Monthly Competitions
All members of the Charlottesville Camera Club are encouraged to enter photos into our monthly competitions. For the purposes of judging, members are divided into "B" (beginner) and "A" (advanced) classes. Photos are evaluated on a five point scale.
Eleven months each year, members enter photos into two different categories: 1) Assigned (see topics below), and 2) Open (photographer's choice of subject). In these categories, A and B photographers are judged separately. Members can enter no more than one photo in each of these categories. For both the Assigned and Open categories, there are some limits on the extent of photo editing allowed, as described in the Rules of Competition.
In December, members compete in End-of-Year competitions. See EOY awards for details.
All entries must be uploaded to a server before the established deadline. See Uploading for more inormation.
A FEW THINGS TO THINK ABOUT BEFORE ENTERING A COMPETITION:
- Is my craftsmanship as good as it can be? (Is the image perfectly sharp, well exposed, not over-sharpened or over-saturated, etc.?)
- Are there any distracting or unnecessary objects in my image? (Remember: If something doesn’t help your image, it hurts it!)
- Is any part of the background brighter than my subject? (If so, find a way to eliminate or at least darken it.)
- Are any parts of my image too close to the edges of the frame?
- Is my subject or horizon right in the middle? Am I sure that’s the best place for it?
- Am I being objective about the subject’s appeal? (Your pet or grandchild or garden may mean everything to you, but a judge cares only about the quality of the image.)
This Year's Themes
January | Something That Makes You Happy |
Feel flooded by a world full of unhappiness? Then fight back with your camera! Capture something that never fails to bring you joy, and do it in a way that brings joy to us as well. |
Phil Witt |
February | Soft and Delicate |
Soft and delicate colors, shapes, objects, even emotions are yours, almost everywhere, to capture. |
Larry Treadwell |
March | The Mundane Made Beautiful |
Photography is all about seeing. So, what can you see in the ordinary objects and aspects of life that make a beautiful [or at least interesting] photograph? |
Mary Louise Ravese |
April | In Focus, Barely |
Especially in landscapes and close-ups, photographers strive for the maximum amount of the subject to be in focus, or for the maximum “depth of field.” But beautiful photography can happen with the bare minimum depth of field as well. So, open your eyes--and lens apertures--wide and see what happens! |
Becky Witt |
May | Getting Around |
Yes, there are planes, trains, boats, and automobiles. But also bikes, boards, skates and wheel chairs. And don't forget legs, wings, and fins! Use your imagination to capture people, animals, and even plants getting from one place to another, and the devices they use to do so. |
Janet Jeffers |
June | Less Is More |
“Keep it simple” is often a key to good photography. Someone once said (often attributed to Leonardo da Vinci): "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." So, can you create a power-packed photo with the minimum amount of content? |
Russ Burden |
July | Let It Be Three |
The number three seems to have a special appeal to our H. sapiens brains. It's also the largest number we can recognize quickly without counting. So, can you make the most of this magical number by capturing three of anything in a single photo or in a triptych? (Triptychs aren’t normally allowed in our competitions, but for this one we’re making an exception. Instructions for making a triptych in Lightroom, Photoshop, Google Docs, and other programs can be found with a web search.) |
Cneryl Opperman |
August | Plants in Odd Places |
Flowers, ferns, trees, and other plants growing naturally where you wouldn’t expect them, such as inside the hollow of a tree, a narrow crack in a sidewalk, a chink in a wall. But also plants planted in odd places by odd people! (A garden in an old bathtub, anyone?) |
Jamie Konarski Davidson |
September | Water, Water, Everywhere |
Aim your camera at anything from a raging surf or roaring waterfall to a single drop of dew, and show us something interesting--maybe even something we haven't seen or imagined before--in the water all around us.
Denise Silva will return to judge our September competition. Formerly a resident of Leesburg, Denise now lives in Kalispell, Montana, next door to Glacier National Park. Denise is an accomplished nature, landscape, and wildlife photographer. Her work has been highly recognized and widely published. Her company, Roadrunner Photography Tours, offers trips to numerous locations including Cuba, Iceland and Patagonia. You can view galleries of her work at https://roadrunnerphotographytours.com/galleries-2/galleries/
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Denise Silva |
October | Abstracts and Altered Reality |
Our ongoing theme of photographing “found” abstracts or creating works of art with our cameras and software. (See the full description of this theme on the CCC website.) |
Sandi Croan |
November | Good Eats |
Food: We eat it three times a day. We see it everywhere in every form--from growing on a tree or in a pasture to the most elaborately prepared meal. People all over the world partake in an almost infinite variety of ways. What can you say about food--or the people harvesting, cooking, or eating it--with a photo? |
TBD |
December | End of Year Competition |
See entry under "Rules of Competition" on CCC website for details |
TBD |