What is a competition?

The Saskatoon Photography 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. 

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 Competitions
• Entrants must be the author of any image/s and all parts thereof submitted into a Competition.
• All parts of the image or images must have been ‘photographed’ by the author.
• ‘Content-aware Fill’ or similar modification that is entirely based on pixels in the original image/s and which does not extend the image beyond its original boundaries is ‘acceptable’.
• ‘Generative Fill’ or other processes that use content generated by software from written prompts or developed from the work of others is ‘not acceptable’.

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

• Deadline: November 26, 2024
• Results: May 6, 2024

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

• Deadline: November 26, 2024
• Results: May 6, 2024

Fall Competition

Topics: Song Titles & Transportation

Song Titles

Description:

Let a song inspire your creativity! Choose a well-known song title and capture an image that represents the lyrics, theme, or feeling behind the music. Your title must be the actual song name.

Inspiration:

“Here Comes the Sun” could depict a sun-drenched field, while “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” might portray a lonely street at night.

SPC Rules & Reminders:

• The image must reflect a real, recognized song title.
• Use only the song title as your image title—no quotation marks or artist names.
• Consider submitting a brief artist’s statement for context if the connection is abstract.
• All images must originate as photographs, with only minimal digital manipulation allowed unless otherwise stated.

Transportation

Description:
Capture the essence of movement and travel in all its forms. This theme invites you to photograph how people, goods, or animals get from one place to another—by road, rail, air, water, or path. Think beyond vehicles to include the infrastructure that supports them, like bridges, railways, roads, or even footsteps through snow. Whether still or in motion, your image should evoke the concept of “getting there.”

Inspiration:
A bus caught in a snowstorm, a jet slicing through the sunset, or the rusting remains of a forgotten train.

SPC Rules & Reminders:

• Transportation must be the dominant subject—not just an element of a street or landscape scene.
• Panning techniques, long exposures, or still-life arrangements of transportation artifacts are all welcome.
• AI-created vehicles or textures are not permitted.
• Motion effects must originate in-camera or via allowed editing (no AI-generated effects).

Rules:

• Limit 1 digital image per topic
• Maximum total of 2 digital images
• Winners announced at Awards Night

• Submit: TBA
• Review Judges Comments: TBA
• Results: TBA

Upload your images to our online Submissions Page

Winter Competition

Topics: Time & Metal

• Time
• Metal

Time

Description:
Time flies—or sometimes stands still. This theme challenges you to show the passage of time, timelessness, or fleeting moments. You can approach this literally, symbolically, or conceptually.

Inspiration:
A long exposure of star trails, an aging hand holding a newborn’s, seasonal changes, or decaying buildings reclaimed by nature.

SPC Rules & Reminders:

• Time-lapse images (as stills), long exposures, and before/after scenes are encouraged.
• Avoid overly stylized or synthetic editing—preserve photographic integrity.
• Titles should be creative but avoid punctuation or quotes.
• The image must be created by the submitting photographer, using only their own photographic elements.

Metal

Description:
Cold, strong, reflective—metal is everywhere. Explore its textures, forms, and stories in creative ways. This theme invites you to capture the gleam of polished chrome or the grit of rusted machinery.

Inspiration:
Industrial details, antique tools, kitchen utensils, metallic architecture, or jewelry in macro.

SPC Rules & Reminders:

• Metal must be the focus, whether in product-style compositions or environmental shots.
• Creative lighting is encouraged—experiment with shadows, reflections, and color temperature.
• Editing to enhance detail is allowed but should not misrepresent the subject’s form.

Rules:

• Limit 1 digital image per topic
• Maximum total of 2 digital images
• Winners announced at Awards Night

• Submit:  TBA
• Review Judges Comments: TBA
• Results: TBA

Upload your images to our online Submissions Page

Photo Presentation Competition

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

• Submit Title:  TBA
• Judging Night: TBA
• Results: TBA

Year-End Competitions

Topics:

1. Traditional Color: Your best color image
2. Black & White / Monochrome: Your best colorless image
3. Altered Reality: Your best Photoshop masterpiece
4. Portrait: Your best portrait of a human or animal
5. Special Category: Triptych

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.

• Submit Title:  TBA
• Judging Night: TBA
• Results: TBA

Upload your digital images to our online Submissions Page

Special Category: Triptych

Tell a story in three acts. A triptych is a single entry composed of three related images presented together. The images may be sequential, thematic, or contrasting—but they must work as a unified piece.

Inspiration:
A blooming flower in three stages, urban decay vs. renewal, or three angles of a dancer in motion.

SPC Rules & Reminders:

• The triptych must be submitted as one digtial image file containing three separate photos.
• Each photo should be clearly separated with uniform spacing or borders.
• The same rules apply for digital dimensions and editing (JPEG, 1280×800 minimum, sRGB, no AI).
• For prints, 3 separate prints must be submitted.

What is a Portrait?

A portrait competition challenges photographers to capture the essence, personality, and expression of a subject, whether human or animal, in a manner that reveals character and emotion. Entries should focus on the subject’s face or body, emphasizing elements like lighting, composition, and mood. Creative use of backgrounds, poses, and props is encouraged, but the subject must remain the focal point. Post-processing should enhance the natural qualities of the portrait without over-manipulation, unless specified by the competition.

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:

1. Pictorial or Artistic Merit (IMPACT)
2. Technical Skill
3. 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:

1. pictorial or artistic merit (impact),
2. technical skill, and
3. 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.

To view the judging sheet, click here.