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:
- Autumn – Nature
From vibrant fall foliage, wildlife in fall to serene landscapes, showcase your best nature shots that embody the essence of autumn. - Celebrations
Capture joyful moments, highlighting festive scenes and unforgettable memories!
Rules:
- Limit 1 digital image per topic
- Maximum total of 2 digital images
- Winners announced at Awards Night
- Submit: October 10, 2024
- Review Judges Comments: November 26, 2024
- Results: May 6, 2025
Upload your images to our online Submissions Page
Winter Competition
Topics:
- Phone – Winter Scenes
- Street Photography
Rules:
- Limit 1 digital image per topic
- Maximum total of 2 digital images
- Winners announced at Awards Night
- Submit: January 9, 2025
- Review Judges Comments: February 25, 2025
- Results: May 6, 2025
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: March 18, 2025
- Judging Night: March 25, 2025
- Results: May 6, 2025
Year-End Competitions
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.
- Submit Title: March 25, 2025
- Judging Night: April 15, 2025
- Results: May 6, 2025
Upload your digital images to our online Submissions Page
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:
- 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.