Read about the previous "Storyteller of the Year" competition here.

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Below is information published while the competition was running 

We have put together some notes to guide you through the Storyteller programme. There is something in the programme for everyone, whether you intend to submit a story, are willing to help other members prepare their submissions, or just want to learn some new skills.

Resources

For discussions and questions we’ll use a dedicated Forum. All members can read this forum, but if you want to post there you must first join the "Storytelling and Photo Essays" interest group:

Sign Up on the Interest Group

After you have done that it will take a bit of time before your forum posting rights are granted. If you still can't post 24 hours after signing up, email the webmaster for help.

Some storytelling resources are available to members in our Document Library. Search there for the "Storytelling" tag.

You can also contact Richard, Gerard or Paul with any questions.

Timetable

Your final submission needs to be ready in January, made up of up to seven photos, and you can choose just to add a title, or also to caption each photo. 

Some Tuesday evening society meetings will be dedicated to storytelling, and the competition closes in January, so there’s nothing to stop you getting started now. 

We’ll update this information during the programme, and the key dates are as follows:

2020

Programme opening: This year’s programme opened on 1^st September, with Jim Grover talking about his approach to storytelling and photo-essays. You can read more in our blog. 

1^st October: How are your ideas coming together? Think about themes and ideas for your story. Do you want to work with a buddy, to help you edit your story?

20^th October: A ‘Four Corners’ evening meeting, with an opportunity to talk about your stories in the break, as they start to take shape. 

3^rd November: Mimi Mollica, friend of the society, presents at our Tuesday evening meeting. 

17^th November: PhotoEntry website opens for initial submissions, consisting of up to ten photographs. This will be a work-in-progress, and you may subsequently change or edit these pictures. Some of these submissions will be selected at random for review in December by 2018 Sony World Photography Awards winner, Alys Tomlinson who talked to us recently. See below.

1^st December: Everyone who intends to enter must upload their initial shortlist to the PhotoEntry website, to enable selection for review by Alys Tomlinson. 

15^th December: Alys Tomlinson attends our Tuesday evening meeting, reviewing and commenting on submissions. 

2021

1^st January: Are you prepared to submit your final photos, or do you need to re-shoot? How are you getting on with editing? 

5^th January: PhotoEntry opens for final submission, allowing one panel of images from each participating photographer. Don't wait until the last minute. You can continue revising your panel in PhotoEntry up until the deadline.

19^th January: Submission closes in PhotoEntry. 

2^nd February: Jim Grover will return to review entries, announce his top three stories, and announce our Storyteller of the Year. 

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Notes on submitting your photos

While there are few formal rules for our storytelling competition this year, there has been a lot of discussion.  So following questions raised on Zoom last Tuesday, this is an update on requirements.

1 The intention was that it would be good if the images were taken in lock-down this year, but that is not a requirement.  There are no date limits - only we are trying to encourage each other to take photographs, and to learn from our speakers. You do not have to have submitted a story for review by Alys to be eligible for judging by Jim Grover. Entry is open to all current members. 

2 Everything has been set up for PhotoEntry.  It is PhotoEntry that sets the limit of 50 characters both within the title, and caption for each image.  Be aware that a space or punctuation counts as one of the characters. Go to https://compent.photoentry.uk/compent/.Don’t feel compelled to caption everything.  Indeed, it could be seen as a strength if the pictures ‘speak for themselves’.  So, no other rules other than this.  

3 You may add between 50 - 150 words to describe your story. Email your narrative to Richard before the closing date (19th January). This text will be added to your story. If you want to use a specific font or font size, or layout, please specify this in your email. 

4 There is a restriction on image dimensions, but you have to comply with the PhotoEntry requirements. There is no requirement to stick to any particular aspect ratio, and there is no reason that you have to use the same aspect ratio for all of your images.  Crop as you like, but ensure that each image is no larger than 1400 pixels wide and 1050 pixels high.

Extract from competition guidelines; "All DPI and Print images submitted through the entry form must conform to the following specifications:
▪Format: JPEG format only
▪Maximum Height of image: 1050 pixels, top to bottom
▪Maximum Width of image: 1400 pixels, side to side (Notes: i- a square format image cannot exceed 1050 pixels on any side; ii- a portrait format image cannot exceed 1050 pixels on the vertical side; iii - we only use pixels to measure the image; ignore “ppi” and metric or imperial measurements; iv – try to make your image as large as possible within these parameters)▪Colour Space/ Colour Profile: sRGB only – including for monochrome or black and white images. Guidance on colour space/ colour profile correction is included below
▪Image title (entry form): this is the full title of the image as you would like it to be read out or projected on the competition night and listed in the results.”
 
5 The intention is to have a final set of 5 to 7 images maximum, with the option of text on an additional image.

6 This is a suggestion;  talk to others in the society, or to friends, family about your story and ask them to look at your developing story.  You don’t have to accept comments, but it is really useful to have someone cast an eye over what you are doing.  

 
Good luck!