Rules of Competition

Charlottesville Camera Club Rules of Competition

 

1.  Categories

 Assigned 

  • Entries must fit the designated monthly theme.
  • Restrictions on editing and manipulation of photos in this category are detailed in the chart below. These restrictions are intended to provide an opportunity for photographers of all levels to compete more fairly.
  • Each member may submit one entry. 
  • Photos of Class A (advanced) and Class B (beginner/intermediate) members are judged separately. 
  • The date of photo capture must be within the past 12 months.

 Open 

  • Entries are not restricted to a theme.
  • To allow our members to fully achieve their vision for a photo we encourage all entrants to make full use of software tools that can optimize the visual quality of a photo.* Any enhancement must be done by the entrant.
  • Significant changes to the pictorial content (deleting, resizing, moving, and adding main components)—which are not allowed in the Assigned category—are allowed in the Open category, with the following exceptions:

--Any pictorial content added to the photo (a moon, clouds, better sky, less-distracting background, etc.) must be from a photo taken by the entrant and not from any other source, including creation via Artificial Intelligence. (See note about AI-generated content below.)

--Photos in which the pictorial content has been altered must retain the overall realism of the original photo. For example, a moon may be added to the night sky, but not more than one moon. (Photos with significant distortions of reality must be entered in the Abstracts and Altered Reality competition, which is held once each year.)

  • Any filters that are applied, either during capture or during editing, must retain the overall realism of the subject. Any photo that appears unnatural must be entered into the Abstracts and Altered Reality competition. (For example, slightly enhancing the starburst effect of a light at night is OK, but if the effect is so extreme that it appears unnatural, the photo is not allowed.)
  • Abstract photos (“found abstracts”) that retain the original characteristics of the subject (shapes, textures, patterns, etc.) and where no major distortion has been introduced, can be entered in the Open competition. 
  • Each member may submit one entry.
  • Class A and Class B are judged separately.
  • There is no limit on the capture date for the photo.

 2. 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. New members cannot enter at the first meeting they attend. Members may enter competitions even if they do not attend 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. 
  • The photo must be your own work rather than a team effort. You can have help, but it must be your vision and your execution.
  • A designated member of the executive committee screens entries prior to judging and, after consultation with the photographer, can disqualify or re-categorize an entry.

 3. Photo-editing restrictions for the Assigned competition

 Assigned entries are subject to photo-editing restrictions to:

  • Emphasize the quality of the initial capture.
  • Enable members with less advanced skills in photo editing to compete more fairly.

 

 

 

ADJUSTMENTS ALLOWED in the Assigned Category

 

ADJUSTMENTS NOT ALLOWED in the 

Assigned Category

 

 

Correct white balance and color shifts (temperature and tint)

Exposure/brightness, dodge and burn

Sharpening, clarity, and texture

Noise reduction

Color and brightness changes that significantly alter the original look and feel of the subject as originally captured

Contrast, saturation, and vibrance

Conversion to black and white or sepia

Color substitution to provide an unnatural effect

Conversion to infrared

Cropping, scaling, flipping, and rotating the entire photo

Movement, enlargement, or reduction of elements within a photo

Seam editing

Combining multiple photos or elements of photos to:

-- form a panorama (stitching)

-- blend exposures (HDR or manually)

-- extend depth of field (focus stacking)

-- emphasize highlights, shape, tone, and texture of components of photo via light painting

Making composite photos by combining photos or components from other photos or duplicating components within the same photo (including background and sky replacement and the Orton effect)

Cloning and using Content Aware Fill, Generative Fill*, or equivalent tools to remove unwanted items that:

-- you could not remove or avoid at the time of capture

-- you would have removed or avoided if you had noticed them at the time of capture

Removing or altering major components of the main subject

Blurring distracting elements (including the background)**, spot healing, healing brush, or patch tools**

Using a blur filter to create an ethereal mood or a special effect that wasn't part of the original subject

Panning a moving subject and using a slow shutter speed to blur a fast-moving subject

Moving or adjusting the camera during exposure to create abstract, artistic interpretations of the subject

Perspective correction with tilt/shift lenses or software

Transform, Free Transform, and Puppet Warp**

Use of on-camera filters and other tools, such as Lensbaby, that produce special optical or color effects and significantly alter the original look or feel of the subject

Using artificial light to brighten parts of an existing scene or the entire scene.

Light painting using artificial light to create designs, patterns, and other effects within the photo

 

 

Use of a flatbed scanner or photocopier to produce a photo, unless the resulting photo is as realistic and true to the subject as if taken with a camera

 

Adjustments that go beyond those listed in the left column, including filters that distort forms and alter texture or create artificial optical effects (such as lens flare, fog, or star bursts)

* For more about the use of tools powered by Artificial Intelligence, please see below.

**Only if they do not significantly alter the appearance of the main subject or a major part of the subject

 4. How to prepare and enter your photos

On the club website (www.cvillcameraclub.org), go to Competition Info and review the instructions in the sub-menu.

 5. Judging & scoring

Our judging standards and scoring guide have been designed to shift emphasis away from technical flaw-finding and toward artistic merit. Judges should give at least as much weight to composition, emotional connection, and creativity as to technical issues.

 

Judging Standards and Scoring Guide

 5.   The photograph has a strong, clear subject and is visually stunning. The image leads to emotional connectivity, with a story to tell or a strong feeling elicited. The lighting is used creatively rather than just to produce a correct exposure. The composition enhances the subject, and there are no significant technical flaws.

4.   The photograph features many of the qualities of a category five photo. While visually interesting, with some emotional connection, the photo leans toward technical achievement more than creativity.  The photograph lacks the special qualities that would move it into the top category.

3.   A well-taken photograph with some of the characteristics of superior images but lacking anything special and with some technical deficiencies. It may feel like a snapshot or a photograph of record.

2.   A photograph with some good points but with major technical deficiencies.

1.   A photo that needs significant improvement. 

 

Abstracts and Altered Reality (once yearly)

Like all compelling photos, abstract and altered reality images should have immediate visual impact and sustained visual interest. They should be simple, balanced, and cohesive and have a clear structural design. Additionally, light should enhance these images, and they should have a sense of mystery and wonder.

Abstract and altered reality entries may be created by one or more of the following methods:

  • Photographing a subject in such a way that it becomes isolated from its context and where shapes, colors, lines, patterns, and textures predominate and provide primary interest. The context becomes unrecognizable and irrelevant.

  • Camera movement. (Does not include panning to capture moving objects.)

 

  • The use of software, in which a photograph is altered to the point that it no longer reflects reality. The altered photo and any added components must be the original work of the entrant. Content created by AI programs is not allowed.

     

Each member may submit up to two entries per competition.

  • A and B are judged together.

  • There is no limit on the capture date for the photo.

  * Tutorials on photo editing are available on the Internet. Also, you can get helpful advice on editing by attending our photo review sessions, and experienced members of the club may be willing to work with you to improve your photo editing. Feel free to ask!---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What About Artificial Intelligence?

An increasing number of photo-editing tools are now powered by what is known as artificial intelligence. While many of these tools do little more than make earlier methods of editing faster, easier, and more effective, they can also add major components to photos or even create entire original photos, with just a few prompts by the user.

AI is rapidly advancing, and there’s no way to know what will be coming our way. However, our overall guidance on the use of AI in photos being entered into our competitions is as follows:

  • In the Assigned category, you can use AI tools only to help you accomplish what is already allowed in the rules listed above.
  • In the Open category, you can be more liberal with the use of AI tools, but please remember that any significant components added to a composition must be of your own creation, not something generated by prompts to AI. For example, you may add a horse to a meadow, but the horse must be taken from one of your own photos and not be one generated by prompting AI.