More than just food. Photo: Geoff Hyde

The last NCBS photo competition was such a great success, both in terms of participation and quality, that we have decided to go for broke with a competition every month! Upi has been thinking deeply about this and has come up with some inspired ways to highlight the superior lenscraft of our campus folk -- and to reward the winners in a way we know they will appreciate. Photos that win an award will be printed up on a grand scale, and gloriously framed, all at NCBS's expense, and then granted positions of honour in the NCBS Reception area. After a month, when it comes time for the next batch of winners to take their turn in the limelight, the departing masterpieces will be gifted to their creators.As before there will be two categories of winners. There will be ONE 'People's Choice Award' based on how many online votes a photo gets from viewers who are part of the  NCBS community. Also, our team of carefully picked judges will deliberate on technical skill through the 'Judges Choice Award'.  There will be at least one Judge's Award, but if it is felt that more than one photo is deserving of display, then the only limiting factor is wall space!

The theme for March is Sustenance. As in the previous competition, interpret this as freely as you wish.

The mechanics of Uploading and Voting remain the same as previously, and are explained below.

1)    Login to the NCBS news site with the username and password that accompanies your NCBS email account in order to enter the competition and upload photos.

2)   The images must be uploaded directly into the galley called Sustenance: Competition March 2011 on the NCBS news site. No submissions over email will qualify to participate in the competition.

3)   Three images will be allowed per person.

4)   Click on this UPLOAD PHOTO LINK, or choose 'UPLOAD PHOTO' from the right hand side navigation panel and you will be directed to the appropriate page.

5)   Browse to and choose the image of your choise.  Choose the Sustenance gallery by modifying the 'Image Gallery' option on the page.

6)   Photographs will be identified by their judiciously-chosen titles, and space for captions will be available for details about the photographer and subject. Please ensure that these are filled before final submission.

7)    Image size restrictions: 300 KB, 700 x 700 pixels.

8)    Images that have previously won prizes or have been submitted for other competitions will not be accepted.

VOTING

1) To find photos: click on this IMAGE GALLERY LINK or browse to the gallery via the IMAGE GALLERY link from the right hand side navigation panel. Choose one of the three "Photo competition" galleries.

1) Below each photo a '+' icon will be available for voting. Only one vote per photo is allowed per user.

2) This icon will only be visible to users who are signed in using their NCBS IDs.

3) Visitors and other guests on the site can leave comments but will not be allowed to vote.

4) In case of a tie-breaker, self-directed votes will not be counted.

Timeline

The competition closes on March 31 Sept 2011. Entries and voting will be accepted till 17:30 hours on that day. Results can be expected in the first week of April.