FAQ for Scholarships | Faculty and Students

Students

I am a high school student who will be attending college next fall. Can I enter?

No. The competition is for continuing college students. You will be eligible to enter in the spring term of your first college year. If successful, your scholarship would apply to the sophomore year.

I will graduate in May. Can I still enter?

No. Not unless you are a continuing graduate student. We do have one scholarship that is specifically for a continuing graduate student and two others that may be awarded to a graduate student. For undergraduate students, you must have a minimum of one term or semester to complete after this spring. Likewise, graduate students must also have at least one term or semester left before graduating.

Do I need a letter of recommendation to enter?

Yes. The  recommendation is submitted on this website after you have completed step two of the Process described here.

Recommendations must be submitted by the contest deadline.

Do I have to be a student member of NPPA to enter? 

No. But we recommend membership for its obvious education benefits to you and your developing career as a photojournalist.

Do I need a portfolio of still pictures to apply for the NPPF TV Scholarship?

No. The TV scholarship only requires URL links to video stories.

What constitutes a portfolio?

For the purpose of an NPPF Scholarship application, a portfolio is a maximum of ten entries (items). An entry is defined as one photograph, a multiple picture story, a multimedia story, or a website feature displaying unique programming or design. A multiple picture story will have at least 2 pictures up to a maximum of 10 pictures. There is total flexibility on how you make your portfolio. Here are some examples:

  • 3 multiple picture stories, 1 website feature, 1 multimedia story, 5 single pictures=10 entries
  • 10 multiple picture stories=10 entries
  • 2 multimedia stories, 2 multiple picture stories, 6 single pictures=10 entries

My work is all multimedia (which includes sound) and I don’t want to enter still pictures or multiple picture stories (without sound). Will my chances be harmed?

You may enter up to 10 multimedia and nothing else. The judges for the TV scholarship don’t expect to see anything except video. You can enter other media forms as well but they really want to see video.

Do I need to enter captions for my pictures?

Yes. You need captions in all pictures in the IPTC caption/description field.

I am a still photographer. I don’t know how to do multimedia. Should I enter anyway?

Unless you have at least one multimedia entry, your portfolio will not be competitive. Multimedia is defined as some method of synchronizing sound with your pictures. This could be a video with moving pictures or still pictures with a synchronized sound track.

How do synchronize a sound track with my pictures?

In making a video with a video camera, sound is automatically synchronized with the pictures.  All video editing programs allow the importation of still pictures as clips as well as an independent sound track. The features of the video editing program are used to synchronize sound to picture. Another popular program to synchronize still pictures. Most video editing software in use today usually has an easy option to upload to YouTube or Vimeo. Obviously you must create your free account with one of these services first. Once uploaded, you will have a unique URL to copy and paste into the application form.

I think I might want to become a student member of the National Press Photographers Association. How do I do that? https://nppa.org/for-students

Faculty

How do I submit a recommendation for one of my students?

This is a simple two-step process.

  1. First create an account on this website. This need be done only once. Your login will be your email address and your password will be what you enter in the form. Should you lose your password, you can easily reset it. Should any of your information change, you can edit the information you submit.
  2. You cannot submit your recommendation until your student submits the application. Of course you can write it at any time up to the deadline and copy and paste the recommendation into the web form. When your student submits his/her application, the student’s name will appear in a pull-down list. With this method, we can link your recommendation to the student’s application for the judges.

Assuming your student has entered a valid email for you in the student’s application, the website will send you an automatic email, with links to create an account and to the recommendation form. Log into the website and go to Faculty Recommendations. Just select the student’s name, copy and paste your recommendation or write originally into the form, and press the “Submit.” Button

Both Students and Faculty

I have more questions. Who do I contact?

Dr. James W. Brown at  jwbrown@nppf.org.