Grand Photos

 

ACCC, PSA, Grand Canyon Circuit and other Affiliates

 

We encourage our members to go beyond Grand Photos competitions and enter their best images in other events. Here are some of the available opportunities offered through our affiliates:

 

ACCC

ACCC is composed of 15 photo clubs and the Arizona Chapter of PSA (Photographic Society of America). Most of the clubs are in the greater Phoenix area, but some are from areas such as Tucson, Prescott, Sedona and Payson, hence it is a statewide photography organization. ACCC conducts two photographic competitions each year as part of its Spring and Fall “Roundups” which gather photographers from around the state for a Saturday of food, photography and instruction. Competition entries are displayed and awards are made during the Roundups. Members of Grand Photos enter images in these competitions and attend the Roundups. Full information about the ACCC Roundups (including the dates, programs and registration information) and competitions (including rules, categories, entry methods and deadlines) can be found on the ACCC website at: www.arizonacameraclubcouncil.org. The most recent edition of the ACCC newsletter, the Chronicle, can be found on the ACCC website.

Arizona Camera Club Council (ACCC) Grand Photos representative is Arnie Becker.

 

Two types of entries may be submitted to the Roundups – Prints and Digital (projected) images. All Digital images are entered online, however, each club collects the Prints submitted by its members and delivers them to the ACCC Board meeting about one month preceding each Roundup.

 

The 2019 Spring Roundup will be held Saturday, March 9, 2019 at Kuentz Recreation Center, 14401 R H Johnson Boulevard in Sun City West. For details and to register, visit the ACCC website: www.arizonacameraclubcouncil.org. You can register and pay online or if you prefer, you can download and mail the registration form to the treasurer if you by sending a check to Maryann Rapp at 12705 W Bajada Road, Peoria, AZ 85383.

 

Grand Photos print entries for the Spring 2019 Roundup will be collected on Tuesday, February 5th at the Grand Photos Studio between 11:30 am and 12:30 pm. If you are the unable to download the required labels from the ACCC website, they will be available for you to fill out and place on the upper left hand corner on the back of each print when you come to the turn-in. $1.00 a per print must be paid in cash or check made out to ACCC at the turn-in. Arnie Becker, our ACCC representative, will deliver your Print entries to the ACCC Board at its next meeting. Digital entries are due before 11:59 pm Friday, February 8. The rotating category for the Spring Roundup is “humor”. (Titles will be read at the judging.)

 

Some Grand Photos members enter both the Spring and Fall Grand Photos Competitions as well as the ACCC Spring and Fall Roundups. Because of this, we try to adjust the dates of Grand Photos Competitions and Turn-ins so they do not overlap the ACCC dates and if possible allow time for Prints to be returned from ACCC in time to re-enter for Grand Photos competition.

 

Any questions or comments regarding ACCC or Grand Photos participation in ACCC should be addressed to Arnie Becker

PSA

PSA (Photographic Society of America) is a worldwide photographic organization of which Grand Photos Club is a member. An annual meeting, at a different location in the US is held each fall. (In 2019 it will be in Spokane in September.) There are many speakers and events that take place during the conference. For information, see the PSA website (www.psa-photo.org) and the monthly magazine (PSA Journal) that is in the Grand Photos library.

PSA – Photo Travel Interclub Competition

 

This competition is available free of charge to all clubs belonging to PSA. Shirley Bormann is our Coordinator. There are three competitions annually. Each new competition year starts November 15, with the remaining competitions February 15 and May 15. For each competition, each club is encouraged to submit 6 different images from 6 different photographers depicting Photo Travel from any geographical area. Participants submit two 1024x768 pixel photo travel images (see definition below) by email to the club coordinator (Shirley Bormann) several weeks before the competition due date. Those interested individuals who are available will be notified of a meeting in the Grand Photos studio to narrow down the images from each individual to one image. Images are viewed by members and occasionally suggestions are made as to how to make an image even better. Each persons’ best image is voted on later by email by the participants who choose which image they think will do best in competition. The highest 6 scores get submitted to be judged. When they are judged, they are awarded points which are cumulative for the club for the season and the winners are announced afterward. (Member clubs judge the images from different divisions.)

 

Photo Travel Division Definition: (The image should look natural – like you saw it. You can crop but you can’t remove an object. It should not be over saturated, etc.) “A photo travel image expresses the characteristic features or culture of a land as they are found naturally. There are no geographic limitations. Images from events or activities arranged specifically for photography, or of subjects directed or hired for photography are not appropriate. Close up pictures of people or objects must include features that provide information about the environment. Techniques that add, relocate, replace or remove any element of the original image, except by cropping, are not permitted. The only allowable adjustments are removal of dust or digital noise, restoration of the appearance of the original scene, and complete conversion to greyscale monochrome. Other derivations, including infrared, are not permitted. All allowed adjustments must appear natural.”

 

The date when images need to be submitted to Shirley Bormann will be announced. Grand Photos hosts both Projected Image Division competitions and Photo Travel Competitions.

 

Grand Photos also participates in the Grand Canyon Circuit. The Grand Canyon Circuit is a PSA approved photographic exhibition that started in the Phoenix area. The Phoenix clubs that are currently involved are Camera Guild (Sun City), Photography West (Sun City West), Grand Photos (Sun City Grand), Phoenix, Saguaro, Sun Lakes, Trilogy and Arizona Chapter of PSA. There is generally a Fall and a Winter Circuit. In each circuit, a total of six of the clubs participate and benefit financially from its share of the proceeds. Several of our members act as judges.

 

The Fall circuit is normally Projected Image Division (anything is allowed), Nature, and Photo Journalism, and the Winter circuit is normally Projected Image Division, Nature and Photo Travel.

 

The benefit to the participant of entering a Circuit instead of an ordinary competition is that the participant submits images which are then judged at least 3 times instead of one, thus enabling you to acquire more acceptances for the work and cost involved. This is an international competition so entries come from around the globe. It is fun to see how your own photography stacks up against other photographers and if you are a member of the Photographic Society of America (PSA), you are eligible to use your acceptances to apply towards stars to get other awards.

 

All ACCC club members are eligible to enter for half price. Be sure to enter your club's name in the appropriate box on the entry form. For more information and definitions of each category, see the website: www.grandcanyoncircuit.org. If you have any other questions, contact Shirley Bormann.

 

 

Arizona State Fair - Photographic Competition

 

Information will be posted as it becomes available. There website is: https://azstatefair.com/competitive-entries-faqs.

 

Editor

A. Becker

3/5/2019

Grand Photos is a proud member of the Photographic Society of America (PSA)

All photos are copyrighted by the maker.

Grand Photos is located at Sun City Grand, an active adult community in Surprise, AZ