Photo Competitions

Competition Categories

Pictorial Slides

Nature Slides

Commercial/Digital Prints--Class B

Commercial/Digital Prints --Class A

Large Prints

Black & White Prints

Nature Prints--Commercial/Digital

Alteration of Reality

Members start off the competition year by choosing which class they wish to compete in. Class A competitors tend to be the more skilled photographers in the group and the competition is tough. If you are comfortable with your photographic abilities and want to go head-to-head with the best, this is the class for you. The Class B option is available to those members who are new to photography, or who just want to get their feet wet in the competition arena. Just remember, once you choose a class, you will remain in that class throughout the competition year.

The above print competitions (the exception being Large Prints) are considered small prints, meaning up to 8x10, and they must be mounted on an 11x14" mat board.

In an attempt to get some people interested in making larger prints, we started a large color print category. It does not matter if the print is commercial or maker-made, but the print must be mounted on a 16x20" mount board.

We try to follow the rules of the Chicago Area Camera Clubs Association, but in an effort to keep things simple, I'll use a little license in explaining the categories. Essentially, a commercial print is one that has been made at a photo lab, and the photographer has little input into how the print is going to turn out. The original image could be from a slide, negative, or digital file. Digital prints are those where the photographer has either made the print himself, or has had significant input into determining the outcome of the final image. Black & White prints (referred to as monochrome prints by CACCA) can be anything including traditional darkroom prints, digital by maker or commercial. Please mark them, though, so we know what CACCA category they are eligible for.

As a member of the Chicago Area Camera Clubs Association, we compete in several Interclub categories. Each time we have a competition, the print and slide chairmen will hold enough entries for 2 months of CACCA competition. Each Interclub category allows 4 images each month. They must be by 4 different makers.

Standard entry for all categories in the club is 4 per person per category. Make-ups are allowed if you missed competitions. You don't have to have 4, however; if you have only one entry and want it judged, that's okay.

The year-end competition that will be held May 28th is our salon. Entries in this competition must have been entered previously in the 2007-2008 season.

The banquet is held at a local restaurant. We have been going places that let us order off the menu. Besides eating, we present the awards for the year. The person who ended up in first place in each category gets a certificate.

For more information about competitions and judging, please visit the CACCA website.

UPDATE- For the '07-'08 competition season, the club has discussed several changes to the categories for submissions. One, for example, would eliminate the difference between commercial and digital. The difference between these categories was causing too much confusion. Essentially, all non-manipulated prints (I.e.-adjustments other than color, exposure, sharpness) will be judged together, separated into Class A & B. All manipulated prints will be judged in the new "Alteration of Reality" category.