2023 Annual AIM Image Competition

 2023 AIM Image Competition Rules

Image Judging Competition for the Animal Image Makers™ Conference

Image Judging Date: 10:00 a.m. central time Tuesday, March 28, 2023

Registration Deadline: 5:00pm central time Friday, March 24, 2023 at printcompetition.com

Entry Fee: $15 per entry

All images must be pre-registered and pre-paid at printcompetition.com by the deadline.

IMPORTANT - Please read the following rules carefully.

This is a digital competition only. All images must be pre-registered and pre-paid at printcompetition.com by 5 p.m. central time Friday, March 24, 2023. Uploaded files must be sized so the longest dimension is 4,000 pixels (20 inches at 200 ppi). Each file must contain an embedded color profile of either sRGB or Adobe RGB1998 and be saved at a JPEG quality setting of 10. 

Additional rules and information follow below. Additional questions can be addressed by contacting Danica Barreau at danica@pouka.com or Ellen Zangla at ellen@ellenzanglaphotography.com (note: Ellen will not be available March 12-22).

The purpose of this competition is to allow photographers to enter digital images to be judged relative to Professional Photographers of America’s 12 Elements of a Merit Print for the purpose of critique and/or competing for awards. For more information, see: https://www.ppa.com/articles/photo-competition-prep-understand-the-12-elements-of-a-merit-image

Judging will be to PPA standards but it should be noted that this is NOT a PPA Competition and PPA merits can NOT be earned. These rules pertain to images created by traditional photographic processes as well as those captured electronically with a digital camera or scanner. This competition is open to anyone. 

Printcompetition.com: As mentioned earlier, ALL entries must be pre-registered and the entry fee pre-paid at printcompetition.com by 5:00pm central time Friday, March 24, 2023. You may view live judging through the Print Competition Game Day app on your computer, smart phone or tablet that will allow you to watch the judging as it happens. You will see the current image that is being seen by the judges and watch the results come in. The app automatically refreshes so you just sit back and watch. In addition to the current image being judged, you will also see thumbnails of the top 16, a list of the last 20 scores and a list of the next 15 up. For an additional fee, you can upgrade to the premium membership which gives you even more features including access to thousands of archived images. 

If the competition chair and jury feel it is in the best interest of the competition, they have the right to begin judging early or conclude the following day. An announcement will be made through AIM social media if this will occur.

Questions: Additional questions can be addressed by contacting Danica Barreau at danica@pouka.com or Ellen Zangla at ellen@ellenzanglaphotography.com (note: Ellen will not be available March 12-22).

ELIGIBILITY

1. The entrant must have captured and created the original exposure.

2. Any entry which has been reproduced 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, with the exception of the Master Artist category. If an entry, in the good-faith opinion of the Photographic Competition Committee, violates copyright, trademark or any other applicable law that entry shall be disqualified.

3. The entrant’s name shall not appear anywhere on the face of the entry.

4. There is a submission limit of TEN (10) images per entrant, but no more than FIVE (5) in any one category. Each image submitted counts as one entry. 

5. Entrant must have a model release on file for each entry submitted.

6. No entry will be eligible that has been made under the supervision of an instructor/speaker or workshop. 

7. The same subject may be in more than one of the entrant’s submitted images.

8. Entries previously merited through PPA’s International Photographic Competition are not eligible. Images previously entered in the Animal Image Makers Conference and have received a score of 80 and above are not eligible for judging. Images merited through PPA’s Merit Image Review ARE permitted.

9. No Late Entries will be accepted - please note the deadlines above.

10. Entry fees will be paid on PrintCompetition.com at the time you register. There will be NO REFUNDS if images are paid and not uploaded.

11.  By submitting, entrants give permission to Animal Image Makers to use submitted images for promotion the following year.  Photo credit will be given and entrant retains all copyright.

ENTRY CATEGORIES

1. Dogs in Studio: Our canine counterparts, photographed in a controlled studio environment.

2. Dogs on Location: Environmental portraits of dogs incorporating the landscape, client’s home, museum, or where ever the world brings you while on location. No studio backdrops allowed in this category.

3. Dogs in Action: Whatever the activity — jumping, running, swimming, or anything else — active dogs should be submitted in this category. This can be on location or in studio. 

4. Cats: Feline lovers unite! Show us your cute and cuddly kitties. 

5. Equine: A horse is a horse, of course of course. But is yours a horse of another color? Show off that majestic trot, larger than life jump, braided manes or exotic breeds.

6. Other Domestic Animals: Lizards, fish, birds, guinea pigs, snakes, etc. Anything else that could be a pet.

7. Wild & Zoo Animals: African safari, trip to the zoo, and insects in your yard. If it’s not a pet, it goes here.

8. Babies: Baby animals are just too cute to compete with the adults - they’d win any day of the week! So they get their own category. Everything six months and younger should be in this group.

9. Animals and their Humans: Every once in awhile someone wants to be photographed WITH their pet. Show off how you captured their relationship.

10. Master Artist: Creative concepts, composites, and other highly altered images should be submitted into the Master Artist category. Thumbnails showing the original captures and/or all elements used must be presented as a part of the image. You must have either created all elements or have rights for usage of the elements. The subject matter must include an animal.

11. Bloopers: Do you have an “oops” shot the world needs to see? Did a pet or wild animal make an unexpected face or do something crazy or humorous? Images submitted in this category should not be contrived— you didn’t (and couldn’t) plan for that moment to happen. The image will still be judges against the “Twelve Elements of a Merit Image”. 

The competition chairperson, jury, and/or board of directors have the right to question the category of any entry and have the option to change the classification. Their decision is final.

NUMBER OF ENTRIES ALLOWED: You may submit any combination of images in any of the categories with a limit of ten (10) total entries per person with not more than five (5) per category. 

AWARDS

The top 10 scoring images in each category will be eligible for awards. The judges will discuss the merits of each and decide as a jury the first, second and third place winners, regardless of score. First place in each category will take home a trophy, then compete for “best in show”. Second and third place will each be awarded a ribbon.

All nine first place winners will compete for “best in show” with the top winner being selected by the jury. Scores will not be considered for best in show. The jury will discuss the merits of each of the first place entries to determine the best entry in the competition. The “best in show” winner will be awarded a second trophy and free registration to the next AIM conference.

Trophies and ribbons will be awarded at the closing banquet and awards ceremony.  Any winners not present may have their ribbons and trophies shipped at their expense.

CREDENTIALING

Those photographers who have signed up for AIM’s “Accredited Professional of Animal Imagery” program will earn points toward their accreditation Details of the program are on the AIM website: https://animalimagemakers.com/aim-credentialing

 A couple resources for watching the AIM Image Competition... 

1.   The image to the right has the scoring categories as well as the 12  Elements of a Merit Image.  Download it below and keep it by your  monitor for easy access.

2.  Join us to watch the live judging together and chat with one  another!  Ask questions, talk about the images, and have fun with your  peers.  (Link to come...)

3.  If you're virtually social distancing, you can watch directly through PrintCompetition.com.  Judging will begin at 10:00am central time.

Have fun!  And good luck to all participants!!