Arizona State Skills USA

Photography Contest Overview

Tues.Wed.April 3-4 2018

Location – Phoenix Convention Center South Hall

Two Day Contest

For Final Details Check:

Contest Chairman: / Michael Ruiz Cell 623-205-4102

Schedule:

April: 3rd

  • 8:00 AM—Load in for competitors. Drop and set up computer work-stations.
  • 8:30-8:45 AM—Discussion and questions: Location Assignment (Photo Shoot) this will be a 2-hour photo shoot starting at 9:00 AM.
  • 11:00 AM—back to work stations for downloading of best image to be given to judges for assessment and judging. All competitors will come to the judge’s station numerically for downloading into their competing file folders.
  • While the competitors are doing their location assignments, 11 x 14 and Portfolio prints will be judged and scored.
  • Studio Competition - 11:30 till 4:00 PM -5-min per competitor in the studio setting. Come up to the studio in numerical order by competitor number.
  • Conceptual Design – You will use 3 images from the photo shoot to create a fine art piece

April: 4th

  • Starting at 8am we have four more areas of the contest left for judging and three areas to utilize
  • Color Correction, Photoshop, Written Exam and Digital Troubleshooting during this time we will utilize all four areas at the same time in a rotating format. (One group at Photoshop; one group at color correction; and one group at digital trouble shooting and rotate till all competitors are done.
  • Possibly at this time we can review portfolios also.

Components of the Contest

For those of you new to the contest here is a description of each area of the contest and the related procedures.

EQUIPMENT REQUIRED /
  • Each student needs their own digital SLR camera with the capacity to shoot on manual.
  • Recommendation: Each school should bring an extra camera or two and extra cards in case of equipment failure.
  • Each student needs access to a computer workstation with Adobe Bridge and Photoshop CS 4 minimum. (Each student MUST have their own computer)
  • Recommendation: Power Strip w/surge protection for computers
  • Each computer workstation needs a card reader.
  • Each school should bring their own flash meters to use in the studio.
  • Miscellaneous: Sharpie Markers, Pens, Pencils, tape

Cell Phones in the Contest Area / Cell Phones are prohibited in the contest area. You may use them to stay in contact with students and advisors during the location shoot. However, once you are back, put them away and do not use them. You will be disqualified.
Resume / - Résumés will be submitted electronically prior to the State Championships. You need to bring a hard copy to the contest site also.
Portfolio / - This year I have included a 3-print portfolio format that is worth an additional10 points( 8x10 Print Size ) in the competitor’s field of interest. They are to turn in the portfolio at the beginning of the competition in a manila envelope with the competitor’s number on the outside of the envelope for review. We will call the competitor up during assessed down time to review the portfolios
EVEN IF YOU SUBMITED A RESUME ELECTRONICALLY PLEASE INCLUDE A COPY OF YOUR RESUME IN YOU PORTFOLIO.
Pre-Entry Print
Competition Print / Each student must bring ONE 11x14 print NOT MOUNTED No dimension may be larger than 14” in any direction. The 11x14 can be just a canvas withthe actual print size on the 11x14 smaller in dimension.
Location Shoot to a Theme
2 HOUR TIME LIMIT
9AM-11AM
LATE PENALTY –
1 POINT PER MINUTE LATE
The person who receives your file will check to make sure that your image was:
  • Shot on manual
  • Created during the appropriate time frame
  • Has not been edited.
/ This portion of the contest requires the student to interpret a theme to be photographed at a specific location within the boundaries given.
Requirements: You must shoot on MANUAL. You should know how to use your light meter.
Recommendation: Have a back-up memory card & camera in case of equipment failure.
  • Reformat your card – it should be blank before you start.
  • Correctly set your camera date and time.
  • As you shoot, be sure to consider your ISO and white balance in addition to aperture and shutter speeds.
  • ShootRAW+JPEG.
  • The JPEG IMAGE WILL BE THE ONE THAT IS TURNEDIN FOR JUDGING.
  • That way, you have a raw file of your prize-winning images.
  • Back up your images – Download all your images. Put them on a flash drive & your computer. Erase the unused images. Leave only your contest entry image on the card. Take this to the judge who will download your file.
  • Reviewing Files – When you open your files to review them be careful. DONOT EDITTHE FILE IN ANY WAY.
  • Note, if you open your file, do not make any adjustments of any kind. If you edit the file, it cannot be used in competition.
  • Turn in your card with only one image to the judges.

Studio Component / In this section, students will work either in portraiture or product photography in the studio. In the past, two lights and one reflector were available for each studio. Each year the equipment present and exact set varies. They need to be prepared for either studio portraiture or product work. Students need to provide their own camera and light meter. A specific task will be given and students will have only 5 minutes to complete their task in the studio.
Photo Exam / Instructors will be provided a test bank with answers for their students. From that list a specific number if items will be selected for the test.
Skills USA Knowledge Test / ?
Color Correction Test / Students will be given a series of prints to review. One print will be considered of normal color balance. Other prints (one print at a time) will be compared to the normal. The student must identify which way the print if off, Cyan, Yellow, Magenta, Red, Green, or Blue. They will not be allowed to look at all the prints next to each other. Just the neutral print and one other print that is off in some way.
Trouble Shooting Test / Students will look over a series of images that have problems. Students must be able to identify the problems such as anti-aliasing, jaggies, blooming, etc. See the website:

for good examples of potential problems.
Photoshop Task / Competitors will work on a specific Photoshop task provided. Students will have a specific time limit for this section.
Recommendation: Prior to starting this task, be sure to set the history palate to 1000. Do this in preferences (found under the word Photoshop on the menu bar on the Mac and under the Edit Menu on the PC). Then go into performance. Set the History states to 1000. This will allow the judge to see everything that you did. Save frequently but do not close the file prior to judging. You will lose your history states.
The student should leave their computer workstation up with the layers and history palate visible for judging.
Conceptual Design
/ Let your imagination run wild as you createa conceptual (Fine Art) piece using the 4 images from your Field Assignment. Combine the images together to produce something unique.Very fewparameters are given and judging is based on creativeness, use of standard rules of art &design and mastery of Photoshop skills.
1. Create a new file named “Conceptual-##” (i.e. Conceptual-05).
2. Use ONLY the 4 chosen Field Assignment images from the “Field Assignment”.
3. You MUST use a minimum of 3 images to get credit for this contest.
4. The Conceptual piece MUST be an 8x10 @ 300dpi.
5. When finished, flatten the Conceptual piece and Save As “Conceptual-##” (i.e. Conceptual-05) as a JPEG (10 compression)
6. Save to a jump drive and bring to the printing station.