Our competitions & rules

for 2023-24 we have one temporary rule
for this season only.

Temporary Rule

The Beginners (B) competition is suspended because too few members are entering the competition to make it worthwhile. When there are too few competitors it somewhat limits how you are able to compare your images against other entries and assess your own progress. Our scoring system should provide all competitiors in the unified competition a good metric by which to assess their progress through the season.

Except where overridden by the temporary rule stated above, the rules given below apply during 2023-24.

Competition rules

1. COMPETITIONS

The following competitions will be staged annually. Competition dates and dates for handing in entries are published in the programme for the season. Entries will normally be submitted two weeks in advance of the competition. Class A and Class B Workers will be judged separately in all digital competitions but jointly in print competitions.

Entry is limited to no more than 2 prints and 2 projected digital images per author. The same or “significantly similar” image may be used only once (either as a print or projected digital image).

1.1 THEME AND PRESIDENT’S SET SUBJECT COMPETITIONS

As the name implies all prints and projected digital images entered for these competitions must conform to the published subject. The President’s Set Subject shall be chosen by the outgoing President and is announced at the Annual General Meeting.

1.2 MONOCHROME COMPETITION

Images entered must be monochromatic. (which may be singly toned in a single tone colour). Monochrome images which have one or more added colours/dyes will not be accepted. This definition has been taken from the FIAP definition for Monochrome and is used by the PAGB. Converted colour images entered in previous competitions are eligible.

1.3. OPEN COMPETITION

Images may be of any subject, colour or monochrome.

1.4 NATURAL HISTORY/ NATURE

Natural History photography is restricted to the use of the photographic process to depict all branches of natural history, except anthropology and archaeology, in such a fashion that a well-informed person will be able to identify the subject material and certify its honest presentation.

Processing of the captured image, by cropping, exposure adjustment, colour correction, noise minimisation, dodging/ burning, HDR, focus stacking and sharpening, is allowed. Cloning of image defects and distractions, including overlapping elements, are permitted when these do not distort the truth of the photographic statement.

Natural History excludes:

  • images where the subjects are obviously domestic animals or plants
  • images where an obviously artistic treatment has been applied

Images entered as Natural History can have geologic formations, weather phenomena, and extant organisms as the primary subject matter. This includes images taken with the subjects in controlled conditions, such as zoos, game farms, botanical gardens, aquariums and any enclosure where the subjects are totally dependent on man for food.

1.5 PEOPLE

Images of people may include formal or informal posed or candid portraits, showing something of the character, personality or occupation of the subject as well as avant-garde artistic compositions.

1.6 ABSTRACT

An abstract photograph is a picture of something that does not represent what it actually is. If you show someone an example of your abstract photography and they say “wow, that’s a great photo….What is it?” then you have nailed this genre of photography. Abstracts often major on elements such as Line, Shape, Colour and texture.

1.7 LANDSCAPE

Landscape photography is a genre of photography that captures natural landscapes. While these landscapes may have people, animals or architecture present in the photos, the primary focus of the photograph must be natural scenery in order to be considered a landscape photograph. Subjects of these photographs include seascapes, mountain ranges, rivers, forests, and other natural landscapes.

Landscape photography does not include views of cities, as these are considered cityscapes. It also does not include close up photos of animals, as this is considered nature photography. Landscape photography does include some astrophotography when those photographs include mountain ranges or other natural horizon lines where the sky meet nature.

1.8 ADDITIONAL COMPETITIONS

Images entered in the annual competitions (above) will also be selected for the following:-

Image of the Year Competition

The wining image to be chosen by members voting on the web page, for which all entries to A and B sections will be eligible.

B workers Image of the Year Competition

The winning image to be chosen by members voting on the web page, for which all entries to the B section only will be eligible.

In the event of a B worker’s image being chosen as Image of the Year, it would be excluded from the B worker Image of the year award.

Print of the year (People’s Choice) Competition

To be selected by visitors from the prints exhibited at the Annual Exhibition.

2. GENERAL RULES

The following rules are applicable to all competitions.

CPS can utilise any image entered for publicity purposes and to represent CPS in Interclub, L&CPU or PAGB competitions.

Note that all photographs chosen to represent the Society in external competitions under the auspices of the Lancashire and Cheshire Photographic Union (L&CPU) and the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain (PAGB) should comply with the rules of those bodies.

Prints may be home or trade produced.

“Significantly similar” means, for example, any image that may be an alternative crop of another image, or an exposure of the same subject within the same time period and from the same or adjacent viewpoint.

There is no restriction on the technology used to transfer the image onto the print medium.

Except in the case of the Natural History category there is no restriction on the manipulation of the image using either traditional darkroom, digital or any kind of technique provided that the manipulation is performed by the author. There are, however, restrictions on the original source of the image. All elemens of the image must be the work of the author. AI generated images are not accepted as part or whole of an entered image. AI tools may be used to select/enhance an image.

3. PRESENTATION OF ENTRIES

3.1 PRINTS

Mounts must be 50 cm x 40 cm. When a mount overlay is used it should be mounted on top of the print mount and be the same size. No sticky tape will be allowed on the back of the mounts. Maximum mount thickness must not exceed 4 mm. The author’s membership number and the title of the image must appear on the back of the print in the top left-hand corner of the rear of the image. (Your name should not appear on the print)

To permit the image to be clearly viewed by the audience during the competition a digital copy will be projected. All prints submitted must be accompanied by a digital copy as defined below.

3.2 DIGITAL

The images for both the Projected Digital Image (PDI) Competition and those for projection during the Print Competitions shall be submitted to the nominated person by the specified date by e-mail.

The colour space shall be sRGB.

The format shall be JPEG using maximum quality.

Monochrome images are permitted providing they are in RGB mode – not grayscale.

The images will be projected using DiCentra software – a program designed for such competitions. All images will be presented against a black background. You may apply a border to your image.

The following rules apply to meet the requirements of this software and to help the projectionists do their work efficiently.

  • The size of the image shall not exceed 1600 pixels wide by 1200 pixels high. An image in portrait orientation should not exceed 1200 pixels high.
  • Images for the DPI Competition shall be placed in a folder labelled with your Name, followed by A or B (for Class), followed by D (for Digital) e.g. ‘W Smith AD’.
  • Digital copies of prints shall be placed in a separate folder labelled with your Name, followed by P (for Print).
  • Each image shall be given a number (1, 2, etc) followed by a space followed by the Title. e.g. 1 Lion. 2 Sun flower.

Guidance on the above:

Colour Space: If you are using Adobe RGB(1998) or Pro Photo colour space go to Edit/ Convert to Profile in Photoshop and change the Destination Space to sRGB.

Image Size: Go to Image/ Image Size in Photoshop and tick the Resample Image box and the Constrain Proportions box and set the bottom box to Bicubic Sharper. For landscape shaped images alter the width to 1600 pixels and check that the height does not exceed 1200 pixels. For portrait shaped images alter the height to 1200 pixels

Borders: It is not necessary to add a black background to your image as the display software already provides this. You may wish to add a thin white border, however. You can do this in Photoshop by selecting the image (Ctrl A) and then go to Edit/Stroke, set the width to 3 pixels (say), colour white and the location to ‘inside’.

Finally deselect the image (Ctrl D) And then ‘SAVE AS’ not ‘SAVE’ to ensure you do not overwrite your original!!

4. POINTS AWARDED

In all competitions judges will be asked to award 20 points to an overall winner, 19 for second and 18 for third in each medium (prints and projected digital images) and in each class (A and B). All other images will be awarded 10-17 points.

Points for all competitions are totalled for the Print and Projected Digital Image Photographer of the year and the equivalent Class B awards.

The winner of the overall number of points in Class A will be awarded the ‘Photographer of the Year’ award.

5. RETENTION OF ENTRIES

Prints submitted to the LCPU Annual Competition in April may be retained by them for up to two years for other competitions or folios.

6. TROPHIES

Trophies are awarded at the Annual Dinner or Annual General Meeting and are held by the recipients for the period of one year. A list of all trophies and awards will be maintained on the Society’s website.

7. DEFINITION OF CLASSES

As noted at the top of the page, the B competition is temporarily suspended and all entries will be judged in a single class.

7.1 CLASSES IN PDI COMPETITIONS 

(For Print Competitions all entries will be submitted to a single competition)

Members shall compete in one of two classes (A or B) for all PDI competitions. Class B is intended to encourage participation by novices in photography, particularly those who have never previously taken part in club competitions. All other entrants should compete in Class A. New members unsure of which class to enter should seek guidance from the Competition Secretary. Should any dispute arise concerning eligibility for Class B, the Committee will be asked to make a ruling.

7.2 PROMOTION TO CLASS A

Any member may elect to compete in Class A if they wish to do so, fully aware that it could be self defeating to compete at a too high a level. A Class B worker considered to be of a sufficiently high standard will be invited to move up to Class A for the start of the new season. At the commencement of the new competition season any Class A worker may apply to the Competition Secretary to move down to Class B if they have submitted little or no work or been unsuccessful in the previous seasons competitions.