Here you’ll find all the details you need to participate in our monthly, interclub, and annual competitions.
Club Competition Rules
The Club Competition Rules set out the eligibility, submission, and judging requirements for all competitions held throughout the year. These ensure fairness, consistency, and high standards across all entries.
Club Competition Rules
Eligibility
- Open to financial members of the club (social members excluded).
- Members may enter either the Novice or Standard category for the full competition year.
Image Requirements
- All entries must be the original photographic work of the member.
- Post-processing is permitted; however, AI tools must not add or alter image elements not captured by the photographer.
- Entries may be submitted in digital and print formats (as specified in ContestPro).
Submission
- All digital entries must be uploaded via Photo Contest Pro.
- Specific requirements apply for image size, file format, and print mounting.
- The Competition Steward manages entries and ensures compliance with the rules.
Judging & Awards
- Judging is conducted by appointed judges based on image quality, creativity, and technical merit.
- Awards are presented monthly, and the Annual Awards recognise outstanding achievement across categories including Nature, Portrait, and Scape, as well as overall Image of the Year and Aggregate Awards.
- Aggregate points are accumulated throughout the year towards annual awards.
Image Authenticity and AI Policy
To maintain fairness and uphold the integrity of our competitions, all visual elements in your submitted image must be created from scenes you have personally photographed.
Image Authenticity and AI Policy
Permitted Adjustments:
- Standard post-processing such as exposure, colour, contrast, cropping, and sharpening.
- Composites: You may blend multiple photos, provided that every component was captured by you.
- AI-Assisted Cleanup: Using AI tools to remove small distractions (e.g. dust spots, litter, or stray people) is acceptable.
Not Permitted:
- The use of generative AI or similar tools to create, add, or replace any part of an image. This includes elements like skies, objects, or people that were not photographed by you.
All entries must be an authentic representation of your own photographic work and creative vision.
Digital Image Sizing
Your digital image must fit within 1920 x 1080 pixels (this is the maximum size allowed).
Don’t have Photoshop or Lightroom, Use Adobe Express to resize images. Sign up to the free plan (no credit card required).
Image Sizing
Your digital image must fit within 1920 x 1080 pixels (this is the maximum size allowed).
For Landscape photos (wider than tall):
- Set the width to 1920 pixels.
- Check the height — it must be less than 1080 pixels.
- If the height is more than 1080 pixels, reduce the width until the height is 1080 pixels or less.
For Portrait photos (taller than wide):
- Set the height to 1080 pixels.
- Check the width — it must be less than 1920 pixels.
- If the width is more than 1920 pixels, reduce the height until the width is 1920 pixels or less.
Print Image Sizing
Maximum print size is 40 × 50 cm (16 × 20 inches), including mount and matt.
Minimum print size is 20 × 25 cm (8 × 10 inches), including mount and matt.
Maximum thickness of entry is 5 mm, including matt, print and backing.
Prints must be presented on a cardboard mount board and should be backed by cardboard or foam core.
It is the club members’ responsibility to pick up the print after the completion of the competition.
Uncollected prints will be disposed of two years after the original judging.
Editing Images for Competitions
To prepare a photo for a competition, first, carefully read the specific competition rules regarding image format, size, and allowed edits. Next, organize and crop your image to enhance its composition and ensure its level. Then, adjust exposure, lighting, and tone, followed by finessing colours with white balance and saturation to achieve a consistent and compelling look. Finally, enhance details with sharpening and clarity, while being mindful not to over-process or create an unnatural look.
Editing Images for Competitions
Before you start editing:
- 1. Check the rules:
Every competition has different requirements for image size, file format, and what types of editing are permitted.
- 2. Use high-quality files:
Start with a high-quality photograph, ideally a RAW file, as it contains more information for editing.
Step-by-step editing process:
- 1. Crop and Align:
- Crop: Remove unnecessary elements to improve your composition and focus on the main subject.
- Straighten: Ensure that any important horizontal or vertical lines in your image are perfectly level.
- 2. Adjust Exposure and Lighting:
- Exposure: Correct any issues with the overall brightness of the image.
- Highlights & Shadows: Use these controls to bring out detail in the brightest and darkest areas, enhancing the image’s depth.
- Contrast: Carefully adjust contrast to make the image more dynamic but avoid making it look unnatural.
- 3. Finesse Colour:
- White Balance: Adjust the colour temperature to ensure colours appear natural and accurate.
- Saturation: Subtly increase or decrease saturation to enhance or calm the intensity of colours, creating a consistent look.
- 4. Enhance Details:
- Sharpening: Add a touch of sharpening to make important details crisp and clear, as judges often zoom in.
- Clarity & Texture: Use these tools to bring out the existing texture in the image rather than creating new details, which can look artificial.
- 5. Check for Distractions and Watermarks:
- Remove distractions: Use masking tools to selectively brighten or blur areas of the image to draw attention to the subject.
- No Identifying Marks: Make sure there are no watermarks, signatures, or other identifying marks on the final image.
Final Steps:
- 1. Save Your Image:
Save the image in the required file format (often JPEG) and adhere to any file size limits specified by the competition rules.
Monthly Competition Scoring System
Points will be allocated to entries that received awards as follows:
HIGHLY COMMENDED: 3 points
COMMENDED: 2 points
MERIT: 1 point
PLUS: 1 point for each image entered.
Aggregate Points Awards will be determined based on adding up the points allocated to each member’s entries.
Judging & Awards
- Judging is conducted by appointed judges based on image quality, creativity, and technical merit.
- Awards are presented monthly, and the Annual Awards recognise outstanding achievement across categories including Nature, Portrait, and Scape, as well as overall Image of the Year and Aggregate Awards.
- Aggregate points are accumulated throughout the year towards annual awards.
PhotoContest Pro
New members will receive login details to access PhotoContestPro, the platform used to upload images for our monthly competitions. PhotoContestPro can be accessed online or downloaded to your computer via the following link: http://www.photocontestpro.com/Downloads.aspx
Please note that the Competition Steward reserves the right to reject any images that do not meet the competition brief.