This year's caving conference - Hidden Earth - sees some changes to the well-established photographic and video competitions.

Photographic Competition

Instead of awarding first, second and third prizes, we shall be awarding an unspecified number of 'merit' and 'distinction' awards. There will still be a 'first prize' in each category, but the judges will distribute the remaining prizes amongst the competition categories, in order to recognise merit where it is seen. We hope that this more flexible way of awarding prizes will make the competition more interesting and challenging.

We have made other, minor, changes to the rules. These include, for example, removing the restrictions on the sizes of prints. Clearly, a very small photograph does not have the artistic impact of a larger one but we feel that this point is so obvious it does not need to be stated in the rules.

The rules and guidelines are still being drawn up. Further information will be posted to http://hidden-earth.org.uk/info.competitions.html by the end of July, hopefully.

Video Media Competition

For 2006 we have made some substantial changes to the Video and AV competitions, combining them under a new title, "Video Media". The term "video media" is intended to encompass all depictions of moving images and sequences of pictures. This broad definition of "video" means that, for 2006, there will not be separate competition categories for films and audio-visual presentations.

Traditionally, "films" and "AVs" were easily definable, the latter comprising a number of slide projectors showing stills and an audio soundtrack. The use of computers means that the distinction between these art-forms is blurred. If we take the view that this competition is to encourage innovation and fresh artistic ideas then it would be a mistake to try to circumscribe what constitutes each art form.

Most entrants will probably find that their work still falls into a "film" or "audio-visual" genre but they may, if they wish, mix moving and still images, or use pan and zoom effects on stills, and be confident that their competition entry will still be acceptable.

The skills involved in filming and creating AVs are different, so might judging them together in one category be to the detriment of both? In reality, the position is perhaps no different to that of other art prizes: the Turner prize does not distinguish between oil paintings and video installations. The Hidden Earth judges will award two equal-value "first prizes" and will give an unspecified number of distinction and merit awards. The judges will award the prizes in a way that best recognises the varied skills of the entrants and the merits of their work. This will probably mean that one prize will go to a "film-like" entry and one prize to an "AV-like" entry but, in the absence of sufficiently meritorious entries the judges could award top prizes to two films or two AVs, or to entries that exhibited the characteristics of both.

The judges will be particularly looking for artistic originality and innovation as well as considering the technical, artistic and aesthetic qualities of each entry.

This year, we will also be allowing longer duration presentations, of up to 20 minutes including titles. In order to allow us to plan the judging and screening of longer entries, competition entry on the day will be expressly prohibited this year. And if the presentation is longer than 10 minutes, the judges will be looking for clear evidence that the longer length is artistically necessary!

Further information can be found at http://hidden-earth.org.uk/info.competitions.html

Cave Life
    Up to five entries per person. Prints or Projections. One prize.
    Each picture of cave life should be accompanied by a written description its location and the environmental conditions where the specimen was found, together with the name of the species and any behaviour being exhibited.

Here's my photo. Its a spider.
Location: down a hole
Environmental conditions : Dry and sunny
Species : umm its a spider
Behaviour: it was sitting there not doing much ... but at least i got the git in focus and quite close up so you can see its eyes and the hairs on its legs and eerything !

I thought that was an apt description of the photos of me down the same hole - just with the hairs on my chin in focus, not my legs.

The entry form for the 2006 BCRA Photo Salon is now available. (There may be further minor changes, but I think it is more-or-less correct now).

Further information can be found at http://hidden-earth.org.uk/info.competitions.html

Artistic, Technical and Aesthetic Qualities

The guidelines for the Photo and Video competitions mention these three aspects of the judging, but what is meant by these terms?

The Artistic quality of your work will depend on its composition, lighting and subject matter. For a photograph this may mean that instead of a simple 'point and shoot' approach, you consider how the different elements of your picture fit together. For a video the term would encompass the storyboard and the skill in editing. An AV work has its own special artistic features – it is not simply a series of still images. The judges will be looking for originality and innovation – has this particular type of photo been seen before? Has a video camera been used this way before?

For a photograph, the Technical Qualities show themselves in how the image is presented, and they demonstrate whether you know how to use your equipment. Is the picture in focus? Has the photo been printed to a high quality? For conventional printing, was the negative free from dust, hairs and scratches? For a digital print, are there any 'tram- lines' visible on the print. (In recent years, this has been a major problem with many of the photos on display). Are the colour-depth and image-resolution satisfactory? Has the image been over-sharpened or similarly abused? Are there any compression artefacts visible at a normal viewing distance. Is the photo well-mounted or does it curl up at the edges? For videos and AVs, have you demonstrated compliance with music copyright laws (e.g. by displaying your licence)?

Aesthetics means, in essence, was the image worth looking at? Was it beautiful, inspiring, shocking, or thought-provoking? Did it appeal to the senses? Will the people who saw it remember it, or did they just stare blankly at it and move on to the next one.

In the Video Media salon, a rousing presentation with good music and humorous images could be enjoyed by the audience, even if it did not demonstrate a great deal of artistic or technical merit. For the first prize, the judges will be looking for a good balance of all three qualities of the work. But, with our new system of merit awards we hope to be able to recognise all merit.

David Gibson (Hidden Earth Competitions Secretary)