Reminder: In order to be eligible for the annual contest, membership dues must be paid in full by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb 13, 2019. Please direct dues questions to Tessa Lighty at tlighty18@gmail.com
Reminder: When naming files, please put the category code in the file name. eg -GN_homecoming.jpg. For stories and portfolios, please begin with order and then category. eg - 01_FS_Matilda.jpg or 01_POY_Seals.jpg
Please include a PDF of your entry form in your entries.
ELIGIBILITY
The contest is open to all MPPA members with dues paid in full by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2019.
Only photographs made during the 2018 calendar year are eligible. A picture made before January 1, 2018 and subsequently published during 2018 is not eligible with the exception of a single image from a photo story. The single image can be entered as a single even if it was taken in a previous year, as long as the photo story was partially taken in 2018 and the image was not entered as a single in a previous year. Some of the picture story must have been shot in 2018 and picture stories may not be submitted in succeeding years.
Pictures must have been made while the photographer was employed and/or living in Michigan. This does not mean pictures must be made in Michigan. Pictures made on vacation or out-of-town assignments are eligible.
DEADLINE:
Contest entries must arrive by 5:00 p.m. Wednesday, Feb 13, 2019 to Chairperson J. Scott Park, MLive Media Group, 1750 S. Cooper St., Jackson, MI 49203. Contact J. Scott Park at jpark4@mlive.com if you have any questions about the contest.
CONTEST CATEGORIES:
A) SPOT NEWS: (SN) A single picture of an unplanned event taken in the course of daily coverage. Examples: fires, accidents, natural disasters and demonstrations.
B) GENERAL NEWS: (GN) A single picture from a political, social or cultural event for which planning was possible or that explores issues or news of the day distinct from breaking news.
C) FEATURE: (FEA) A single, unposed photo that celebrates life. Respect for the dignity of the subject is important. Usually a found situation with strong human interest; a fresh view of an everyday scene.
D) SPORTS ACTION: (SA) A single picture that portrays peak action participation in the game or sports event.
E) SPORTS FEATURE: (SF) A single feature picture that is sports related distinct from sports action.
F) PORTRAIT/PERSONALITY: (PP) A single picture of a subject that reveals the essence of the subject's character.
G) PERSONAL VISION (PV): A picture that exploits the graphic aesthetic qualities of the subject with emphasis on composition.
H) FEATURE PICTURE STORY: (FS) The pictures should be edited to reveal a story line or point of view. Please include a story summary that does not exceed 50 words. Maximum of 15 photos per story. Please include a title slide.
I) NEWS PICTURE STORY: (NS) May be spot or general news. Please include a story summary that does not exceed 50 words. Maximum of 15 photos per story. Please include a title slide.
J) SPORTS PICTURE STORY: (SS) May be sports action and/or sports feature. Please include a story summary that does not exceed 50 words. Maximum of 15 photos per story. Please include a title slide.
K) PORTRAIT SERIES: Photographed in relation to a news, feature or sports issue, trend or storyline. Maximum of 15 photos per story. Please include a story summary that does not exceed 50 words.
L) MICHIGAN NEWSPAPER PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR PORTFOLIO: (POY) The photographer must submit exactly 10 entries. At least four categories must be represented and at least two entries must be picture stories. You must also enter the 10 portfolio entries in the regular single contest categories, including picture stories. You must enter a second file in the regular category. Portfolios are evaluated for versatility, excellence and originality. A photographer may enter only one portfolio.
M) MICHIGAN COLLEGE PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR: (CPOY) Each student may submit up to 10 entries. At least three of the categories must be represented and at least one must be a picture story. You must also enter all the portfolio entries in the regular single contest categories, including picture stories. The judges will not break the portfolio apart, so you must enter a second file (or files in the picture story categories) in the regular category.
To be eligible, a student must have attended school full-time for two semesters during the 2018 calendar year. If a student has attended school for only one semester and has completed two internships, entries from only one of the internships are eligible for entry. A student must be a first-time college student, attending either a two-year or four-year school in Michigan and working toward an undergraduate or associate degree.
The Kristoffer Marc Gillette memorial scholarship will be awarded to the winner payable to their school. The College Photographer of the Year will also be asked to be a non-voting member of the MPPA Board of Directors.
N) BARRY EDMONDS MICHIGAN UNDERSTANDING AWARD: (ED) Barry Edmonds was named Michigan Press Photographer of the Year four times in the 1960s. He was also president of the National Press Photographers Association in 1971. At the time of his death in July, 1982, he was Director of Photography at the Flint Journal. The award was established to recognize and honor a photographer(s) whose work best portrays the common purpose of man. The subject of the entry must be relevant to Michigan. Submissions may show facets of human relationships, friendship, mutual concern for the environment, a lifting of hope for peace or any aspect of life appropriate to the theme of Michigan Understanding.
This should be of a current nature and some of the work must have been done during the contest year. It may be the project of more than one photographer. A statement explaining how your entry meets the Michigan Understanding Award criteria must accompany your entry. This statement should be no more than one double spaced typed page in length. Michigan Understanding portfolios are kept intact. Images from this portfolio may be entered in other categories if a separate file is submitted. You may not enter Michigan Understanding portfolios or parts thereof in succeeding years. Multi chaptered multimedia pieces are eligible in this category.
O) SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR: (SPO) The photographer must submit a minimum of 8 entries, with a maximum number of single entries at 15 photos. One entry can be a sports picture story, but is not mandatory. All of the images must be sports related. You must also enter at least 8 of the entries in the regular single contest categories. If you have a sports picture story in the portfolio, that must all be submitted into the regular contest category. You must enter a second file in the regular category.
Portfolios are evaluated for versatility, excellence and originality. A photographer may enter only one portfolio in this category.
MULTIMEDIA CATEGORIES
Please submit .mov files on disc or upload to Sendspace in the news and feature categories. Please submit URL's in the project category using the multimedia form.
Mulltimedia entries should be a maximum of 150 mb in size and should be in .mov format. Nothing larger than 150 mb will be accepted. The multimedia categories are intended to appraise storytelling in still journalism or motion journalism. (Video).
In addition, news value, writing, sound, as well as overall organization, clarity of focus and ease of use will be the guiding criteria for the judges. Multimedia stories and projects must be shot, produced and published in 2018. Each entrant is limited to two entries per multimedia categories.
P) News Story: A multimedia news story based on coverage of the news. This category will recognize outstanding multimedia reporting using fresh material. Each entry should be a single news story or essay with a suggested time of about two minutes and a maximum length of five minutes. Sports news and issue reporting multimedia should also be entered in this category.
Q) Feature Story: A multimedia feature story that celebrates life. This category will recognize outstanding multimedia reporting using fresh material. Each entry should be a single feature story or essay with a suggested time of about two minutes and a maximum length of five minutes. Sports feature multimedia should also be entered in this category.
R) Multimedia Project: A multimedia project in parts or chapters. This category will recognize outstanding multimedia reporting using fresh material. There is not time limit on entries, but please be respectful of the judges time.
ENTRY PREPARATION
• Submit only JPEG files.
• Only one image per file is allowed.
• No single image can be entered in more than one category.
• A single image from a photo story can also be in one other single category.
• File size should range from 4 to 8 megabytes uncompressed. Use the "High" or "Maximum" compression settings to compress your images into RGB JPEG format. The finished JPEG file should be around 600K when you are finished. No CMYK files please.
• Enter up to 12 images per picture story. Only one image per file is allowed. Any image from the picture story may be entered in a single picture category, but you must provide a separate entry file.
• Use a separate folder to separate your portfolio entries from the regular category entries.
• No more than 20 total entries may be submitted by any one contestant in the single categories.
• No photos using "Instagram" or other filters that alter the photo in any way will be allowed in the contest.
Fill out the following fields in captions:
*Caption:: This menu provides a place to enter complete, informative captions. Do not assume the judges will recognize a local event or the face of a local newsmaker. An informative caption usually enhances a picture's chance of winning. Judges are often irritated by the lack of caption information and can downgrade a picture. PLEASE ADD THE LETTER CATEGORY CODE AT THE BEGINNING OF YOUR CAPTION. eg. SN - Western Michigan’s Matt Stainbrook release a hook shot over the outstretched hands of Milwaukee defender Ryan Allen at University Arena in Kalamazoo, MI.
*Headline:* is for the title of the image.
*Photographer:* Photographer's name as it appears on the entry form.
*Credit:* Name of your publication or school.
File Naming: When naming files, please put the category code in the file name. eg - GN_homecoming.jpg. For stories and portfolios, please begin with order and then category. eg - 01_FS_Matilda.jpg or 01_POY_Seals.jpg
CATEGORY CODES
A) Spot News: SN
B) General News: GN
C) Feature Single: FEA
D) Sports Action: SA
E) Sports Feature: SF
F) Portrait Personality: PP
G) Personal Vision: PV
H) Feature Story: FS
I) News Story: NS
J) Sports Story: SS
K) Portrait Series: PS
L) Photographer of the Year (portfolio): POY
M) College Photographer of the Year (portfolio): CPOY
N) Edmonds: ED
O) Sports Photographer of the Year: SPO
To make a 'title slide', create a new PhotoShop document 10 inches wide by six-and-ahalf inches tall at 144 pixels/inch, black background, white text. Use 72 point Arial Bold (or Helvetica Bold) for the title. Please remember to flatten the title _slide_ and save it as a JPEG file.
ORGANIZING YOUR FILES
Please use a separate folder for:
* Singles
* Portfolio
* Edmonds Award
* Multimedia
* Story and Edmonds summaries. Picture story summaries should be no more than 50 words in length. Edmonds summaries can be up to one double spaced typed page.
* Picture story entries should be in a separate folder inside your "Singles" folder labeled Story 1, Story 2, etc.
* Please submit your story summaries and entry form in a PDF format.
* Portfolios need not have a separate folder for the stories. But remember to sequence your entire portfolio by using sequential numbering in the category field.
ENTRY FORMS:
All forms are available on the MPPA Facebook page.
SENDING
Directions for submission:
1. Load all entries into a folder named with your first and last name. (i.e. JonathonDoe) - Please put images and multimedia entries in separate subfolders within this folder.
2. Create a zip file of the folder.
3. Open your browser and go to http:www.sendspace.com - Though it is free to join, you do not need to be a member to send files. There is a maximum of 300mb.
4. Drag .zip file to "Drag files here or click browse to upload."
5. In the "to" entry field on the bottom left, enter “jpark4@mlive.com” and your email in the "from" entry field.
6. Click upload.
7. Once uploaded, you will receive a congratulations page with links. If you check your email, you should have received an email from sendspace. If there are any problems with downloading your entries, you will be contacted at the email the .zip file came from.
AWARDS:
Judges will award first, second, third and honorable mention as they see fit. The judges are not obligated to award every place in every category. There is only one winner of the Barry Edmonds Award. There are no ties and no other places will be awarded. All pictures will be judged in the category in which they are entered. If the judges do not feel the picture is entered in the proper category, they may disqualify it. The judges will not move the picture to another category. Any breach of the rules may result in disqualification. The MPPA will present awards at Seminar '19.
QUESTIONS?
Contact J. Scott Park, please email jpark4@mlive.com.
