Our congratulations go to Michael Hügi, the overall winner of the 2011 Photo Competition, who won the Natural category with his marvellous photomicrograph of ‘Fibrous hematite and goethite aggregates in quartz from Minas Gerais, Brazil’, taken using a polarising microscope (First photo from the left).

Michael was also the winner of the Treated category with his photo of ‘Blue anatase and rutile fibres in quartz from Minas Gerais, Brazil’ (middle photo). Our congratulations also go to Keiko Kon of the Gem Science Academy of Gemology, Tokyo, winner of the Melange category with the photo ‘Cut cultured pearls in round slices’ (Third photo).

No winner was selected for the Synthetic category, but entries by Conny Forsberg and Luc Genot were deemed Honourable Mentions.

To view the 2011 winners’ photographs please see the Autumn issue of Gems & Jewellery.

We are also pleased to announce that the Gem-A 2012 Photographic Competition is now open. All Gem-A members are invited to participate. Once again there are four categories under which an image may be submitted:

1. Natural
   Must be a digital photograph (including photomicrography) with minimal post-production work (may include basic cropping, contrast and minor hue/saturation adjustments).
   
   
2. Treated
   Digital photograph (including photomicrography) with significant post production work (such as background manipulation, HDR, and contrast masking).
   
   
3. Synthetic
   Computer rendered 3D models of gemstones, crystals, crystal structures, images from microtomography, etc.
   
   
4. Melange
   This category includes any gem-related image that doesn’t fit in the above and may include such things as photos of a spectrum, a scanning electron microscope image, mining, cutting etc.

Please submit all entries to editor@gem-a.com , taking care to read the Rules of Entry first. 

The subjects may include any type of gem materials (including organics), crystals or cut stones, and internal or other features of these. Jewellery settings may be included, even wearers, but the gem or gems must be the main subject. In the case of categories 1, 2 and 4, the original photo as taken, with no cropping or manipulation whatsoever, must also be submitted to us.

The Rules of Entry below, which should be read carefully, give full instructions on how to submit your entries.
The entries will be judged by an industry panel on the basis of gemmological interest, inspiration, artistic quality and, in the case of categories 2 and 3, computer skills and ingenuity. A prize will be awarded in each category and, depending on submissions and at the judges' discretion, an additional prize for the most humorous or unusual image might also be awarded. All prize winners will receive their image within a frameable mount. In addition there will be one overall winner who will receive a free Gem-A membership for the following year.

Rules of Entry

1. Entry is free and open to all current members of Gem-A.
   
   
2. Photos must be electronic and submitted via email to editor@gem-a.com. Photos should be no less than 300 dpi, in JPEG of TIFF format and a maximum file size of 2 mb. The winners will be requested to submit full size images on CD.
   
   
3. Please include your name, membership number and contact telephone number in your email, as well as the category entered, a brief note about the subject matter (what the photo is of, perhaps the location of where the photo was taken, etc.) and a caption. If you are entering a photograph into the ‘Treated’ category, please give details of the digital enhancements made to the photo and include an original photo with no enhancements, indicating the untreated photo clearly.
   
   
4. Please note that a maximum of three photographs per member may be submitted to the Competition. If more than one photograph is being submitted please ensure that you email each photograph separately and that you include the details listed in 3 in each email.
   
   
5. The closing date for the Competition is 29 June 2012. Winning entries will be announced and displayed at the Gem-A Annual Conference 2012 and feature in the Autumn 2012 issue of Gems & Jewellery.
   
   
6. Copyright of all photographs will remain with the photographers; however, Gem-A reserves the right to free use of any photographs submitted for publicity or educational purposes, providing that the name of the photographer is given.
   
   
7. By submitting a photograph you are acknowledging and declaring that you are the photographer, that any subsequent digital enhancement to the photograph(s) as submitted has been carried out by yourself, that you have any necessary permission to submit the photograph(s),  and that submission of the photograph(s) does not infringe any copyright laws.  Gem-A are not liable should any photographs be submitted without the owner’s or copyright owner’s prior consent.

An international panel of experts will judge the photography’s participants. The photographers will remain anonymous; the judge’s choice is based on gemmological interest, inspiration, artistic quality and, in the case of categories two and three, computer skills and ingenuity.