PICTORIAL COMPETITION RULES & QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE
(Revised September 14, 2021)
PHILIP GOLDSMITH
ELAINE BACAL
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Pictorial Competitions There are five Pictorial competitions held each year, three in the fall and two in the winter/spring. At the end of the season, there is a competition for Image of the Year for the categories of General, Creative, and Photojournalism/Street. General Images in this category consist of any material that is pictorial (aesthetic), documentary, patterns—a broad category of images generally acceptable as photographic, non-commercial material. Creative The Creative category has been combined again into one category (CR). This includes both Altered Reality and Enhanced Reality. The maker may wish to add (Composite) at the end of the title to clarify that the image is actually creative. Photojournalism Photojournalism /Street Photography consists of images that tell stories or document people affected by an event or a situation. Only global post-processing techniques are permitted such as tone, exposure, or colour adjustments. No selective adjustments are allowed. For example, nothing may be added, removed, or cloned. Cropping is permitted. Please consult the Rules Governing Monthly Competitions for more details. Philip Goldsmith & Elaine Bacal pictorial@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 pictorial@montrealcameraclub.com by the deadlines established—see calendar for details.
- A maximum of ten (10) entries per year is allowed in any one category (Pictorial, Creative, and Photojournalism). 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.
- Digital images should be submitted with a maximum width of 3840 pixels and a maximum height of 2160 pixels.
- Files should be saved as .jpg images with a high-quality setting.
SELECTING AND PREPARING IMAGES:
You are encouraged to take your time in selecting and preparing images for the competitions. Look at some of the excellent images submitted in past years or in other clubs and ask yourself “am I submitting a good image?” Have a checklist nearby and consider the following points:
You are encouraged to take your time in selecting and preparing images for the competitions. Look at some of the excellent images submitted in past years or in other clubs and ask yourself “am I submitting a good image?” Have a checklist nearby and consider the following points:
- Check basic composition, simplicity, balance, framing, background, use of lines and the Rule of Thirds. Does the image have impact? Will the judges say "Wow"?
- Check the subject’s position and focus (If you intend the subject to be in focus then it should be sharp. You may have intentionally softened the subject for a romantic effect or blurred the subject to show action and that may be perfectly fine.)
- Is the viewer’s eye drawn to the main subject or are there distractions such as over-exposed highlights or undesirable elements that can easily be eliminated using processing software? If your image is abstract or creative then different considerations may apply.
- Is the image correctly adjusted - appropriate sharpening, white balance, colour space (RGB or sRGB) and dimensions?
- Zoom into your image at least 100% to ensure there are no weird artifacts or sensor dust spots you might want to eliminate (clone out).
- Do not add frames around the image, nor include your name on the image.
- Images that are substantially modified in image editing software such as Photoshop, Lightroom, Corel Painter, etc., may do better in the Creative category.
ENTERING IMAGES IN COMPETITION:
Pictorial submissions for each competition should be sent to pictorial@montrealcameraclub.com. Check due dates on the calendar.
Three judges will rate all the images in advance of their presentation. Images will be marked based on impact, composition, technique and technical correctness. At the presentation evening, the judges will provide comments on the images. Winner ribbons are awarded at each competition and annual trophies are handed out in the spring.
Please refer to the "Club Trophies and Definitions" page of the website to learn about eligibility for the trophies.
If you have any questions concerning the Pictorial Division Competitions, please feel free to contact us at pictorial@montrealcameraclub.com.
- A maximum of three images per competition in each of the five competitions are allowed for a total of 15 submissions over the year.
- Images should be digital and saved for best quality in “.jpg” format.
- Images should be submitted with a maximum width of 3840 pixels and a maximum height of 2160 pixels. Not adhering to the guidelines of size and colour space may negatively impact quality when projected.
- Images must be correctly titled – see “File Naming Rules” on the website under the"Membership – Competitions" tab.
- Link: Quick Reference Guide
Pictorial submissions for each competition should be sent to pictorial@montrealcameraclub.com. Check due dates on the calendar.
Three judges will rate all the images in advance of their presentation. Images will be marked based on impact, composition, technique and technical correctness. At the presentation evening, the judges will provide comments on the images. Winner ribbons are awarded at each competition and annual trophies are handed out in the spring.
Please refer to the "Club Trophies and Definitions" page of the website to learn about eligibility for the trophies.
If you have any questions concerning the Pictorial Division Competitions, please feel free to contact us at pictorial@montrealcameraclub.com.
