Competitions 2025-26

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25th March 2025

Digital* Competition -Open

Judge: John Lewis

You may enter any 3 images of your choice for this competition.  As the title suggests, there are no restrictions on your subject matter, other than those of decency, to hinder your choice.  You may want to use an image that didn’t fit any of the themes we used last year, for example.  Now is the chance for you to show off those images that you are really proud of but haven’t yet had the opportunity to share.

* The term ‘digital’ is intended to include the full range of digital cameras as well as mobile phones.

 

8th April 2025

Print Competition - Open Monochrome

Judge: Dave Belton

Another open competition with no restrictions on your subject matter other than that the image must contain only one colour.  Many of us will interpret ‘monochrome’ as ‘black and white’ and that is fine.  However, you might want to use sepia tones to give your image an older feel or go blue and mimic a cyanotype, or use any other single colour of your choice.  As this is a print competition, you could use an analogue route to process your image, or you could use any digital device to generate the image to be printed.  Your print must be no larger than A3 and your mount no taller than 50cms.

 

13th May 2025

Digital Competition – Architecture

Judge: Amanda Wright - Zoom

Architectural photographs can be split into two genres – exterior and interior - so don’t just look at the outside of buildings, zoom in or zoom out. Look for interesting buildings or for a cityscapes, you could also look at other structures such as bridges and staircases. You may find somewhere with an interesting internal structure or feature which would make a good composition. Try not to make your photos just a record shot, but look for interesting compositions and angles, post processing your image to emphasise features or alter reality! Useful places to start are museums, libraries, commercial buildings, cities.

 

10th June 2025

Digital Competition – Bokeh

Judge: Martin Patten

‘Bokeh’ comes from the Japanese word ‘boke’ which means haze or blur.

The effects are often dreamy and pleasing to the eye making the subject of the image stand out from the muted background – think of photographs with little circles of light in the background. It can be achieved using a shallow depth of field or with your aperture wide open and your focus on your subject. Bokeh helps all sorts of imagery and can be achieved indoors or outdoors.

Creating the effect will require practice, don’t just blur the background using post-production software or use a pre-setting on your camera. Create the image in your camera!

 

15th July 2025

Digital Competition - Ageing and the Elderly

Judge: Sue Wilson – Zoom

Ageing is just a number, so they say – we want you to go for the higher ones!!

Photographing older people can be fun, and often their life story will be etched into their faces – making them natural subjects for portraiture and street photography. You don’t have to take portraits, many older people are very active, you could capture them doing whatever pastimes they love.  When taking their photo, take time to listen to their story, and you may be rewarded with that twinkle or smile that will give your photograph life.

 

12th August 2025

Print Competition – Textures

Judge: Dave Belton

‘Everything has its own texture, and without touching it, you can imagine how it feels’ (Cole Keister)

Capturing texture in a photograph can add visual interest, highlight unique patterns or even evoke emotions. Texture is everywhere, look out for unique surfaces, objects and materials and use them in interesting compositions. 

 

9th September 2025

Digital Competition – Flatlay

Judge: Bob Goode – Zoom

A flatlay is simply an image taken from above – in essence, a bird’s eye view of a carefully arranged array of objects and is a very popular way of telling a story.

Use your ‘hero’ item as a building point to your composition. Add supporting elements to help visualise your story.

Food photography is ideal for flatlay, but you could use anything such as flowers, objects you collect, you could decide to focus on one colour, or texture, maybe an occasion such as a wedding. You could also use a lightbox and light your flatlay from behind.

Be creative and have fun.

 

14th October 2025

Digital Competition – Creative

The Peter Cosentino Trophy

Judge: Phil Cooling - Zoom

In this competition the judge will be looking for something with a real ‘Wow!’ factor.  It may be the subject content which is unusual or have been taken from a different angle or perspective, or it might be what has been done to the image post- production that demonstrates your creativity and/or artistry.  You might want to produce a composite image, but remember, all of the individual elements of a composite be your own work.

In summary, you don’t need to be a Photoshop wizard to enter this competition.  The creative elements of your image might have been captured ‘in camera’ or they might have been developed in any post-production software. 

 

11th November 2025

Digital Competition – Urban Living

Judge: Sue Clark - Zoom

‘Urban Living’ is a genre of photography that captures scenes from urban spaces such as towns and cities, and the relationship to the people that live there. It involves capturing various aspects such as architecture, street scenes, and people.

Capture a city’s vibrant energy, or the sleepiness of a quiet suburb. Look for candid moments of people going about their daily business. Keep an eye out for local events and festivals – these will provide vibrant street scenes. Also look for signs of urban decay, not all good images are pretty.

 

16th December 2025

Print Competition - Sunlight and Shade

Judge: Dave Belton

In photography, everything starts with light and is usually accompanied by shadow. Light makes an image seem brighter, whereas shade/shadow can draw in drama and create shapes and texture. Look for shafts of light, look for silhouettes. You could make the shadow the subject of your image. Go out in hard bright light to get those contrasts. Use objects to create interesting patterns and shapes. Light and shade/shadow can be found indoors and outdoors. Just make sure your photo has both elements in it!

 

13th January 2026

Digital Competition – The Natural World

Graham Brown Memorial Trophy

Judge: To be confirmed

The title is intended to give you very free rein on your subject matter.  The natural world goes far beyond flora and fauna and landscapes. It encompasses all the living and non-living things occurring naturally on planet Earth.  The natural world includes all the plant and animal species, micro-organisms, soils, rocks and atmosphere which make this planet so unique.  Humans of course fall within this spectrum and humans interacting within the natural world will be acceptable, but please try to avoid man-made objects and structures as the main focus of your images.  In summary, the natural world is the sum of all living and non-living things that occur naturally, without human intervention.  It includes the Earth’s land, water, air, climate and weather.

 

24th February 2026

Print Competition – Panel of Three

Judge: Dave Belton

You can enter 3 panels, each comprising 3 separate images.  You might choose to mount all 3 images on a single mount board or mount each image individually.  The same size restrictions apply: your mount board should not be taller than 50 cms and each printed image should be A3 maximum.  Panels comprising a single image spread across 3 mounts will not be accepted. Panels with the same image repeated or flipped will not be accepted.  Your panel must comprise 3 individual photographs, but the best panels will comprise 3 images that sit well together and look like a single piece of work.  You might want to apply the same post-production processing to each of the 3 images to make them into a coherent panel or use images with co-ordinating colours or similar subject matter, which may even tell a sequential story.