The contest is open to all members whose dues are paid for the month of competition entered. New or renewal dues must be received by the national office during the contest month. (Note: dues paid by check may take up to a week to process: please plan accordingly.)
Members submit entries online indicating the region in which they reside or work. Interns or students may enter their digital images either in their region of residence or in the region where they work or attend classes, but not both.
All entries must be uploaded online by the seventh of the month following the month of publication.
Illustration entries will be reserved for quarterly judging. This will take place with the regular judging of March, June, September and December clips.
With the institution of digital entry, mailing delays have been eliminated from the entry process. As a result, international members have the same uploading deadline as everyone else.
Only published entries are eligible. Publication is defined as printed or electronically reproduced by a commercial enterprise. Simple database postings are not eligible. "Commercial enterprise" does not necessarily mean a for-profit endeavor and discretion in determining the form or context of a "commercial enterprise" is granted to the regional clip chairs. Entries may be from any publication or enterprise except those produced by NPPA.
Neither the name of the photographer nor the publication or enterprise may be shown visually on the image (that is, no watermarks or badges should appear). There are no restrictions on the information in the IPTC headers.
All entries must have a caption, which may be either the original published caption, or a freshly produced caption that clearly explains what the picture shows.
The following information must be filled on the contest form online:
The regional clip chair may disqualify an entry if information is incorrect, illegible or missing.
Judges are instructed to judge only the pictures, disregarding color, quality of compression.
All images must be saved as Good quality JPEG files with a maximum dimension of 2,750 pixels.
A maximum of nine (9) entries may be made each month in any combination of the six categories.
For photo essays: A series of related pictures published in more than one month may be entered as a single entry for the month concluding the series.
The same picture may be entered as often as it is published unless it has previously won in the contest. However, the same picture cannot be entered in more than one contest category for the same month, nor may a picture entered singly appear as part of a multiple-picture entry for the same month. If the same picture appears in more than one entry for the month, the regional chair may disqualify both entries.
Each entry must be the work of an individual photographer.
Each photographer entering the contest receives two points per month entered. First place receives 50 points (and a certificate upon request), second place receives 40 points and third place 30 points. No ties or honorable mentions will be awarded. Points count only in the region in which they are earned and cannot be transferred.
The photographer who accumulates the most points in each region during the calendar year will be named Regional Photographer of the Year, provided the photographer has shown versatility by winning in at least two of the six contest categories during the year. In case of a tie, both photographers will share the title.
In case of a year-end tie within a region's top 10 scores, the rank(s) beneath the tie will be skipped for the next award. For example, a two-way tie for top place leaves third place for the next highest photographer.
Immediately after monthly regional judging, first, second and third place winners will be combined and judged to select national first, second and third places in each category. No additional points are awarded for national wins, but all national winners receive certificates and may appear in national NPPA publications.
It is understood that any copyright of an entry remains the property of the photographer or employer of the photographer.
However, all participants agree that by entering the contest, entrants give permission to NPPA for its regional and national publications to reproduce winning entries, including but not limited to, regional publications, News Photographer magazine, commercial online services and NPPA presences on the Internet. Reasonable precautions will be taken to ensure the security of electronic reproduction.
NPPA may also enter into agreements with other entities or enterprises for delivery of images entered in the contest. Release of the original photo of any image entry is solely at the discretion of the entrant and any entrant may decline to release any photo for non-NPPA publication without penalty to regional contest standing.