EFD 2019 Rules and Prizes

EXPIRED FILM DAY IS MARCH 15-17, 2019!

Welcome to the fourth annual Expired Film Day!

HOW IT WORKS

This year we’re extending the shooting! Go out on Expired Film Day, Friday, March 15, 2019, or the rest of the weekend — March 16 and 17, 2019 — and shoot lots of expired film! With three full days of shooting, including a full weekend, you should have plenty of time to balance fun and family, obligation and jollification.

NEWS

Due to the incredible difficulty of arranging sponsors and prizes, gathering judges and distributing awards, we decided not to make such a big deal this year. Instead, we have some simple prizes offered by members of the #BelieveinFilm community, which you’ll see below. For the most part, though, Expired Film Day is a just-for-fun event. Shoot away, post away, and we’ll still set up the website so folks can submit their favorites for the world to see.

WHAT TO DO

After you use your expired film on March 15-17, 2019, and beginning the next day, March 18, 2019, submit up to three (3) images to our shared gallery for all to see. Make sure to pick your best photographs!

Each image you submit must be taken on March 15-17. Since we can’t easily verify that, you’re on your honor. If we somehow catch you cheating, though, your entry will be deleted, and you will be banned from future participation in any future awards or giveaways — and called out publicly and repeatedly, because … really?

Note: Images that have obviously been heavily post-processed will be disqualified. Removing dust and slight adjustments to exposure and color (consistent with typical darkroom processes) are fine.

Submissions will be open for an entire month — from March 18 through April 18, 2019 — so you should have plenty of time to process and scan your film.

All submissions are automatically displayed here once they have been approved.

PRIZES

This year’s prizes are sponsored by members of the online film photography community. Notice is short, but these are, if we do say so ourselves, pretty awesome. Here’s the run-down:

 

Poppers’ Choice

Sponsored by: Old School Photo Lab

Criteria: Whatever catches’ the Lab Rats’ eyes! It could be literally anything!

Prize: Five (5) rolls of miscellaneous expired film.

 

Best Use of Slide Film

Sponsored by: Film Photography London

Criteria: As a die-hard fan of positive film images, Film Photography London will choose a winner for the best use of slide film, processed in E6 chemical of cross-processed. There’s no film like chrome!

Prize: One (1) propack (5 rolls) of 120 format Fujifilm Provia 100F film expired May 2012 (well-stored, but no guarantees), plus surprise goodies.

 

Best Use of Multiple Exposures

Sponsored by: David Allen

Criteria: Expired film lends itself to multiple exposures, and David would like to reward the one that best aesthetically serves the medium by awarding a prize to the best example of a multiple exposure image on out-of-date substrate.

Prize: One uniquely handmade darkroom print on expired paper of David Allen’s original multiple exposure image, entitled “Reconstructed Refuse No. 2,” mounted on an A3 sized board.

"Reconstructed Refuse No. 2" by David Allen

“Reconstructed Refuse No. 2” by David Allen

 

Best Use of Edge Markings

Sponsored by: Adam Paul of Vintage Film Hacker

Criteria: For the photo scan with the best creative inclusion of your film’s edge numbers/codes, regardless of film size or format. This could include so-called “sprocket” images, sheet film scans, etc.

Prize: A specially prepared 100-foot bulk roll of Agfa-Gevaert 561 Cinema BW Print Film, wound emulsion-side out so that the rebate lettering/edge marking reads left to right instead of reversed. This film has no rem-jet layer and develops fine in colder, dilute HC-110 when rated between ISO 1 and 2. With 100 feet you’ll have plenty of chances to experiment with exposure and development!

Edge markings prize

An example of a scan utilizing edge-markings creatively, and also an image of the specially rolled Agfa-Gevaert 561 Cinema film offered as a prize!

 

Best Macro or Close-Up Negative Image

Sponsored by: Marcus Didius Falco

Criteria: As a lover of both macro/close-up photography and color/B&W negative film, Marcus would like to celebrate these two loves. The winner will be the best macro or close-up image using color or black-and-white negative film.

Prize: Five (5) rolls of fresh/new color negative film. Winner may choose 35mm or 120 roll film, in any common stock (think Kodak, Fuji, etc.).

 

Best B&W Portrait or Self-Portrait

Sponsored by: James Cockroft

Criteria: Portraits are something James struggles with, so give him some inspiration! Think Francesca Woodman disappearing into the wallpaper,  or Saul Leiter’s friends, maybe. Or channel Alec Soth’s airplane man in black and white. The more evocative, moody and mysterious, the better. Please try to keep it work-safe.

Prize: Five (5) rolls of miscellaneous black-and-white roll film (may include 120 or 35mm film, fresh or expired).

 

Best Color Night or Interior Photo

Sponsored by: James Cockroft

Criteria: Think Khalik Allah or Saul Leiter’s color work. Wet neon reflections, maybe. Color dripping, oozing, floating, bursting. Light leaks, color shifts and processing errors are welcome — if hard to harness. James reports @chichic is ineligible as she would win almost automatically.

Prize: Five (5) rolls of miscellaneous color negative roll film (may include 120 or 35mm film, fresh or expired).

 

Best Man-Altered Landscape

Sponsored by: EFD Founder Daniel J. Schneider

Criteria: Hit me with your best man-altered landscape shot. This means anything that would qualify as a landscape photograph but which includes as a central, or at least important, element evidence of mankind’s relentless alteration of our environment. 

Prize: A grab-bag of expired film! Will include 120 and/or 35mm roll film; no guarantees what film stocks you’ll get, but they will be old — and could total 8-10 rolls!

 

RULES AND STUFF

You don’t have to buy anything from anyone to join in the fun. In fact, you can participate with just the hashtag. You will have to submit according to the guidelines above for the contest (the prizes part).

Key dates Submission photographs must be created March 15-17, 2019, in the submitter’s local time zone. Submissions for the contest are open from midnight UTC, March 18, 2019, through midnight UTC, April 18, 2019.

Eligibility To be eligible for the contest, you must be a resident of Earth and a photographer. (You’ll also need some expired film. And a camera.) Sponsors, their families, employees or contractors, and anyone who shares an address with a sponsor is, unfortunately, prohibited from winning prizes awarded by that sponsor under U.S. laws.

Contest Judging Prize winners are selected at the sole discretion of the sponsor or their assigns, using whatever criteria they have chosen.

Notification We will try to get in touch by the contact methods (specifically, email) provided with each submission within thirty (30) days of the end of the submission period. If the entrant does not get back to us, we’ll be forced to award prizes to runners-up.

Odds and Exclusions Your individual odds of winning anything depend entirely on how many people enter. The whole shootin’ match is void where prohibited.

Shipping and Taxes Prize recipients are responsible for any and all import duties, local/gift/value-added taxes, or anything like that, beyond the base shipping cost covered by the prize sponsor.

Quick list of dates

There have been some questions about dates. Remember you must shoot your Expired Film Day photographs on March 15. Here’s a list of all the important dates with explanations:

March 15-17, 2019: EXPIRED FILM DAY(S). Make your expired film photographs!
March 18, 2019: Start of submission period.
April 18, 2019: End of submission period.
April 30, 2019: Winners announced!

Past winners and rules

See past rules, sponsors, prizes and winner announcements here.

Expired Portra 160VC and Kodak 320TXP
Expired Portra 160VC and Kodak 320TXP — all in 220! Expired Film day is March 15-17, 2019. (Daniel J. Schneider)