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ANNUAL IMAGE COMPETITION RULES

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Print Competition.com 

The Austin PPA's 2026 Annual Image Competition will be held November 15, 2026. It is open to both APPA members and non-members as described below. Current members of APPA must have their dues paid by the submission deadline to compete.

SCHEDULE

The submission window for the Austin PPA's annual image competition is as follows:

  • OPEN: Sunday, November 1, 2026
  • CLOSED: Friday, November 13th at 1:00 AM Central Time
  • LIVE COMPETITION: Sunday, November 15th, 12:30 PM to 4 PM Central Time

LOCATION

Precision Camera and Video, 2438 W Anderson Ln., Austin, TX 78757


ENTRY FEES

  • APPA & NAPfS Members $20 per image
  • Non-Members $25 per image
  • Maximum 5 images per person
  • Critiques - $7.50 per image for all requested entries

(Entry fees may vary from year to year.)

GENERAL
  • The Austin PPA's annual image competition will be a live competition scoring event with a virtual panel of 5 PPA trained judges.
    • Shannon Squires Toews         Richard Sturdevant         Dennis Hamon         PG Gudapati         Jeff Dachowski
  • Up to five (5) entries may be submitted by any participant.
    • Only the 4 highest scoring images from any participant will be counted toward eligible awards.
    • Images will be judged based on the Professional Photographers of America traditional 12 Elements of a Merit Image.
    • All submitted images will receive a score and participants can order critiques for any images submitted.

    • Judges will use the traditional (PPA) 100-point scoring system.

       Exceptional   100-95
       Superior   94-90
       Excellent  89-85
       Deserving of a Merit  84-80
       Above Average  79-75
       Average   74-70
       Below Exhibition Standards  69-65

    COMPETITION RULES

    • Digital entry files must be sized so the longest dimension is 4000 pixels. (All entries must be digital files.)
    • Each file must contain an embedded color profile of either sRGB or Adobe RGB1998 and be saved at a JPEG quality setting of 10. 
    • In most cases, total file size should not exceed 3.5 MB. 
    • Larger files will be accepted when necessary, so long as they are JPEG/10. 
    • Digital files are to be named Image_Title (use _ for spaces, e.g. See_Spot_Run.jpg).
      • All Images must be titled. Untitled images will be disqualified. 
    • The entrant's name, business logo or other maker identification shall not appear anywhere in or on the face of the entry.
    • No two Images may be of the same subject.  
    • APPA's Artificial Intelligence Rules apply to all APPA image competitions for all participants.
    • There must be at  least 3 entries in any combination of categories to constitute a competition.


    ELIGIBLE MEMBER IMAGES

        • APPA members may enter work that has competed at a level higher than the local affiliate and found to be merit worthy.
          • Higher levels include the Texas PPA and the national PPA / IPC.
          • Images that have earned a merit level score at prior annual APPA competitions are not eligible for awards again.
          • Images that have been entered at Austin PPA's monthly meetings are eligible, regardless of whether they earned a merit level score or if they placed in the monthly competition.
        ·       

        REQUIREMENTS

         Entrants must have captured and created the original exposure or exposures.

        • All processing, manipulation, printing or rendering must have been done by the entrant or under their direct supervision.
        • No entry will be eligible if it has been made under the supervision of an instructor or as a class assignment. All images submitted must be self-directed. Images created in an educational environment under direct supervision from an instructor are ineligible.
        • Any entry that has been created from an existing photograph, portrait, graphic or any other artwork produced by another person is a violation of the competition rules and will not be judged, accepted or displayed. 
        • All entrants must have obtained and have access to all necessary releases (model or property) and agree to hold APPA harmless against all claims and liabilities arising out of APPA's display, publication and promotion or other use of each image submitted to APPA.
        • If an entry, in the good-faith opinion of the APPA, violates copyright, trademark or any other applicable law, that entry shall be disqualified.




        ENTERING

          ·       Click on our logo and scroll down the page. You will be asked if you are an Austin PPA member and if this is your first time entering.

          • Click on “Create New Image.”  Enter a title and select a category.
          • If you want to purchase a critique, check the box and click to upload your image.
          • Once your image is uploaded you will receive an email confirmation.
          • If you need to replace the image, click on the upload button again and select a different file.
          • Click the payment button.

            APPA MEMBER AWARDS

            • APPA Member Awards can only be won by APPA members in good standing except as described below.*
              • Trophies and ribbons will be awarded for three master category winners 1st through 3rd. 
                • Master categories are Portrait, Nature and Photographic Open. 
                • Scroll down this page to see the full list of individual categories.
              • Trophies will be given for Best in Show and Highest Print Case.
                • Highest print case is determined by totaling your 4 highest scores. 
              • Ribbons will also be given for Judge's Choice
            • Photographer of The Year and Distinguished Photographer of the Year will be announced and awarded at the APPA holiday party in December.


            NON-MEMBER AWARDS

            • A trophy will be awarded for the Best in Show (highest scoring image) by a Non-Member. 
            • Ribbons will be awarded for the highest scoring image in each of the individual categories.
              • All participants are eligible for these awards, including APPA members and non-members.
              • There must be at  least 3 entries in an individual category for a ribbon to be awarded.

            Member and non-member participants do not need to attend the live, annual competition to earn awards.


            CRITIQUES

            Judges will submit 3-to-5-minute critiques and funds collected are sent directly to them.

            • Video critiques are not guaranteed. Some judges only produce audio critiques.
            • Recordings will be uploaded to the printcompetition.com website where only the audio portion of critiques will be posted
            • Judges are reminded to assume makers do not receive a visual critique and to avoid language that relies on seeing a judje pointing to elements within an image.
            • If a judge forwards a video critique to APPA, it will be forwarded to the maker.  
            • Judges do not know who the makers are when they produce critique.
            • Premium members on printcompetition.com will receive an email announcing that an audio file has been posted. The message may say that there was a judge’s debate regarding your image, however, the recording may be only your paid critique.  
              • Discussions are typically only posted on printcompetition.com if there is a challenge in a live competition.
            • Premium members can listen to critiques from the Past Entries page in your account (see the link in the top right corner of your account).
            • Premium members can also listen to critiques through the archive pages and listen to critiques on images entered by other photographers.
            • Critiques are due from judges one week after the live competitioin event.

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