About Our Competitions

•  Our  monthly competitions are entirely voluntary: Members may enter all sections, some, or none. We believe, however, that participation in these competitions provides an opportunity to grow as a photographer.
•    All members of the Charlottesville Camera Club are encouraged to enter photos into our monthly competitions. And for the purposes of judging, members are divided into "B" (beginner) and "A" (advanced) classes.
•  CCC has eleven (11) competitions per year (January through November) where members are able to enter their photos into two separate categories: Assigned (see the topics on the Monthly Topics page), and Open (photographer's choice of subject.)
• For judging purposes, members are divided into two groups, "A" (Advanced) and "B" (Beginner) where Photos are evaluated on a five-point scale and A and B photographers are judged separately.
• All members are allowed to enter two photos per month, i.e., one photo in the Assigned category and one in the Open category. In addition, limits have been placed on the extent of photo editing allowed and are described in the Rules for Competition.
• All entries must be uploaded to a server before the established deadline.

Who Can Enter What

•  All members whose dues are fully paid may enter one photo in each of the two competitions (Assigned and Open) each month. However, new members cannot enter the first competition after they join.
• Members may enter competitions even if they do not plan on attending the meeting.
• Members are assigned to Class A or B by the club, based on the member's level of skill as a photographer. The executive committee may promote a member from Class B to Class A if it feels that person is misplaced.
• Any member may request to be moved from Class B to Class A at the end of the year.
• The Class B member who has earned the highest number of points in the monthly competition by the end of the year will be automatically promoted to Class A.
• Photos that scored a 4 or 5 cannot be reentered in a subsequent competition, but the subject can be re-photographed. Photos that scored a 1, 2, or 3 in a previous competition, and that have correctable flaws that were noted by a judge, can be reentered once with those corrections made.
• Photos entered must be made entirely by the photographer. A photographer can receive suggestions for improvement from anyone, but the final work must be the photographer’s own vision and execution.
• All photos will be screened by a three-person committee to ascertain if they meet the theme.