A. General Rules. 1. Competitions are open to all paid-up members. 2. Entries must be the member's own work. 3. Members cannot enter an image or any variation of an image (e.g. monochrome version of colour image, cropped part of full image) that has been previously entered in any club competition in any season. Members are encouraged to submit images that have been taken within 12 months of the date of the competition, in order to develop skills and try different types of photography. 4. Images should be correctly named before submission. File names must not include special characters such as apostrophes or exclamation marks. Titles should follow the structure : Competition Name_Category Number_Image Name_Member Number. eg Season starter_Cat 2_SEAGULL WITH CHIPS_2399 Entries should not show the member's name, just the member number.More detailed guidance can be found on the webpage titled "Naming of Competition Images". All images submitted should be resized to  Landscape                                              No more than 1600 pixels  x 1200 pixels  Portrait/Square Format                    No more than 1200 pixels  x 1200 pixels  Any other format (eg letterbox)    No more than 1600 pixels wide 5. Members may enter up to three images for each competition, with a maximum of two images in any single category. Images in all competitions with the exception of the Monochrome Competition may be either colour or monochrome, or a combination. 6. New Members in their first season of club membership (designated “Newcomers”) are eligible for the award of “Most Promising Newcomer”. Newcomers should add a letter ‘N’ after their membership number. 7. All entries must be submitted no later than midnight on the ‘Due Date’ for each competition shown in the club syllabus. Late entries may only be accepted in exceptional circumstances, at the discretion of the Competition Secretary. Entries can, of course, be submitted much earlier. 8. The Competition Secretary has the right to refuse an entry of any image that does not appear to comply with competition rules. Members must consider the appropriateness of any image submitted to a competition, including those which feature recognisable individuals who may have a reasonable expectation of privacy. B. Competitions.Externally-judged Competitions In the case of the four main competitions, judging will normally be done by an external judge who is recognised and approved by the Scottish or National Photographic Federation (SPF or NPF)) and is selected by the Competition Subgroup of the Club Committee. Season Starter Competition This is the first competition of the Season, usually taking place in October. It is an opportunity for new members who have not previously entered a photographic competition to show their work and learn from the judge’s feedback and for existing members to submit new images normally taken in the last 12 months. All members are encouraged to enter. Categories for the competition are announced at the start of the Season. Theme Competition Members should submit three photographs related to a theme. The theme will be chosen by the Competition Subgroup of the Committee. The Theme will be announced at the start of each Season. This competition encourages members to present creative interpretations on a particular theme. When the theme is open to members’ own choice, the name of the theme must be stated on entry. There are no categories or groups for this competition. Theme competition images should work together as a set of three and, if appropriate, the sequence of presentation should be indicated (ie, which image comes first, second and last). A ‘triptych’ (where the outside images of three may be symmetrical, or other layout conditions are made) is not required and images will not be judged as such a triptych. Monochrome Competition A monochrome image is one which contains various shades of achromatic (or neutral) colour from pure black to pure white. A monochrome image toned entirely in a single colour (eg sepia) is also eligible. An image modified by partial toning or by the addition of one colour is a colour (polychromatic) image and is not eligible. Categories for this competition are announced at the start of the Season. Annual Competition This is the last competition of the Season and is normally held in February. Categories for this competition are announced at the start of the Season. Internally-judged competitions Some competitions are judged by club members- the Nature and A/V competitions usually. Entries are subject to the same sizing rules as for externally-judged competitions, though A/V may also involve video. Nature Competition Most PAGB nature or wildlife competitions have a strict post-capture editing rule, allowing only limited post-processing (mainly cropping and sharpening). That’s not the case in our internally judged Nature Competition, and we do allow post processing and editing. This competition is designed to encourage members to try nature photography. Any ‘nature’ theme is allowed, including landscape, flora and wildlife. The Committee may decide to alter these rules according to members’ preferences. The competition is named for the late Fiona Govan, who took nature photography more seriously than rules. Audio-Visual (A/V) competition Entries for this competition should consist of a sequence of still photographic images, or a combination of moving and still images, the majority of such images being the original work of the member, with a synchronised sound track. The use of third-party images, animated graphics, video clips or other visual material should be limited and appropriate to the production. Further information on how to create an A/V can be found  here: How to Create an A/V C. Competition Scoring Every image submitted for the 4 externally judged competitions will be given a score out of 20 and this will be a cumulative total over the season towards the award of the Carlyle Cup. The Season Starter, Monochrome and Annual Competition will each have 4 categories and each image in a category will be scored out of 20. In the event of more than one image scoring the maximum 20 points over the 4 categories the judge will select the best image for the award of the appropriate competition cup. D. Club Awards Trophies will be awarded at the AGM to the winners of the individual competitions. Holders keep the trophy for a year. Tyne Cup - Overall winner of Season Starter competition. League Cup - Overall winner of Theme competition Monochrome Cup - Overall winner of Monochrome Competition Annual Competition Trophy - Highest cumulative score in the Annual competition. Colour Trophy - Best Image in Annual competition John Apps Trophy -  Best image in the Annual Exhibition voted for by the public Fiona Govan Trophy - Overall winner of the Nature Competition New Faces Cup - Newcomer with most points in Annual competition Lothian Cup - Most Promising Newcomer with most points in externally-judged competitions over the Season Carlyle Cup - Member with most points in externally-judged competitions over the Season The Jubilee trophy - Awarded annually for the Jubilee competition which may have a different theme/style each year. Certificates of Merit are awarded to the Newcomer with the most points in the Season Starter, Theme, and Monochrome Competitions. E. Competition Images Digital Images (DPIs) should be sent to CompSec@HaddingtonCameraClub.org.uk for all internal and external competitions, excluding the AV Competition for which other instructions will be given. Digital images must be in JPG format and have sRGB colour profile.  Please note the maximum image size detailed above under General Rules. If your original image file is wider than 1600 pixels or higher than 1200 pixels, it must be resized to fit within these limits. Note that external judges will view your images at this size and if the image is used in an external competition with a newer projector, it will be shown at full size. If your original file is less than 1600 wide and less than 1200 pixels high, you are advised not to resize upwards, as this causes the image to lose detail, though software advances make this less problematic. Further information on resizing is available under Competitions Info on the website. F. Categories These definitions are offered as illustrative only and are not exhaustive. They may be changed by the Committee and may or may not be used during each Season. Category Groupings & Definitions: Group 1: Composite/Conceptual/Abstract/Artistic/Texture/Still Life Composite - The use or combination of two or more different images to create a new one. Conceptual - Aims to express ideas and concepts through photography. Artistic/Abstract- Any artistic or abstract genre, including surrealism, photo-collage etc. The image can be achieved by digital manipulation. Textures - An image in which the primary interest is on the texture(s) of an object, structure, person, animal, flora or landscape. Still Life - This is a genre of photography used for the depiction of inanimate subject matter, typically a small group of objects. Similar to still life painting, it is the application of photography to the still life artistic style. Group 2: Close Up/Macro Usually referred to as macro photography, but in this case not necessarily using a macro lens. Typically includes close up detail of the whole, or part of an object/creature or fills the frame with a small object/creature. Group 3: Seascape/Landscape/Cityscape/Skyscrape (Astrophotography) Land, sea or sky which can be comprehended in a single view. A pictorial representation of the actual scene. Group 4: Portrait/People/Animal Portrait Portraiture An image of a person, or part of a person or an animal, especially the face. A portrait normally attempts to show something of the character and/or mood of the subject. People An image which depicts a person or people interacting with their environment. Group 5: Events/Sports/Street/Wildlife Behaviour Events This would include people at an event, eg weddings, gala, street party and can be either indoors or out but not a staged photograph. Sports People or animals participating in a sport. Street Scene A candid image providing an explanation of something happening or people engaged in an activity in an urban area. Wildlife Behaviour: Animals interacting with their natural environment. This does not include pets, domestic livestock or animals in captivity. Group 6: Flora & Fauna Birds, animals, fish, insects, plants, fungi, flowers as the primary focus of the image; man made objects should not normally be present Group 7: Architecture/Industrial/Structure Architecture An image which primarily consists of a building(s) or part thereof. Structure An image which primarily consists of a building, structure, or object Industrial Showing equipment, products, machinery, processes and can include people and buildings.   Reviewed February 2026