Groups and Networks

THE 4th JOINT REGIONAL GROUP PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPETITION

There were two themes to the competition:

'WATER: CHANGING THE GEOLOGY OF BRITAIN & IRELAND*’

(*United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands)

Theme 2

'FIELDWORK BRITANNICA'

Sponsors

The competition was supported by sponsorship from Envireau Water, Geotechnical Engineering Limited, RSK, Structural Soils, Hydrock, the Geological Society's Publishing House and the Regional Groups of the Geological Society.

Download a PDF of the Terms and Conditions

1. First and fore-most the contest is a bit of fun and is aimed primarily at amateur photographers. It is not open to professionals and because we want something original, entries must not have won other competitions.

For the purposes of this competition, a professional photographer will be considered to be someone who makes more than half their annual income from the sale of their photographs.

Qualifying entrants may enter both the RG Joint Photographic Competition and the Society’s 2016 ESW Photo Competition. However, in the interest of fairness, any images which win the 2016 ESW Photo Competition will be disqualified from the RG Joint Photographic Competition.

* 2. The Contest is only open to residents aged 16 and over who live/ work within the postal districts of the host partners, defined as the following Regional Groups of the Geological Society London:

The host partners reserve the right to request proof of address in the event of a prize being awarded.

The contest is not open to UK residents in postal districts that are not listed above. These include, but are not limited to the following Regional Groups of the Geological Society: East Anglia, Home Counties North, Hong Kong, Northern, Thames Valley and Solent.

3. There are two themes to the contest:

Theme 1: ‘Water: Changing the Geology of Britain’

Theme 1 is open to all who meet the criteria of (1) and (2) above

Theme 2: ‘Fieldwork Britannica’

There are two levels of entry to Theme 2:

16-18 Year Olds - Any person aged 16-18 enrolled in full-time education at the deadline of the contest

Undergraduates and Graduates - Any person who is enrolled on an undergraduate degree course or who has completed an academic degree in any discipline at the deadline of the contest

If either division of Theme 2 does not have a minimum of three entries, the Theme shall be run with a combined level of entry.

Photographers can interpret the themes in any way they wish BUT, images must feature the geology of Britain and Ireland (defined as Great Britain, the Republic of Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands). Photos from outside the British Isles are ineligible for entry.

Whatever you decide to photograph, please do it responsibly. Take care not to disturb any animals or damage the environment. And always follow local laws and the countryside code.

4. Entrants can submit a maximum of four photos total which must be their own work and must not be merged or manipulated. Entrants may crop, enlarge, and enhance photos to remove spots or scratches, make it brighter, clearer etc but they must not manipulate the content. In all cases, the Judges reserve the right to exclude any image whose authenticity they believe to be questionable.

5. Entries should be emailed electronically to [email protected] together with a completed entry form - Download the form.

Entries can only be accepted as JPEG files of at least 1Mb in size.

7. The competition closed at midnight on Tuesday 31 January 2017.

8. All entries were judged by an independent panel of Judges during early February 2017.

For each theme/ entry level, the Judges selectede a ranked shortlist of 10 images best based on their composition, technical ability, appeal, geological content and originality. The ranked shortlists were then compiled to create the final rankings and award winning images chosen.

9. Winning entrants shall be notified by email during late February 2017

10. Awards will be as follows:

For Theme 1 ‘Water: Changing the Geology of Britain (single entry level)

• 1st Prize £200 Sponsored by Envireau Water
• 2nd Prize £150 Sponsored by Geotechnical Engineering Limited
• 3rd Prize £100 Sponsored by RSK
• 4th Prize £50 Sponsored by Structured Soils

For Theme 2 ‘Fieldwork Britannica’

16-18 Year Olds

• 1st Prize BGS Geological field techniques (Oxford University Press) plus Rite in the Rain Geological Society Field Notebook plus Compass Clinometer and Hand Lens
• 2nd Prize BGS Geological field techniques (Oxford University Press) plus Rite in the Rain Geological Society Field Notebook
• 3rd Prize BGS Geological field techniques (Oxford University Press)

Undergraduates/ Graduates

• 1st Prize GSL Publishing House Special Publication Voucher* plus BGS Bedrock Geology UK North and South (1:625 000 maps) plus Rite in the Rain Geological Society Field Notebook
• 2nd Prize GSL Publishing House Special Publication Voucher* plus BGS Bedrock Geology UK North and South (1:625 000 maps)
• 3rd Prize GSL Publishing House Special Publication Voucher*

* The winners will be able to choose a book from one of these series Special Publications, Memoirs, Engineering Geology Special Publications, Rock-forming minerals and ‘Geology of’

11. Awards shall be presented by the Regional Group local to each winner on a date and at a venue to be confirmed.

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History of the Competition

2013

The Competition was first launched in 2013 by the West Midlands Regional Group and the Black Country Geological Society, for Fellows of the Society only.

2014

In it's 2nd year (2014), the competition was expanded to include entries from Fellows in the Southern Wales Regional Group. Nearly one hundred entries were received on the theme 'What Lies Beneath our Feet’. 

Malcolm Nugent’s picture ‘Etna Beneath Our Feet’ was awarded first prize. He received £200 sponsored by the Regional Groups.

2015

The competition grew further in its 3rd year (2015) on theme 'Geologica Britannica' with the inclusion of the North West Regional Group and was for the first time was thrown open to anyone aged 16 and over who lived or worked within the postal districts of the host partners - not just geological fellows of the Society.

The theme was chosen to coincide with the bicentenary of William Smith’s famous geological map: ‘A Delineation of the Strata of England and Wales’ and the Society’s ‘Year of Mud’. We received over two hundred photographs covering a diverse range of

geological topics, from mining, landscape, teaching and even humour.

First prize was awarded to Kevin Privett for his photograph of Stair Hole (below).

Kevin received £200 sponsored by Geotechnical Engineering Limited, plus a £150 special publication gift voucher donated by the Geological Society's Publishing House and a William Smith Map Reproduction and Memoir.

The 2014 and 2015 competition pages have more details and images of the winning entries.