Rebecca Gratz Omaha World-Herald 1314 Douglas St., Suite 700 Omaha, Neb. 68102 Please email both addresses when you submit your entry rebecca.gratz@owh.com rsgratz@yahoo.com 402.444.1377 office 402.677.1033 cell Statement of purpose The purpose of the NNPA annual news photo contest is to promote excellence in news photography; to persuade the general public that news photographers are instrumental in the reporting of news and the recording of daily life in their communities; to teach beginning photographers about photojournalism; and to help working news photographers improve their photo-reporting abilities. Eligibility NNPA members in good standing are eligible to enter the contest. A member in good standing is someone who has paid his/her dues (currently there are no dues) and lived in Nebraska or worked for a Nebraska-based news organization during 2007. If you are a member of National Press Photographers Association there is a $15.00 fee to enter the contest. If you are not an NPPA member the fee is $20.00. Checks should be made out to the Nebraska News Photographers Association. There is no entry fee for students. To be eligible for the student competition a person must be enrolled in a Nebraska college or high school. A student entrant also may not have had the majority (more than 50%) of his/her income from a professional photojournalism position during 2007. For those who graduated in May or August of 2007 and started working, only images taken before full-time employment are considered eligible. Photographs taken or initially published between January 1 and December 31, 2007 are eligible for entry in the contest. General rules The NNPA will take every precaution in handling entries, but cannot be held responsible for loss, damage, or non-receipt of entries. Entries will not be returned. Judging is open, which means we invite spectators to watch and listen as the judges make their determinations. Spectators may not talk to the judges or make loud comments, which could be overheard by the judges. Following the conclusion of college and/or professional judging, spectators are encouraged to question the judges. The judges must award a first, second and third place in each category except Portfolio of the Year. The judges may award as many Honorable Mentions in a category as they wish except for POY. For POY, we ask the judges to name a Photographer and Runner-Up Photographer of the Year. This is an electronic contest. All entries must be submitted on a CD and postmarked by the deadline, March 7, 2008. Number of Entries Allowed Per Photographer --Each photographer will be limited to 25 entries. Photographers may enter in any combination of single, story, or portfolio categories, subject to the 25-entry limit. -- Multimedia entries will be limited to 3 per person and do NOT count toward the 25-entry limit. For example, a photographer could enter 3 multimedia shows as well as 25 still entries. --A picture story or portfolio is considered one entry, so a photographer can submit considerably more than 25 images if they enter pictures in these categories. --A single photograph may not be entered on its own in more than one category. However, a photo may be entered in both a single category and one picture story. Similarly, a picture story may be entered both in the picture story category and as a part of a single portfolio. --You may not enter photos from a multiple picture package in a picture story. --A picture entered in the wrong category will NOT be reclassified and the judges reserve the right to disqualify it. Before sending us your CD, verify its integrity by making sure the images are readable and do not contain any type of virus. NNPA reserves the right to disqualify any disk that is unreadable, defective or found to contain a virus or other suspicious files. Only one image per file is allowed. (example: DO NOT design a layout for your stories to submit as one file.) Labeling Your CD Label each CD with your name, e-mail address, publication, phone numbers, ID code and NPPA number (if you have one). Students list college instead of publication. If any information is missing, you may be disqualified. Picture Category Codes and Descriptions Some categories have more than one code so that participants entering BOP will not have to re-do their entries. When captioning, use ONE code. Each story, package and portfolio counts as one entry. Limit 25 entries per contestant. Multimedia entries will be limited to 3 per person and do NOT count toward the 25-entry limit. For example, a photographer could enter 3 multimedia shows as well as 25 still entries. Student division There is a student division of each category including Student Portfolio of the Year. Portfolio of the Year OPY UPY This category, which determines Nebraska News Photographer of the Year and Runner-up POY, is a body of work by one photographer from the previous year. All portfolios will be judged on their impact as a unit, demonstrating diverse ability, journalistic value, technical quality, originality and photographic excellence. A portfolio must contain at least three categories of the competition. A portfolio may contain no more than 50 images. A photographer can enter only one portfolio. It is recommended, though not required, that a portfolio contain at least one story or package. Portfolios will NOT be broken down into individual categories for single picture judging. To enter a photo or picture story from the portfolio entry into a single picture or picture story category, you must provide a separate entry. Spot News DON INN DSR: An unscheduled news event where no previous planning was possible General News GNN: A scheduled news event where some planning was possible Feature FEA ENT AOE: General human interest or a fresh perspective Pictorial PIC NAH: A photo that exploits the graphic, aesthetic qualities of a subject with emphasis on composition and creativity. Radical darkroom, computer and electronic alterations of an image are not allowed in this category. Portrait/Personality LPP NPP: A photo that depicts the personality or character of a subject Sports Action SPA: Action photo of an athletic event Sports Feature SPE SFP: Sports related photo that is not action (reaction, sidelines, coaches, cheerleaders, crowds, etc) Illustration CPI: (Editorial, Conceptual, Food and Fashion) A non-reportorial photo produced from a preconceived idea and intended to dramatize a concept or a photo. Illustration is the only category in which sandwiched negatives or other radical darkroom or computer alterations are permitted. Multiple Photo Package MPP: This category is designed to represent the photo package that runs on sections fronts in all our papers. Think of the first image as your display photo. Include up to 6 images and a brief summary in the caption field. Picture Story OPS UPS INS CPS DNS SPP OES UES EPS IIS NTP SPS: Topics range from general human interest to news to sports. Stories should be edited to reveal a story line or point of view and should be arranged in a sequence, which helps communicate a message. Captions must include a story summary, which will only be read aloud at the judges’ request. While there is no limit to the number of images to a picture story, judges reserve the right to stop viewing a story after 15 images Digital Image Specifications --Save each image as RGB – do not use CMYK. --The maximum resolution is 250 DPI, with dimensions of 11 inches (or 2750 pixels) along its longest side. --Save each file between JPEG "6" or Good or JPEG 8 or “High” --If you’ve already resized images for BOP, enter those files. If you have not resized images, do not interpolate up (make the file bigger than the original). ALL OVERSIZED IMAGES WILL BE DISQUALIFIED Captioning Caption information is required and must be attached to the image via the IPTC field in Photo Mechanic. In Photoshop this information can be added under the File/File Info... window. Individual captions will not be read, unless a judge requests it. Each entry must contain the following information in the File Info or IPTC field: City, State, Country - The location where the picture was created. Object - (this is the same as the filename) --Your unique 8-digit number Contest Identification Code --The Category in which the image is entered --The name of your story, if any --A sequence number identifying where the image falls within the picture story or portfolio. For single-image categories, each image is a separate entry, so the number is used to distinguish between the entries. --You must use hyphens between each portion: CONTEST ID-CATEGORY-STORY NAME-NUMBER Examples: 00011500-OPS-Boxer-001, 00011500-UPY--023, 00011500-LPP--02 Category Select the 3-letter code for the category you wish to enter. Credit The photographer's name. Source Your employer or client. Caption --This caption may be shown together with your photograph during judging. Please check grammar and spelling before submitting. --As they taught all of us in basic caption writing, use the five W's: who, what, where, when and why. --For stories please write SUMMARY below the caption and include the information. Please do not include your name or publication credit in your caption. Transmission Reference - Your email address. Copyright Identify who holds the copyright for the image.For staffers, this will generally be your employer; for freelancers, it might be you, or it might be the client for whom the image was made. Time and Date - When was the picture created? Naming your files -BOP entries: Use the object field information. -Entries that were not prepared for BOP: Create an eight-digit identification number. Individual categories will be ########-category code-number of entries you have in that category. Example: 00004857-PIC-001 Multiple image categories will be ########-category code-one word title- sequence number. Use the sequence number to arrange the images in the order you want them to appear. For Portfolio, sequence numbers can go as high as 050. --Example: 00004857-FPS-baseball-001 or 00004857-NPY-001 Folders Single Entry Categories – Use a separate folder for each category. Put all single entries from the same category in the same folder. Name the folder using the category codes listed earlier. Picture Story and Portfolio Categories -- Use a separate folder for each picture story or portfolio. Put all individual pictures from a picture story in one folder. Name the folder using the category codes listed earlier, followed by an underscore, followed by the slug. Label the folder containing all other folders with your ID code. If you’re sending more than one photographer’s entry on a CD, please put each person’s entry in a separate folder, named with the ID. A Final Checklist --Picture Stories and Portfolios will not be taken apart for individual image category judging. Have you separately submitted singles out of your portfolio or picture stories for the single categories? --Are all of your files properly formatted, and do they fit within the size requirements? --Is all your caption information correct? Make sure your name or publication does not appear in the caption field. --Did you create a folder for each Single-image category, and each Picture Story or Portfolio? --Have you used your 8-digit Contest ID code as part of each image's Object field and file name? --Have you labeled your CD? MULTIMEDIA CATEGORY ***Deadline of Friday, February 1, 2008* – Limit 3 entries Multimedia entries may consist of audio slideshows, multimedia packages and/or web video. Content may consist of news, sports or features. Definition – Multimedia, or Rich Media Content, includes the use of audio, still photographs and/or video to complement and enhance visual storytelling. How to Submit Multimedia Entries We will make available two methods for entering the multimedia category. 1. PREFERRED** Submit a working URL for each entry. 2. Send a CD containing each entry and the NNPA Web site will host a URL for judging. Since this is a new category for the NNPA contest, please, as always, feel free to call or email your questions to .