Talking about our pictures on competition nights helps us to develop our understanding of what makes a good photo. Once a month we invite a guest judge to comment on each picture and award a score out of twenty. The comments may be technical or artistic, encouraging us to develop our photographic and creative skills. These good humoured (honest!) sessions are always popular with members.
The competitions are either for Digital Images or Prints. To enter the Digital Image competitions, members upload their pictures as jpegs in advance, and to enter the Print competitions, members bring their prints, ready for display on the evening.
And they may be Open or Set Subject. Any image can be entered for an Open competition, while a Set Subject asks for pictures that conform to a specific theme or style, with guidance given in advance through our website, email and social media.
There is much kudos for the top scorers on each competition night, and at the end of the year all the scores are added up and the overall winner receives our Photographer of the Year trophy.
From time to time, we also enter inter-club and external competitions. Entries for these are selected by our competition team, usually choosing from the pictures entered in our own competitions.
Getting Started
Preparing Prints for Competitions
The Frank Holding Trophy for a panel of prints
Images of the Year, Projected Image and Print
Roll of Honour – Our Competition Winners
We aim to be a welcoming, friendly club, open to everyone from all backgrounds. Therefore we do expect that entries for competitions will not be offensive or distasteful; so that all our members and visitors may feel comfortable and welcome. Any member or visitor may draw attention to images that cause concern and Committee members may ask that images be withdrawn from competition if they are considered inappropriate for display: the decision of the Committee as to whether images shall be included in competitions shall be final.