What is a competition?
The Saskatoon Camera Club holds fall & winter competitions, Photo Presentation and a Year End Competitions (Traditional Colour, Monochrome, Altered Reality & Portrait). These are judged by professional photographers from our community. Comments and scores are given to the submissions. All current topics included in the brochure.
Submission Guidelines
- Submissions are due on or before the submission date. Instructions will be available on the website and at meetings.
- Do not resize your digital image, we prefer full resolution
- The minimum resolution is 1280 x 800
- Prints are only considered for Year End Competition
Summer Fun Competition
- Entries must be taken during the scheduled summer fun trips
- Digital Images only
- Limits: 1 Digital Submission
- Can be color or black & white
- No creative/altered reality
- Upload your images to our online Submissions Page
- Images will be judged during a scheduled night
Fall Field Trip Competition
- Entries must be taken during the September club field trip
- Digital images only
- Limits: 1 Digital Submission
- Can be color or black & white
- No creative/altered reality
- Upload your images to our online Submissions Page
- Images will be judged during a scheduled night
Treasure Hunt Competition
5 Topics:
- The Letter F
- Fox
- Fence
- Falling
- Fire Engine Red
Rules
- Minimal post-processing & manipulation
- Submission limit: 1 digital image per topic (a set of 5 images must be submitted)
Fall Competition
Submit October 10th and Review Submissions and Judges Comments November 26th
Topics:
- Autumn – Nature
- Celebrations
Rules:
- Limit 1 digital image per topic
- Maximum total of 2 digital images
- Winners announced at Awards Night
Upload your images to our online Submissions Page
Winter Competition
Submit January 9th and Review Submissions and Judges Comments February 25th
Topics:
- Phone – Winter Scenes
- Street Photography
Rules:
- Limit 1 digital image per topic
- Maximum total of 2 digital images
- Winners announced at Awards Night
Upload your images to our online Submissions Page
Photo Presentation Competition
Register title March 18 and judged on March 25
- A Photo Presentation is a digital projection of a collection of images forming a unifying theme
- Recommended 4-6 minutes
- Video format preferred or PowerPoint
- Judged by 3 Professionals
Year-End Competitions
Submit your best image that you shot in the past 2 years! Submit by March 25th.
Topics:
- Traditional Color: Your best color image
- Black & White / Monochrome: Your best colorless image
- Altered Reality: Your best Photoshop masterpiece
- Portrait: Your best portrait of a human or animal
Rules:
- Submit 1 digital and/or 1 print per category (maximum of 4 digital images & 4 prints)
- Images must be taken in the last 2 years
- These will be judged by 3 professional judges and retained until the Awards night.
Upload your digital images to our online Submissions Page
How is your Photograph Judged?
The purpose of the competition is to provide instruction through constructive critical comment and evaluation. Images are judged by 3 professional photographers.
Judges comment using 3 categories:
- Pictorial or Artistic Merit (IMPACT)
- Technical Skill
- Interpretation of Subject
Pictorial or Artistic Merit (IMPACT)
This is a measure of the SUCCESS of the COMPOSITION.
Factors include the “RULES OF COMPOSITION”:
- Rule of Thirds
- Balance
- Lighting
- Framing
- Tonal Range and Texture
- Pattern and Rhythm
- Lead-in Lines
Technical
Here you measure the skills of:
- Exposure
- Depth of Field
- Focus
- Shutter Speed
- Filters
- Panning
- Mounting, spotting (prints)
Interpretation
Here you evaluate how well the photographer interpreted the topic photographically.
- Is the subject matter appropriate?
- Has it been chosen carefully?
- Has it been captured in an interesting way?
- Does the subject communicate itself clearly without distraction?
Note: a TITLE may or may not assist in this process. It is only one factor to be considered.
(some titles are merely labels, and are therefore neutral).
Image Evaluation
10. Outstanding, flawless
9. Dramatic, beautiful, strong impact
8. Excellent, minor flaws only, photographic mastery
7. Very good, just short of excellent
6. Competent, technically OK, lacking impact
5. Average, unmemorable, lots of room for improvement
4. Below standard, one or more specific faults
3. Many faults, badly composed
2. Unacceptable, slide or print should not have been entered.
Awarding Points
- A 30 point system of judging will be used
- Each of the 3 judges will award up to 10 points in each of the following categories:
- pictorial or artistic merit (impact),
- technical skill, and
- interpretation of the topic.
- All points are totaled and divided by 3, giving a maximum of 30.
- Judges will vote to break ties
What does the total scoring reflect?
30/30 Unique; outstanding; stunning; flawless (rarely awarded)
27/30 Outstanding; dramatic; beautiful; technically superb; very strong impact
24/30 Excellent’ worthy of Honorable Mention – minor flaws only. Demonstrates photography mastery; a memorable picture.
21/30 Very good, but falls short of excellent rating.
18/30 Good. Competent: technically satisfactory, but lacking in impact, interest, strength of composition, etc.
15/30 Average, undistinguished; unmemorable. Shows minor faults. Lots of room for improvement in composition, interpretation, etc.
12/30 Below standard; lacking in some essential quality or definable way. One or more specific faults which really spoon the picture
Guide for Judging Presentations
Judges are asked to evaluate and score the presentation in each of the following categories:
Introduction & Ending
• How effective the opening and closing slide are in terms of titles, maps, graphics, etc.
• How well they lead into the main theme and how well they close out the set at the end
• Transitional slides within the set, if used, should also be considered here
Sequencing
- Mixing of styles
- Order and timing of images on the screen
- Appropriate select of images for illustrating the topic
- How well they interpret the theme
Photography
- The quality of the images in terms of:
- Composition
- Artistic merit
- Impact
- Technical quality:
- How well the photographer has used his/her equipment
- Focus
- Exposure
- Depth of field
- Lighting
Slide cleanliness and lack of projection problems are also important
Audio Presentation
- If commentary is included, consider the narrative style including:
- Choice of words
- Smoothness of presentation
- Intonation (expression, delivery, clarity of voice)
- Unity of thought
- Evaluate choice of music and sound effects if used
Overall Impact
- Evaluate the set as a whole
Each category is judged out of 10 which gives you a grand total out of 50.