The Competition
The IPF National Nature Photography Competition aims to encourage the highest standards in nature & wildlife photography.
Entry to the competition is open to all members of clubs affiliated with the Irish Photographic Federation
RULES OF ENTRY
The IPF National Nature Photography Competition consists of 4 separate categories, with IPF gold, IPF silver, and IPF bronze medals, plus two Honourable Mentions being awarded in each category.
The “Image of the Competition” will be chosen from the winning images from each category by the judges and will also be awarded a trophy.
The 2023 Competition is a PDI event only.
The categories are as follows:
| Category | Notes |
| Flora | Any natural plant life, not including human-created hybrid plants, or cultivated plants. |
| Fauna | Any living being in the natural world as defined in the FIAP definition, not including feral animals, domestic animals or mounted specimens. |
| Macro | Macro images of anything in nature as defined in the FIAP definitions. |
| Wildlife | Extant zoological or botanical organisms free & unrestrained in a natural or adopted habitat.Mammals, birds, insects, marine subjects, botanical subjects including fungi and algae taken in the wild, and carcasses of extant species. (see FIAP definitions)i |
Definition of Nature Photography (Appendix to FIAP document 018/2017)
Nature photography is restricted to the use of the photographic process to depict all branches of natural history, except anthropology and archaeology, in such a fashion that a well-informed person will be able to identify the subject material and certify its honest presentation. The storytelling value of a photograph must be weighed more than the pictorial quality while maintaining high technical quality. Human elements shall not be present, except where those human elements are integral parts of the nature story such as nature subjects, like barn owls or storks, adapted to an environment modified by humans, or where those human elements are in situations depicting natural forces, like hurricanes or tidal waves. Scientific bands, scientific tags, or radio collars on wild animals are permissible. Photographs of human-created hybrid plants, cultivated plants, feral animals, domestic animals, or mounted specimens are ineligible, as is any form of manipulation that alters the truth of the photographic statement.
No techniques that add, relocate, replace, or remove pictorial elements except by cropping are permitted. Techniques that enhance the presentation of the photograph without changing the nature story or the pictorial content, or without altering the content of the original scene, are permitted including HDR, focus stacking, and dodging/burning. Techniques that remove elements added by the camera, such as dust spots, digital noise, and film scratches, are allowed. Stitched images are not permitted. All allowed adjustments must appear natural. Colour images can be converted to greyscale monochrome. Infrared images, either direct- captures or derivations, are not allowed.
Images used in Nature Photography competitions may be divided into two classes: Nature and Wildlife.
Images entered in Nature sections meeting the Nature Photography Definition above can have landscapes, geologic formations, weather phenomena, and extant organisms as the primary subject matter. This includes images taken with the subjects in controlled conditions, such as zoos, game farms, botanical gardens, aquariums, and any enclosure where the subjects are totally dependent on man for food.
Definition of Wildlife Photography
Images entered in Wildlife sections meeting the Nature Photography Definition above are further defined as one or more extant zoological or botanical organisms free and unrestrained in a natural or adopted habitat. landscapes (initial capital letter removed), geologic formations, photographs of zoo or game farm animals, or of any extant zoological or botanical species taken under controlled conditions are not eligible in Wildlife sections. Wildlife is not limited to mammals, birds, and insects. Marine subjects and botanical subjects (including fungi and algae) taken in the wild are suitable wildlife subjects, as are carcasses of extant species.
Wildlife images may be entered in Nature sections of Exhibitions.
Entering the competition:
- Entries will be made via the official online entry system and no other form of entry method is available. The link will be published as part of the competition announcement on the IPF website.
- Fees will be paid as part of the online entry system by PayPal. There will be no other payment method available. The fees are outlined hereunder.
- There will be no distinction between Advanced and Non-Advanced sections in the IPF National Nature Photography Competition.
- There will be four categories as above and entries will be limited to a maximum of four images per category.
- Image file type must be Jpg. All other file types will be rejected by the software.
- Images must be sized correctly in order to be accepted by the online system. Images must be a maximum 1,600 pixels on the long side.
- Each image must have a unique title.
- Images should use sRGB colour space
- Images will be displayed for judging at the size submitted.
- An entry may be rejected if, at the reasonable discretion of the IPF, it believes the entry does not conform to the competition rules and conditions or is of an offensive nature.
- The organisers have the right to request the original unedited RAW or unedited Jpeg file, negative or slide. Non-compliance with such a request may result in the image being disqualified.
Entry Fee:
- The cost of entry will be €20, including the first four images and it will be €1 per image thereafter. So, a full entry of 16 images will cost €32.
Images:
- All content of each image entered must be the work of the photographer.
- All entries in the Nature categories and in the Wildlife category must comply with the FIAP definitions above.
- The use of images taken from drones is permitted.
- Identifying marks, such as your name or logo, will result in the image being automatically disqualified.
- Competitors are strictly forbidden from using the same image that has been entered in previous IPF POTY/NPOTY competitions. Any such image will be disqualified.
- A particular image can be entered into one category only.
- Images entered can be either Colour or Monochrome. Mono and colour versions of an image will be considered the same image.
- Submission of entries to the competition is deemed to confirm the competitor’s acceptance of the competition rules and IPF’s decisions. It is the competitor’s responsibility to read and understand the rules. Interpretation and implementation of the rules shall be at the discretion of the competition co-ordinator who shall be honour bound to adjudicate all disputes fairly and without favour. The coordinator may request to see original images as part of this process.
- Any form of canvassing of any judge or organiser is strictly forbidden.
Judging:
- Judging will be conducted in accordance with good judging practices and as the judging will be online it will be incumbent on the judges to use properly calibrated screens.
- Three experienced judges must be chosen by the IPF Judges sub-committee.
- The judges will view the images in random order.
- Judging will be anonymous.
- Images will be scored out of five points per judge.
- Judges may not consult with each other until all three have submitted their scores.
- Judges may consult when adjudicating on tied images for awards.
Copyright:
- Your entry remains your copyright. However, it is a condition of entry that the IPF may use your entered images for the purposes of promoting photography, the work of the IPF and its regions, and as a method of promoting Irish photography.
Awards:
The awards in each category will be as follows:
2 Honourable Mentions
1 Bronze
1 Silver
1 Gold
Image of the Competition
This will be awarded to the image that in the opinion of the judges is the overall winner from among the 4 Gold Medal winners. The author of this image will receive a Trophy.