NATURE COMPETITION RULES & QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE
Updated October 5, 2021

Vertical Divider

Nature competitions
 
There are five Nature competitions each year, two in the fall and three in the winter/spring. There are four categories in Nature: Botany, General, Ornithology, and Zoology. At the end of the season there is a competition for Image of the Year for each category. The storytelling value of a Nature image is weighed more than the pictorial quality, although it must still display technical quality. 

Definitions of the Nature categories: 

Botany
Wildflowers, trees, plants, and fungi growing in the wild or cultivated in botanical gardens, etc. in their botanical form. 

General
Natural phenomena such as landscapes or seascapes, rocks, fossils, astronomy, etc. 

Ornithology 
Undomesticated birds in their natural habitat, in a zoo, game farm, refuge, or aquarium. 

Zoology
Mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and insects in their natural environment, in refuges, or in zoos.  

NOTES: 
Any trace of “hand of man” in a Nature image entry shall disqualify it from being accepted:

• NO roads, houses, fences, electrical wires, mown grass, tool-cut wood, or humans;
• NO horticultural varieties of plants (cultivated plants) such as tulips or daffodils, or still life studies (not found in nature);
• In the case of zoo/reserve animals or birds, NO cage bars, concrete walls, mown grass, zoo straw, bedding, etc.;
• The Zoology category excludes domestic animals (dogs, cats, livestock, etc.), feral animals, or mounted/museum specimens.

Exception: Species associated with manmade features (for example: pelicans on pier posts, storks on tall manmade structures, barn owls in barns, etc).  
​
In Nature, titles should be informative, but concise. Where possible, tell a story or provide information with nature value. Some judges like to see the scientific Latin name, in parentheses, after the common name of the plant or animal, although this is not essential. Include only what you have observed, not what you imagine might be happening. 
 
MCC does not in any way condone baiting of birds or animals. Images made using baiting are ineligible for competition. Competition entries in which the subject(s) appear to have been baited should be accompanied by a note affirming that no baiting was used by the photographer or others present. For more information, go to the following link: https://www.montrealcameraclub.com/nature2020.html 

Guy Larin
nature@montrealcameraclub.com
​

---

RULES:

• Each photographer may enter a maximum of three (3) images per competition.
• Images previously entered in a Montreal Camera Club competition are NOT eligible.
• Digital images must be submitted to nature@montrealcameraclub.com by the deadlines established—see calendar for details.
• A maximum of ten (10) entries per year is allowed in any one category: Botany (B), General (NG), Ornithology (O), and Zoology (Z). If more than ten (10) images are entered into a category, only the first 10 images submitted will be used in the calculations for trophies, standings, and honours, etc.

  
SIZING:

• Digital images should be submitted with a maximum width of 3840 pixels and/or a maximumheight of 2160 pixels.
• Files should be saved as .jpg images with a high-quality setting.