Whinge about Tipperary Credit Union Photography Competition

daycent

I was hoping to have a small bit of a rant here if you'll indulge me.

So I entered the above competition, hoping to share in the 1000 euro prize money, what with Christmas coming up...
Anyway, lo and behold the calendar came out the other day featuring the chosen photos, and mine was on the cover. Assuming I had won, or else placed in the top three (3 prizes only, 1st, 2nd and 3rd) I opened the calendar to discover that a photo of a goat had won, a sunset on Lough Derg was second (quite nice) and a swan photo was third. Link

To make it worse, rule three for the competition states: "The pictures must have a Tipperary theme eg, landscape, people, sport, community events, etc." (link)


This is my photo, which is of a bridge over the river Suir in the south Tipperary village of Newcastle.

Anyone have any sympathy? Or am I just bitter?:D

Paulw

You're just bitter.

I actually think yours should have won, 2nd place to the one that got 2nd ... and the other two ... no idea.

Weird how these things go.

daycent

That was a rhetorical question

DaireQuinlan

Whatever about the relative merits of the pictures in question, actually putting yours on the cover but then going 'Yoink, first prize goes to someone else' is a bit rough :rolleyes:

I think if I saw the calendar and my shot was on the cover I'd already have spent the €1000 in my head* by the time I'd gotten around to looking at the ACTUAL results.

Nozebleed

wow.. your pic is excellent..it does look like it was taken by a professional..maybe thats why it wasn't considered for the prize. the winning pics look like they could be taken by your average person on a day out with a decent camera. i think your mini rant is justified.

CabanSail

What do Rules mean in any of these Photo Competition in Ireland? The Goat & Swans could have been anywhere, so nothing specific to Tipperary. The 2nd place is a good shot.

I cannot see any of the other images, including yours, so cannot comment on them

shepthedog

I can definitely feel your pain here.. To have your shot on the cover and then not win win? Makes no sense.. Surely the best/winning shot goes on the cover.. I would love to know their thinking about putting your shot on cover and not awarding you the prize.
Its alot of money to miss out on so you have every right to feel hard done by.
Great shot by the way.. The goat one is very random!!

Saint_Mel

Harsh, especially as you got the cover shot!

daycent

Thanks everyone, I feel slightly better now


I'd prefer the cash though....

pullandbang

You had no chance with that pic up against SWANS!

Chorcai

pullandbang wrote: »

You had no chance with that pic up against SWANS!

Swans are a force to be reckoned with !

rameire

Maybe you should contact the organisers of the competition/calendar and ask for payment as they have used it on the cover for advertising purposes.

Or would this be in the rules that they could use it for any purpose they see fit after you enter it in the competition i.e. giving them the copyright priveledges?

trishw78

It must be awful disappointing to see your image on the cover and then open it too see pictures of swans :rolleyes:

Covey

These things are a pure lottery.

When you lose you could well be "the best" shot and if you win don't think you had the best shot either.

thefizz

I think thats comical for them to think your image is good enough for the cover but not for 1st, 2nd or 3rd place. I'd imagine the rules do say they can reproduce all entries as they wish, or something like that.

I don't think much of the winning images at all.

daycent

rameire wrote: »

Or would this be in the rules that they could use it for any purpose they see fit after you enter it in the competition i.e. giving them the copyright priveledges?

Yeah, I think something like that is in there alright. I kinda guessed something like this might happen so I'm not that surprised.

I suspect the entry names might have been cross checked with the list of credit union customers

It says in the rules AFAIK that you have to be a member of a credit union, which I am, just not one in Tipperary...!

Trev M

Your pic is excellent - I think you were robbed , you should return the favour:D:eek:.....or at a minimum - collect goat dung and swan droppings and pelt the credit union premesis.

daycent

pullandbang wrote: »

You had no chance with that pic up against SWANS!

If I had known that I might have tried this one!

GhostInTheRuins

Bit of a joke alright. I doubt they would sell many if they put either the goat or the swans picture on the cover, you should definitely have got the first prize there.

smelltheglove

I can completely echoe what the fizz has said, I would be very disappointed if I were in your boots, that is an amazing shot and very deserving winner compared tot he top 3.

monosnaps

I would also expect the winning image to appear on the cover, as well as a calendar month, can't understand their thinking on this. Only suggestion is make the best of the exposure your image gets and try sell a few prints of the image for christmas to make up for your disappointment. Liked your image lots.

DublinWriter

Fantastic pic OP - perfect composition.

Next time - snap the goat.

CabanSail

Now that I can see your image I concur that it is a superior photo in my opinion. It also definitely fulfils the condition of being location specific. Unfortunately this was not the opinion of the Judges.

As for using the image, it is covered in the conditions. They reserve the right to use the image in this or any future calenders or for publicity.

kumate_champ07

shameful

Borderfox

Same old same old with these competitions, we really should know better

daycent

Although I'm not too bothered about it at this stage I decided to send an email to one of the organisers yesterday for the craic, not really expecting a reply. He got back to me anyway, my email and the reply is below if anyone is interested!


Hello,

I'm writing regarding the 2010 calendar and photo competition mentioned above. I submitted a few images a few months back. I was pleased to see one of my images on the cover of the calendar, which also features for the month of November (along with another thumbnail image of mine). I'm curious as to why my photo was featured on the cover of the calendar, yet I did not win the competition, nevermind come second or third. Surely if a photo is on the cover it deserves to feature in the prize winners?

With regard to the winners; rule three states: "The pictures must have a Tipperary theme eg, landscape, people, sport, community events, etc."

The first and third place winners feature a goat and swans, and no recognisable Tipperary landmarks. As far as I know, neither if these are indigenous to Tipperary. My photo on the other hand, is of a bridge over the river Suir. I also submitted another photo of the river Suir and the Rock of Cashel.

I would appreciate if you could forward on this email to the judging panel and if anyone could explain the judging process that would be great.


Regards,

Brian Healy





Dear Brian,


Firstly, thank you so much for supporting our competition. Congratulations also on the quality of your photos and having one of your photos placed on the front cover.


However in relation to your concerns with the competition:


1: The competition was based upon “My Tipperary” and all the press releases, entry forms etc would have specified the theme “What Does Tipperary Mean To You”. I draw your attention to the first paragraph on the entry form…..

What does Tipperary mean to you? The Credit Unions of Tipperary are offering all amateur and professional photographers an opportunity to showcase their work, promote the county of Tipperary and fight for the share of a €1000.00 prize fund. The theme of the competition is “My Tipperary” and can include anything from landscape photos to pictures of events, animals, sport etc so long as the photo has a Tipperary theme to it.

The rule that you quote mentions all the above except for animals but these were only examples to help fuel peoples’ imaginations and hence the key word Etc was used at the end of the actual rule.

2: You mention that “The first and third place winners feature a goat and swans, and no recognisable Tipperary landmarks”. We do not mention anywhere that entries have to be a Tipperary landmark.

3: As you have familiarised yourself with the rules you will know that the judges selected a shortlist of photographs to be used on the 2010 Credit Unions Of Tipperary Calendars, which, in their opinion, best illustrated the theme of the competition. They considered a range of factors including composition, technical ability, originality, interpretation of the brief and the general appeal of the photographs.

4: As regards using your photo on the front cover despite the fact that it was not a prize winner, we would draw your attention to Rule 6 which states that by entering the competition the photographer gives permission for the Credit Unions Of Tipperary to use any image on its calendar/website/local display and promotional material”. Nowhere is it mentioned that the winning entry has to go on the front cover. And just to add to that, our designers thought the photo of the bridge was excellent and worked very well on the front page. Obviously we respect their opinion and they, more so than the judges, would influence what goes where in the calendar.

The judging panel put a lot of effort into selecting the photos and winners of the 2010 calendar. We are indebted to them for their time and their patience. We do know that they found it extremely difficult to decide what photos deserved prizes, however, they were asked to do a job and the organising committee stand by their decision.

That said we will certainly advise the judges of your concerns and I’m sure they will give them respectful consideration.

The feedback to date on the calendars is excellent and we are delighted with their success. We would hate for there to be any ill feeling, especially amongst our entrants.

Once again on behalf of the committee we thank you for supporting this Credit Union initiative and despite your obvious disappointment we would sincerely hope that if we run such a competition again you would have no hesitation in entering.

I wish you, a very happy Christmas and best wishes for 2010.

tororosso

daycent wrote: »

Although I'm not too bothered about it at this stage I decided to send an email to one of the organisers yesterday for the craic, not really expecting a reply. He got back to me anyway, my email and the reply is below if anyone is interested!


Hello,

I'm writing regarding the 2010 calendar and photo competition mentioned above. I submitted a few images a few months back. I was pleased to see one of my images on the cover of the calendar, which also features for the month of November (along with another thumbnail image of mine). I'm curious as to why my photo was featured on the cover of the calendar, yet I did not win the competition, nevermind come second or third. Surely if a photo is on the cover it deserves to feature in the prize winners?

With regard to the winners; rule three states: "The pictures must have a Tipperary theme eg, landscape, people, sport, community events, etc."

The first and third place winners feature a goat and swans, and no recognisable Tipperary landmarks. As far as I know, neither if these are indigenous to Tipperary. My photo on the other hand, is of a bridge over the river Suir. I also submitted another photo of the river Suir and the Rock of Cashel.

I would appreciate if you could forward on this email to the judging panel and if anyone could explain the judging process that would be great.


Regards,

Brian Healy





Dear Brian,


Firstly, thank you so much for supporting our competition. Congratulations also on the quality of your photos and having one of your photos placed on the front cover.


However in relation to your concerns with the competition:


1: The competition was based upon “My Tipperary” and all the press releases, entry forms etc would have specified the theme “What Does Tipperary Mean To You”. I draw your attention to the first paragraph on the entry form…..

What does Tipperary mean to you? The Credit Unions of Tipperary are offering all amateur and professional photographers an opportunity to showcase their work, promote the county of Tipperary and fight for the share of a €1000.00 prize fund. The theme of the competition is “My Tipperary” and can include anything from landscape photos to pictures of events, animals, sport etc so long as the photo has a Tipperary theme to it.

The rule that you quote mentions all the above except for animals but these were only examples to help fuel peoples’ imaginations and hence the key word Etc was used at the end of the actual rule.

2: You mention that “The first and third place winners feature a goat and swans, and no recognisable Tipperary landmarks”. We do not mention anywhere that entries have to be a Tipperary landmark.

3: As you have familiarised yourself with the rules you will know that the judges selected a shortlist of photographs to be used on the 2010 Credit Unions Of Tipperary Calendars, which, in their opinion, best illustrated the theme of the competition. They considered a range of factors including composition, technical ability, originality, interpretation of the brief and the general appeal of the photographs.

4: As regards using your photo on the front cover despite the fact that it was not a prize winner, we would draw your attention to Rule 6 which states that by entering the competition the photographer gives permission for the Credit Unions Of Tipperary to use any image on its calendar/website/local display and promotional material”. Nowhere is it mentioned that the winning entry has to go on the front cover. And just to add to that, our designers thought the photo of the bridge was excellent and worked very well on the front page. Obviously we respect their opinion and they, more so than the judges, would influence what goes where in the calendar.

The judging panel put a lot of effort into selecting the photos and winners of the 2010 calendar. We are indebted to them for their time and their patience. We do know that they found it extremely difficult to decide what photos deserved prizes, however, they were asked to do a job and the organising committee stand by their decision.

That said we will certainly advise the judges of your concerns and I’m sure they will give them respectful consideration.

The feedback to date on the calendars is excellent and we are delighted with their success. We would hate for there to be any ill feeling, especially amongst our entrants.

Once again on behalf of the committee we thank you for supporting this Credit Union initiative and despite your obvious disappointment we would sincerely hope that if we run such a competition again you would have no hesitation in entering.

I wish you, a very happy Christmas and best wishes for 2010.

SIGH! I guess they were always going to say something along those lines but it is just a load of nonsense..What is interesting is that they didnt specify what the Tipperary theme was in the photos of the goat and swan! Technically if they choose winning entries that break the competition rules surely they are in breach of their own competition guidelines and ergo any rules (including Rule 6) are forthwith null and void too :pac:
In fairness its best just to forget about these competitions but fair play for writing in to them and it was at least a comprehensive and polite response they gave you!

daycent

Thanks! It was the most polite PFO I've seen!

kumate_champ07

thats a poxy reply

Suspiria79

This is a big case of a guy taking his photos too serious. Get over it.

daycent

Suspiria79 wrote: »

This is a big case of a guy taking his photos too serious. Get over it.

I was waiting for a response like this I know it comes across as petty, I won't mention it again I promise! Welcome to the forum. Go on, show us your swan pic!:p

Sir Gallagher

Suspiria79 wrote: »

This is a big case of a guy taking his photos too serious. Get over it.

Let him have his rant in fairness, he was hard done by.

Ghost Train

Probably would have been nice if they'd offered all 10 or so runners up some sort of prize like a voucher or something

they really covered their ass with rule 13.

13. The Credit Unions Of Tipperary reserves the right to cancel this competition or alter any of the rules at any stage, if deemed necessary in its opinion, and if circumstances arise outside of its control.

Blazer

pftt..it's Tipperary..land of goats and swans...definitely a fix i reckon..love to know who were related to the winners

as for the Op's picture..well done it's a fantastic one..

Freddie59

That is some picture of the bridge. Definitely the winner in my book. Is it just me or is that goat out of focus slightly?

kman

Think you were robbed, but these competitions are like that. Am off to Dublin zoo later today to get a few shots for their next Tipperary themed calendar!

mikemac

You were robbed OP

I do like the 2nd place photo.
Much better then 1st and 3rd

Carrigman

As far as I'm concerned, you were robbed. Your photo was head and shoulders above the others.

The one thing that public photo competitions in Ireland seem to have in common is that work of merit rarely comes out on top.

WedPhoto

did you contact the people who organised the competition? it seems a bit of a slap in the face: they thought your image was good enough to be on the cover (that's what all buyers see first, so it's a selling point for them) but they didn't reckon your photo is quite good enough to place in top 3...very odd. how come they didn't use one of the ''top rated'' photos for the cover?

here's a possible scenario:
i'm some sort of a business man, and i want to get a calendar out, but don't really want/have the money to pay a photographer...so i'll just start a photo contest, and just use the images submitted...hmmm, sounds good...i'll have a prize of 1000euro (that will go to the photo my mother submitted)...all i have to do is get everyone to agree to my T&C's (which most people don't read anyway) and than i can do as i please with all images....GREAT!!!

humberklog

WedPhoto wrote: »

did you contact the people who organised the competition?

Sure there's a huge post on the corresponence a page back?


Robbed I tellsya....but pwned too by that reply...double whammy. That's gotta smart.

daycent

Ah sure it's the usual competition farce, I shoulda known better....

Now I'm just trying to move on with my life as best I can

WedPhoto

humberklog wrote: »

Sure there's a huge post on the corresponence a page back?


Robbed I tellsya....but pwned too by that reply...double whammy. That's gotta smart.

oh yes...just saw it now...well, the organisers reply just confirms my theory. BASTARDS!