Competition

Competition—What For?

Photo competition is arguably the life-blood of this or any photo club. That's been demonstrated by experience. So our Club has an active competition activity, devoting six of our twelve monthly general meetings to competition. In recent times, submissions have averaged around 100 images per session, roughly half as prints, half as digital images for projection on the Club's digital projector. All Club members participate on an equal footing with one another; there are no classes of competitors; non-members don't particpate. All members are invited and encouraged to participate.

How It Works

The nitty-gritty details of how the competitions work are covered in the competition rules, available on this site. In a nutshell or two:

There are four categories of entries: General, Special, Creative, and Panorama.
Members may submit prints or digital images up to 6 per session, up to 24 for the year.
The images are displayed one by one to the general meeting. A panel of three judges, usually from the Club, silently award a numerical score to each image, following which a critic, also usually from the Club, comments on the image. Then: next image, please.
Scores are cumulated over the course of the year, and recognition awards (sorry, no money) are given to the leading scorers in each of the four categories. You'll enjoy being among the winners.

Kinds of Images

Both "straight" and manipulated images are welcome in all categories. The more aggressively manipulated ones are frequently submitted in the Creative category, but this is not a requirement. It is, however, a requirement that each image be the sole work of the submitting photographer; exception: prints can be made commercially. Prints tend to be medium-large, the constraint being that they fit on a mat of no more than 16" x 20". Prints at 11" x 14" are common. Again an exception: panoramas may be up to 36" wide. Digital submissions are displayed at a size that doesn't exceed 1050 pixels, in either height or width (panoramas also allowed at somewhat larger size).

Other Competitions

In addition to the intra-club competition, Club members participate in a traveling print competition run by the Northwest Council of Camera Clubs, and one of the several competitions run by the Photographic Society of America. And in addition to that, some members participate on their own in local, national, and international competitions run by a variety of groups.

2011 Special Topics

January 2012	Shadows
March	Black & White, or Monochrome
May	Water's Edge, or Moving Water
July	Transportation
September	Lines
November	Natural Patterns
January 2013	Broken Symmetry, or Shadows

Is That All?

No, it's not at all all. When you feel ready to participate, read the competition rules. You'll be glad you did!