The Memphis Camera Club (MCC) conducts a monthly digital photo competition. Any member in good standing may enter images in the competition. The platform used for submission and judging is called Visual Pursuits, and an account must be created to participate.

The judges for the competitions are members of the club, except for the end of the year competition, which is judged by a professional photographer outside of the club. Complete details may be downloaded here: MCC Handbook.

General Competition Guidelines

1. Go to Visual Pursuits and click the “Membership” tab at the top. Follow the instructions for creating an account. If you have any issues, email competition@memphiscameraclub.com. Once your account is activated, you will receive an email and can submit images for the competitions.
   
   
2. Each member may enter a maximum of 4 images per month. Every other month, an additional image may be entered for the “Assigned” category based on the schedule posted under the “Competition” menu on the main MCC website. If a member enters 5 photos, at least one must be in the “Assigned” category. Images for the “Assigned” category must have been taken within the calendar year of that competition (Jan-Dec), while all other images may have been taken at any time.
   
   
3. Images for the competition must be submitted to Visual Pursuits by 5:00 p.m. on the Saturday before the scheduled competition.
   
   
4. Entries must be in JPG format, not more than 1920 pixels wide and 1200 pixels tall in the sRGB color space. For information about calibrating your monitor to see the images well on the projector, go to the MCC website under “Competition” to see a helpful video.
   
   
5. An image may only be submitted in competition once. This limitation includes duplicates shot in camera and bracketing of the same image. A different photo of the same subject or location that is similar, not identical to a previously submitted photo is allowed. Substantial differences might include camera angle, varied lens, filter effects, etc.
    
6. The following list of digital adjustments are allowed in any category. Any adjustments beyond this list should be entered in the Creative category; removal of dust spots, cropping, color correction, overall brightness correction, white balance correction, flare reduction or removal, saturation, recovering shadow and/or highlight detail, including HDR, resizing, straightening, flipping or reversing the image, contrast control, burning and dodging, noise reduction, lens distortion corrections, stitched panoramic, convert color to monochrome, toning of monochrome images, infrared conversions, sharpening overall and selective area, adding additional blur, combining photos for exposure or depth of field, removing small sticks, trash, telephone wires, or other small distractions from photos, and adding canvas to the background.
   
   
7. Photos relying on the assistance of others, such as in a workshop or class environment, may not be submitted in the competitions. An example might be where someone has arranged all the setup, lighting, props, or camera settings.
    
8. Competition is comprised of the following categories:
    
   1. Wild Birds - Any bird not under the care of or confined by a human
   2. Nature - Wild animals (excluding birds) and flora (trees, plants, flowers, etc.) not cared for/cultivated by humans. While there may be man-made materials in the picture, the main subjects should be the wild animals and flora.
   3. Landscape - This is a broad category that includes nature scenes, sunsets, farm scenes, urban landscapes/skylines, seascapes/other bodies of water, mountain ranges, or countryside/land. While there may be animals in the picture, they should not be key subjects.
   4. Captive Animals - The key subject should be an animal cared for by humans, i.e. pets, farm animals, zoo, etc. Wild animals should be entered in the “Nature” category.
   5. People -The key subject should be a person. It might be a studio portrait, candid, or within an environmental setting.
   6. Living Detail/Still Life -This is a broad category that includes small scenes/objects/insects, details of a larger object/macrophotography, tabletop setups (example: a single flower in a vase or a single object).
   7. Creative -This category refers to the editing that takes place after the photo has been taken. It can be manipulated digitally in image editing software without any limitations. Any photos used must have been taken by the member and all editing must have been completed by the member. The image will be judged on originality and/or use of a creative technique or style. When submitting, include the creative element in the title, e.g. “Sky Replacement” or “Composite”. Currently, MCC doesn’t allow AI Generative elements.
   8. Open -If the image doesn’t meet the criteria of the other categories, it should be entered here.
   9. Assigned-This category is open 6 months out of the calendar year and is predetermined by the competition committee. The assigned topics can be found on the MCC website under the “Competition” menu, “Assigned Categories.”
      
      If an image is submitted into the wrong category, the Competition Chairperson will move it to the category deemed most appropriate. The member will receive an email stating that it was moved. If too many images are submitted, attempts will be made to contact the member to determine which images will be deleted. In the event the member can’t be reached, the Competition Chairperson will make that decision and email the member.
      
      
9. Images will be judged on the following criteria:
   1. Technical Quality (3)
   2. Composition (3)
   3. Impact (3)
      
      With the potential of a total score of 9 from each of the three judges.
      
      

      Competition Scoring
      Combined Scores	Rating	Individual Score
      26-27	Superior	9
      23 -25	Excellent	8
      20 - 22	Very Good	7
      17 - 19	Average	6
      14 - 16	Needs Work	5
      9 - 13	Poor	3 or 4

       

10. Winning photos will automatically be displayed in the “Competition Awards” section of the MCC website. Included are images that receive a score of 24 or above, or those that win or tie in a category, regardless of score. Photos will also be displayed on the club’s Instagram and Facebook accounts.
    
    
11.  Judges may not compete during the months they are scheduled to judge. To ensure they have the same opportunities as the rest of the members, they can submit 4-5 (depending on if there was an “Assigned” category the month they judged) additional images any other months of the calendar year. Members who will be judging in December will need to submit their additional images in prior months to be included in the End of Year Competition. Judges need to notify the Competition Chairperson when they are submitting additional images due to judging.
    
    If you have any questions pertaining to competition, please email us at competition@memphiscameraclub.com