The Contest Designed by Photojournalists for Photojournalists

Compete with the very best in still and television photojournalism, in picture editing, and Web editing. Now in its fifth year, the Best of Photojournalism (BOP) is the world's leading digital photojournalism contest. BOP is a project of the National Press Photographers Association.

Entry Deadline for all divisions is February 10, 2006.

• Registering for the Contest
• Preparing your Images
  • Number of Entries
  • Category Codes
  • Portfolios
  • Picture Stories
  • Image Format
  • Film Scanning
  • Getting the Caption Software
  • Entering Picture Info
  • Naming your File
  • Image Preparation Checklist
• Submitting your Images

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Best of Photojournalism 2006 is open to professional photographers, editors and online photojournalists, and there is no entry fee. All entries must have been taken or initially published between January 1st and December 31st, 2005. Photographers do not need to be members of NPPA to enter.

Changes in the 2006 Contest

Photojournalism is changing. Portable digital cameras are giving more people the basic tools to cover news events that affect their lives. Large media companies are integrating and showcasing photographic reporting in new ways. As a result, visual journalism is becoming more "visible" in popular culture.

The Best of Photojournalism seeks to recognize the best work coming from this changing landscape, and set new standards for the future. We celebrate the craft of photographic reporting, not just the artistic and technical qualities of photography. Newsrooms need journalists—visual reporters who are rooted in accuracy, and can harness their aesthetic skills in their work.

Category changes

• New topical Natural Disaster categories have been created, recognizing the great coverage of hurricanes, earthquakes, and other disasters in 2005.
• The Domestic News categories (Domestic News and Domestic News Picture Story) now cover all of North America.
• The Feature categories are now called Enterprise.
• Portrait and Personality is being split into Local and News categories. The addition of the Local Portrait category allows the contest to recognize great coverage of people who aren't public figures.
• The Computer Image Illustration and Conceptual (Photographic) Illustration categories have been merged. The new category is called Conceptual Photographic Illustration.
• Single-image and Picture Story categories have been created for Celebrity News coverage that goes beyond the "surface" level of most runway and red-carpet pictures.
• A new category has been created to recognize the publication of great picture stories. Every picture in a Best Published Picture Story entry has to have appeared in print as part of a single story. Longer stories may be cut to meet the 12-image limit, but no pictures may be added.
• Explicit Magazine and Newspaper categories have been dropped. Entries from large newspapers are now going head-to-head with magazines.
• Several categories (Photojournalist of the Year, Enterprise Picture Story, and Best Published Picture Story) are being split based on size, to give photojournalists from smaller publications the recognition they deserve.

Other Entry Changes

• Image info entry is now being done using Photo Mechanic instead of the Merlin-Caption plug-in for Photoshop. As a consequence:
  • Photos can now be re-captioned without re-compressing the image file.
  • Photos can be assigned global information (such as categories, contest ID codes, and story titles) as a batch, rather than one-by-one.
  • Photos can be named automatically based on their Object field data.
• Staff photographers are required to get approval before they enter unpublished images owned by their employer. Freelancers can still enter unpublished work without asking permission.

Post-Entry Changes

• Entrants will be able to log in to the contest server and correct errors in their captions and categories themselves. This process is monitored to ensure that it is secure and accurate, and all changes will be confirmed by email.

Number of Entries Allowed Per Photographer

• Each photographer will be limited to 20 entries.
• Photographers may enter in any combination of single, story, or portfolio categories, subject to the 20-entry limit.
• A picture story or portfolio is considered one entry, so a photographer can submit considerably more than 20 images if they enter pictures in these categories.
• A single photograph may not be entered on its own in more than one category. However, a photo may be entered in both a single category and one picture story.
• Similarly, a picture story may be entered both in the appropriate picture story category and as a part of a single portfolio.
• A picture entered in the wrong category will not be reclassified and the judges reserve the right to disqualify it.

Digital Image Specifications

• Adjust your monitor so that the sample image at http://bop.nppa.org/calibration+image.jpg renders accurate color, contrast and density. Then, adjust your images so they look correct on your newly-calibrated monitor.
  We will be using this image to adjust our digital projection system, and by calibrating to the same target, you can be confident that your images will display correctly.
• Save each image as an RGB file. Do not use CMYK.
• The final image resolution should be 250 DPI, with maximum dimensions of 2750 pixels along its longest side.
• Save each image as a JPEG file, with a Photoshop JPEG quality level of at least ‘6’ or ‘good’ (in other programs this same level is called 75%).

Scanning Specifications For Negative or Transparency Film

Best of Photojournalism 2006's Still Photography division only accepts digital files. If the images you wish to submit only exist on film, you will need to scan them and submit the digital files. Please format each file according to the Digital Image Specifications.

Important Tip

We strongly recommend that you do all your scanning and adjustments first, then save the images on your hard drive using temporary file names. Entering the caption and entry info for your images will be much easier to do as a group, one right after another. Though it may look intimidating at first glance, entering all the info will only take a couple of minutes for each picture.

Picture Category Codes and Descriptions

Images in the Best of Photojournalism are divided into categories based on their subject matter, and on whether they are part of an extended story or not. The set of images in each category are then judged against each other.

As noted under Number of Entries Allowed Per Photographer, a given photograph may not be entered on its own in more than one category. However, a photo may be entered in both a single-image category and a picture story (up to a limit of four single images per story). Pictures entered in the wrong category will not be reclassified, and the judges reserve the right to disqualify them. Because of this, take care when choosing the category for your images.

Portfolio Rules

All Portfolios will be judged on their impact as a unit, demonstrating diverse ability, journalistic value and photographic excellence.

• A Photojournalist of the Year portfolio:
  • may contain no more than 40 images in total, spread among picture stories and single images
  • must include at least two picture stories
• A ‘New America Award’ or Sports Photojournalist of the Year portfolio may contain no more than 24 images.
• Portfolios will not be broken down into individual categories for single picture judging. To enter a photo or picture story from your portfolio entry into a single picture or picture story category, you must provide a separate entry.
• To sequence portfolios, put a number identifying the image's position in the portfolio in the Supp Cat 2 field. The sequence number is also included as part of the Object field: please review the Object field instructions for details.

Picture Story Rules

• Picture stories may contain no more than 12 images.
• Images in picture stories will not be judged individually. To enter a photo from your picture story on its own, you must provide a separate entry. Note: no more than four single images may be taken out of a picture story and entered in single categories.
• To sequence the images in your picture story, put a number identifying the image's position in the story in the Supp Cat 2 field. The sequence number is also included as part of the Object field: please review the Object field instructions for details.

Downloading the Photo Mechanic Trial

A special trial version of Photo Mechanic for the Best of Photojournalism entrants is available for both Mac OS X, Mac OS 9, and Windows 2000/XP. The trial version comes with a special key that will allow it to run for the duration of the contest entry period. To prevent this key from being abused, the registration key will be emailed to each entrant in the contest.

Your registration email will also include contest-specific configuration files to assist you in streamlining your image preparation process. Instructions for using those files will be included in the text of that email.

If you have registered, but have lost your key, log in and view your instructions.

Want to keep using Photo Mechanic after the contest entry period ends? Buy a copy at the NPPA discount!

Entering Caption and Picture Info

Important Note: The contest database receives a very large number of entries. Please read and follow the captioning and labeling instructions below very carefully to ensure that your images are entered correctly and eligible for judging. If you have any questions, please contact contests@nppa.org before submitting your images.

• All captions and other pertinent information will be entered using Photo Mechanic. Because Photo Mechanic doesn't rewrite the image data when saving, you can change your captions with no loss of quality.
• Photo Mechanic 4 can be used on both Mac OS X, Mac OS 9, and Windows 2000/XP. If you do not have access to a system that meets these requirements, or if you have problems using Photo Mechanic, please contact NPPA.

Photo Mechanic provides a simple way to enter all the name, category and caption information required for Best of Photojournalism. The information is stored in the IPTC headers, which are viewable through the File Info dialog in Photoshop, but using Photo Mechanic offers several major advantages over manual entry:

• It prevents typos when choosing the entry category. Since the category is used to select the images for judging, typos in the Category field could result in your images being disqualified.
• By batch-assigning fields that will be the same for a group of your files (such as your contest ID, email address, or the entry category), it helps ensure that your file information is consistent, and thus that your Picture Story and Portfolio entries will stay together.
• It allows you to automate your file naming so that it is consistent with your Object field information.

To enter information for the Best of Photojournalism caption fields, open your files in Photo Mechanic, mouse over the one you want to edit, and click the IPTC File Info button at the lower left corner of the image thumbnail pane. When the caption dialog appears, fill in the fields as outlined below to begin preparing your entry. Any fields that are not listed below can be left blank, or not, as desired.

The image information is saved to the industry-standard IPTC headers in the image file, so if you use another image cataloging program, you may find that much of the image information is pre-entered when you first launch the plugin. Similarly, you may see the information you enter for your Best of Photojournalism entries appear in cataloging or image editing programs other than Photo Mechanic.

Batch-Assigning Entry Information

Batch-assigning fields that will be the same for a group of your files (such as your contest ID, email address, or the entry category) helps ensure that your file information is consistent, and thus that your Picture Story and Portfolio entries will stay together.

To assign the same field value to a group of files in Photo Mechanic,

1. Choose IPTC Stationery Pad from the Image menu. A window will be opened showing all the File Information fields, most of them blank.
2. Type the text you want to use in the appropriate field, and check the box next to it.
3. Make sure any fields you are not intending to assign do not have the boxes next to them checked.
4. Click the Close Stationery button.
5. In the Contact Sheet window in Photo Mechanic, select all the images you want to update the information for.
6. Choose Apply IPTC Stationery Pad to Photos from the Image menu. A progress dialog will appear, and when it closes, all of your files will have been updated.

For example, to change the Category for the all the images in your INN folder, you would open the Stationery Pad, choose INN from the Category drop-down, and check the box next to the Category field. Then select all the images in the folder and apply the Stationery Pad, and the Category field will be updated for all the files.

Object Field

Entering the correct information into the object field is critical to your entry. This information is used in your email confirmation, for locating your image entries in the database, and for sequencing your images into picture, story and portfolio categories. The object field information must include:

• Your unique Contest Identification Code, which you can obtain by filling out the online Contest Registration Form ( beginning December 16th, 2005). Your unique Contest Identification Code should be an 8-digit number with 4 leading zeroes.
• The Category in which the image is entered
• The name of your story, if any
• A sequence number identifying where the image falls within the picture story or portfolio. For single-image categories, each image is a separate entry, so the number is used to distinguish between the entries.

Examples: 00008250-INS-Karbala-001, 00008250-UPY--023, 00008250-LPP--02

IMPORTANT!

• You must use hyphens between each portion: CONTEST ID-CATEGORY-STORY NAME-NUMBER
• Do not use the same subject for different picture stories within the same category
• You must use three digits in the sequence numbering, beginning with zero (0): 001, 002, 003, 004, 005, 006, 007, 008, 009, 010, 011, 012
• Any typos in the object field may cause the images to be incorrectly sequenced or dropped from the picture story.
• An image entered in a single-image category and also entered as part of a Picture Story or Portfolio must be processed and saved separately for each case. Make certain to use the correct Category code, Object field, and filename for each image.

Naming Your Files

When your images are imported into the contest database, the file names (and folder structure) serve as an important check on whether the information we are importing is correct. ...And in cases where information was left out of the IPTC/File Info headers entirely, the file names may offer a way to reconstruct it.

Filenames that are based on your contest ID, the image category, or both (such as the Object field) also allow you to tell at a glance that your images are in the right place, and coded correctly, before you submit them to the contest.

You can rename all your images automatically in Photo Mechanic by selecting them and choosing Rename Photos from the File menu. To use the information from the Object field as the file name, type {object} in the text field where it says "Please enter the photo renaming string", and click Rename.

After you name your files, please check to make sure the contest ID, category, and story name (as reflected in the Object field and file name) are correct before you submit your entries.

Folders

To avoid filename conflicts on the entry server, and to make it simpler to find your images if you should have a question, we ask that you organize all your images into folders by category, using the 3-letter Category code as the name of the folder.

The category folders, in turn, should be collected into a folder or archive named with your Contest ID Code.

In addition to making filing simpler, organizing your images into folders also allows us to confirm that the IPTC/File Info data was read successfully when we import your images.

Single Entry Categories

Use a separate folder for each category. Put all single entries from the same category in the same folder. Name the folder using the category codes listed earlier.

Picture Story and Portfolio Categories

Use a separate folder for each picture story or portfolio. Put all individual pictures from a picture story in one folder. Name the folder using the category codes listed earlier, followed by an underscore, followed by the slug.

Image Preparation Checklist

• Picture Stories and Portfolios will not be taken apart for individual image category judging. Have you separately submitted singles out of your portfolio or picture stories for the single categories?
• Did you create a folder for each Single-image category, and each Picture Story or Portfolio?
• Have you used your 8-digit Contest ID code as part of each image's Object field and file name?
• Have you checked your folders and filenames to make sure your entries are all sorted and tagged correctly?

A Final List of Don'ts

• DO NOT put your name or only a descriptive line in the Object Field

  Example; beautiful sunset, Jane Doe
  Instead, use your Contest ID Code appropriately, as outlined in the instructions.

• DO NOT forget to select the correct category for each and every image.

• DO NOT label your folders with your name or a descriptive title. Instead, label folders with the correct category abbreviations.

  Example: UPY, ARE, SAT, UES_excelsior

• Label the top folder (the one containing all other folders) with your ID code

  Example: 0008250

• DO NOT send uncompressed/unarchived folders by FTP. Instead, collect the folder contents in a ZIP, StuffIt, or Tar archive, and upload the compressed archive file.

Copyright 2002-2006 NPPA.org
For more information, email the Contest Coordinator.