National Photography Competition 

Sponsored by – Birmingham Cameras

THE COMPETITION

The IPF National Photography Competition aims to encourage the highest standards in photography. Entry to the competition is open to all members of clubs affiliated to the Irish Photographic Federation.  

RULES OF ENTRY

The IPF National Photography Competition consists of six separate categories, with IPF gold, IPF silver and IPF bronze medals, plus two Honourable Mentions being awarded in each category.

The “Image of the Year” will be chosen from the winning images from each category by the judges and will also be awarded a gold medal and a Nikon Z6 II camera + Nikkor 24-70mm f4.0 S lens sponsored by Bermingham Cameras.

The 2023 Competition is a PDI event only. 

The categories are as follows:

Category	Notes
People (Excluding composites)	Portraits, Nudes, Environmental Portraits, Reportage, Street, Travel & Cultures
Activity	Sport, Leisure (non sport), Music & Dance.
Creative	Composites, Abstract Composites
Landscape	Landscape, Seascape, Astro
Still Life	Still Life, Macro, Abstract
Urban	Architecture, Streetscapes, Interiors

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 Photography Competition. 
• There will be six 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 24 images will cost €40.

Images:

• All content of each image entered must be the work of the photographer. 
• Except in Travel and Environmental Portraiture, alterations to images are permitted provided that all image c ontent has originated in camera, is not digitally created on a computer, or downloaded from any other source such as the internet or stock image sources.
• 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 in 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 Co-ordinator 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 on-line 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.

Calendar:

Opening Date for entries                                   28 February 2023

Closing Date for entries                                        30 March 2023

Showing of images and awards ceremony         22 April 2023, Horse & Jockey Hotel, Thurles, Tipperary

Awards:

The awards in each category will be as follows:

            2 Honourable Mentions

            1 Bronze

            1 Silver

            1 Gold

Image of the Year

This will be awarded to the image that in the opinion of the judges is the overall winner from amongst the 6 Gold Medal winners. The author of this image will receive a Gold medal and a Nikon Z6 II camera + 24-70mm f4.0 S lens sponsored by Bermingham Cameras.

Email for Queries       natphoto@irishphoto.ie