2022 Best In Show Photographic Print Competition
Shutterbugs get ready! Best in Show 2022, the largest amateur photographic print competition in the area, is returning to Champaign-Urbana. Download the poster and the entry from in Word or pdf. See winners from 2020 and from prior years.
Snap some great pictures & you might snap up one of 8 top prizes or part of over $2,000 in cash & prizes. In addition to the Champaign County Camera Club (CCCC), there are eight sponsors of the Best in Show competition. The Urbana Park District assists with all phases of the event including submission collection, hanging the show, and communicating with participants. For information about Urbana Park District programs, call 217/367-1544 or visit the UPD website at urbanaparks.org. We gratefully acknowledge Lincoln Square Mall for providing the space for the show and critique. Larry Kanfer Gallery and Illini Studio provided funding for the top image awards. Trophy Time donated all place-winner ribbons; Busey Bank, Prairie Gardens, International Galleries, and Art Coop also provided prizes. The generosity of all these businesses is important to making this such a popular public event. CCCC thanks them all for their generosity.
ENTRY FEE: (Early bird deadline) Through Jan. 19, 2022 at 6 pm, $5 for the first print plus $3 for each additional print. After Jan. 19, 2022 at 6 pm, $10 for the first print plus $3 for each additional print. Limit five prints per entrant. (There is no fee for Youth Division entrants.) ENTRY DEADLINE: January 26, 2022 at 6 pm.
JUDGING/CATEGORIES
For tips on what makes an award winning image, view the Best in Show Zoom Workshop on youtube. You'll get an inside look at the judging set up/process and what the judges are looking for, as well as tips for formatting and mounting your photos for the Annual competition.
For purposes of this competition, a photo-realistic image is one in which the original photographic content of the original image predominates, whether the original image was made on film or by using a digital camera. Alteration of the basic image by the maker is permitted, but alterations must not predominate or be obvious. Combining elements of more than one image is prohibited. CICCA (Central Illinois Camera Club Association) members may only enter the "Club" category. The use of HDR (high dynamic range) in the creation of the image is not considered manipulation, as long as the image still looks photo-realistic.
In this competition, only photo-realistic images may be entered, with the exception of the General category.
Categories for this year’s competition:
1. Animals (photo-realistic category) – Main point of interest must be wild or domesticated animals.
2. Architecture (photo-realistic category) – Images may show complete buildings or minute details of buildings. “Building” includes such things as bridges and other man-made structures.
3. Black and White (photo-realistic category) – This category is for prints that are entirely in the gray scale (typically thought of as black and white). In addition to grey-scale images, prints done in sepia tones, colored monotone or infrared are acceptable.
4. Club – CICCA members are limited to entry in this category following the General category guidelines.
5. General – Any image may be entered in this category including those that previously fit in the manipulated category. Manipulated images have been significantly modified via photo-editing software or combine elements from more than one scene, test, abstracts, etc. Youth entering a manipulated image must enter it in this category.
6. Landscape (photo-realistic category) – Includes the visible features of an area of land or water, including the physical elements of landforms, water bodies, living elements of landcover incl. vegetation and human elements (crops, buildings, and roads), transitory lighting, weather elements.
7. Nature (photo-realistic category) – Image must be shot in a natural environment. The hand of man, such as buildings, fences, roads, etc., must not be present. Domesticated animals must not be present. Images containing a plant/ animal found in nature must have been photographed in its natural environment. A beautiful plant found in nature but brought into a studio to be photographed would not fit in the Nature category.
8. People (photo-realistic category) – Main point of interest must be an individual person or a group of people.
9. Youth Division – All youth entries (with the exception of strongly manipulated images which will be judged in the General category) will be judged in a single general category. Youth wishing to have their entries judged in the other categories may do so by paying the appropriate entry fees and entering their images in those categories. All youth entrants will be awarded a Certificate of Participation at the end of the competition. The youth category is open to children ages 17 and younger and 18-year-olds currently enrolled in high school.
PREPARATION REQUIREMENTS OF ENTRIES FOR DISPLAY
The exhibit committee requires that all pieces be prepared as follows. If these requirements are not met, your entry will not be displayed. All prints must be mounted on foamcore measuring 11”x14”x 3/16”. Any size print that fits on an 11x14 piece of foamcore is acceptable but entrants are advised that prints smaller than 8x10 are likely to have less visual impact than competing prints of a larger size. Prints may be flush mounted (all the way to the edge of the foamcore), matted, dry-mounted or neatly affixed with adhesives (no tape please). No framed pieces will be accepted. Each entered print must have a title (“untitled” is an unacceptable title). Entries must be clearly labeled on the back in the bottom right hand corner with the entry title, category artist’s name, and general location (e.g., city, county, state, or country) where photo was taken. Artist’s name must not appear on the front of the entry.
MANY THANKS TO OUR JUDGES FOR DONATING THEIR TIME AND EXPERTISE
Craig McMonigal has been a photographer for over 35 years. He received his BFA from Ohio University in 1983, and his MFA from the University of Illinois in 1987. Craig had been on the staff of the University of Illinois from 1985 until 2002, began teaching at Parkland College in 1994 and retired in 2015. He has participated in several national exhibitions, such as “Figure, Face and Form” in West Virginia and “Woman in the Broader Sense” in St. Louis, Missouri and “The Nude” in Lexington, Kentucky. Craig is an avid and eclectic collector, often using his flea market finds as props in his photographs, which feature the nude figure.
Brian K. Johnson is an Associate Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and has taught photojournalism since the fall semester of 1988. Before joining the faculty at the U of I, he worked for seven years as a staff photographer for The News-Gazette, where he won national, regional, and state awards for his work. Brian has a BS in journalism from the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire and an MS in journalism from the U of I. His interests include the convergence of media in photojournalism, especially video and multimedia.
Fraya Replinger is a local artist, born and raised in Urbana. Her award-winning images capture landscapes, skyscapes, and the great outdoors explored from fresh perspectives to convey her visions of beauty or emotional impact. Her fine art photography is exhibited at local markets and art shows throughout Illinois, and she has pieces on permanent display on the donor wall at Allerton Park and Retreat Center in Monticello, IL.