Last Updated: 11-9-2025 11:20

General Competition Rules

Entrants must be financial members of the Marlborough Camera Club Inc
PLEASE READ YOUR COMPETITION RULES VERY CAREFULLY.

It is disappointing to have your carefully selected entry disqualified because you did not read and adhere to the rules

Composite images must only contain the original work of the author. Images generated solely by electronic means (e.g. AI, Fractals, etc) ARE NOT eligible
Members may enter no more than TWO images (either print and/or digital) per monthly competition.
1. There are two categories: Set subject or Open. A maximum of 2 images may be entered in either category e.g., 2 images in set subject, OR 1 in set subject and 1 in Open, OR 2 in Open.
2. Competitions can be digital only OR digital/print
Natural History (see link) and Landscape/seascape (See link) have their own rules as set out below. Please follow the links.
Images that have previously been entered into OPEN competitions may be re-entered into the Natural History or Landscape/seascape Trophy competitions. They cannot be submitted in to any set subject competition.
Shot of the Year (see link) has its own set of rules. The only restriction is that the image cannot have been entered in a previous year's Shot of the Year competition.
Points are not allocated to Shot of the Year, Natural History, or Landscape/seascape competitions.
Entries which have received Acceptance, Merit, or Honours awards are NOT eligible for entry again, with the exception of “Shot of the Year”, “Landscape”, and “Natural History” trophy competitions.
Both digital images and digital copies of prints should be submitted via the image submission form on this website. You will need a username and password to access this page. These will have been sent when you joined the club. If you don’t have a username or password, please contact the membership secretary or a committee member.
Prints must be handed in on or by the date stated in the competition programmes and must be the original work of the entrant. Digital images must arrive before midnight on the closing date, usually the night of the club meeting.

Print Submission Policy

Prints may be any size to a maximum of 510mm x 410mm (20” X 16”) provided that they are mounted on a base with a maximum size of 510mm x 410mm with a maximum thickness of 12mm.
Framed and/or glass-covered prints will not be accepted.
Prints may be in colour or monotone format, unless stated in the competition programme.
Entries must have the category entered (Open or Set subject) and the Grade of the photographer, plus your membership number e.g. a-o-Wither Hill Sunrise 1111, would mean the print is A grade, open category, title Wither Hills Sunrise, & membership number.
Prints are to be submitted under the cover of a suitable protective envelope. In order to fit in cases to courier to judges, prints must be removed from bulky packaging. If you want the best protection for your prints once they are removed from any folder or solid packaging, it is suggested to wrap them in tissue paper or a thin plastic sleeve, as it takes up little space.

Bubble wrap is too bulky and will be removed from individual prints before they are sent by courier.

Please avoid using Sellotape as there is a risk that it can stick to prints when the packaging is opened.
Digital images of prints submitted for competitions must be submitted as well, or the entry will be invalid.
The club wishes to collect digital versions of prints for the following reasons:
1. To keep a record of images which the club may use in inter-club competitions.
2. To be used in the newsletter
3. To put winning images on the website

Digital Imagine Submission Policy

Image file format –JPEG and sRGB colour space
There are rules around the digital image size
1. The new online submission process has meant that 99% of the time, the images will be resized – unless the image is too small.
2. Each image should be a high-quality JPEG file with a colour space of sRGB.
3. If landscape format: the longest must be no more than 1920 px (Width) and the vertical must be smaller than 1200 px
4. If portrait format: Longest side must be no more than 1200 px (height). This means the width will be less than 1920 px
Neither the file size nor the dpi resolution matters, so long as the maximum pixel dimensions are adhered to.
All images should be submitted using the sRGB colour space. Most cameras will capture JPG files in this colour space, but if you are processing RAW files in Lightroom or Photoshop, make sure you export as sRGB.
Metadata – Care should be taken to remove the photographer’s name from the metadata if possible.

Judges

a) The Club Committee delegates the choosing of judges for the Club Competitions to the Competitions Co-ordinator(s), and the following award categories may be given by the judges:

b) Points System – used only for the End of Year Trophies

	Not Accepted	Accepted	Merit	Honours
Set Subject	0	2	5	8
Open Subject	0	1	3	5

Accumulated points will be totalled following the end of the competition year (30th June annually), and trophies are awarded for Prints and Digital images in each Grade and presented at the Annual General Meeting to be held in July or August.

c) There are no extra points for Shot of the Month.

d) The Marlborough Camera Club Inc., designated Judges, and the Competition Co-ordinators, will take all reasonable care with entries but cannot take responsibility for entries that are lost or damaged.

Grades and Progression

Current Grades are C for learning, B for improvers, and A for experienced photographers.
To progress a grade up, members must gain three honours in their grade, in the current year i.e. 1st July to 30th June.
Progression from one grade to another commences at the beginning of the new financial year, i.e. 1st July. Members may request progression through grades by contacting the current committee.
Grading or points do not apply to the “Natural History”, Landscape”, or “Shot of the Year” competitions for the purpose of judging.

Eligible Images

Optically created images, conventional or digital, manipulated or enhanced by either darkroom or electronic processing or art working are acceptable for entry into club competitions with the exception of Natural History competitions and any others as stated on the competition programme. Composite images must contain only original work by the author.

Other Club Competitions

Multiple-shot Portfolios and Assignments are run periodically, and the Rules will be clearly stated at the time they run.

Handling and Copyright

Copyright to the image remains with the Photographer. Submission of the image is deemed to give the Club a non-exclusive right to:

Copy the image for the purpose of backup and sending to the judge(s)
Project the image at Club meetings where the judging is reported
Used in the Newsletter if it has gained merit or honours
Used in the website gallery if it has gained a merit or honours
Archived for inclusion in outside interclub competitions (e.g. Trenna Packer Salver)
The author of the image may request that their image is not published on the website or in the newsletter, and can ask that their image is not used in inter-club competitions; they must advise the President, Newsletter Editor, or Competition Secretary.
You may want to consider removing the image's metadata.
There is an option for Privacy when submitting an image. This will ensure that the image is not used on our website.
After judging is completed and the results announced at a Club meeting, the Competition Secretary will archive these images unless the author requests that they be deleted. The judges will be required to destroy the images sent to them.

Landscape Trophy

- 2x Digital worldwide, and 2x Print - New Zealand only, and both include Seascape. A total of 4 images may be entered

SET Subject only. No Open - please select SET otherwise your image will be rejected and not submitted.

Landscape -

2x Digital worldwide and can include Seascape

2x Print - New Zealand only, and can include Seascape

MCC Trophy topic. Landscape (editing restrictions). You can submit up to 4 images for the Digital and Print MCC Trophies.

The competition is NOT graded, and NO points are awarded - so it is different from the other monthly topics.

Two trophies are awarded:

The best print image trophy is the Elizabeth Davidson. Entries must adhere to the following rules
The best digital image trophy is the Barbara Wilson. Entries must adhere to the following rules.

Seascapes cannot be of just water - to qualify, it must have some land content.

Images that have been previously entered in any MCC as "Open" may be re-entered into the MCC Landscape Trophy Competition. Up to two digital entries and two prints may be submitted

Two images per medium (prints and digital images) can be submitted for a total of four images, so it's a very unique opportunity.

Refer to the PSNZ rules: https://photography.org.nz/about/definitions/

Photographs that capture a sense of 'space' and 'place' and tell a story of the scene before the camera. A landscape may combine elements such as land, sea, bodies of water and sky and may include human elements for scale and context, but not to the extent that the human element becomes the prominent element.

The integrity of the landscape at the time of capture must be maintained. The making of physical changes to the landscape, such as the introduction of new elements either from photographic sources or digital painting, eg, adding in or replacing skies, foregrounds, birds, mists, sun, moon, sunrays, etc, or the deletion of significant objects, is NOT permitted.

Minor deletions of transient items, e.g., a leaf or stone or dust spot or litter, etc, are permitted if they do not impact on the integrity of the scene. Digital adjustments, including dodging and burning, changes to tone and contrast, and cropping, are allowed, as are High Dynamic Range, stitched panoramas, and focus stacking.

Natural History Trophy

- digital and print – 4 images in TOTAL.

SET Subject only. No Open - please select SET otherwise your image will be rejected and not submitted.

2x Digital - The best digital image (MCC trophy for Natural History Digital Images) entries may be natural history subjects from anywhere in the world.

2x Print - The best print image (Brian Thwaites Trophy entries must be of NZ Natural History subjects only.

Refer to the PSNZ rules: https://photography.org.nz/about/definitions/

Nature photography records all branches of natural history except anthropology and archaeology. This includes all aspects of the physical world, both animate and inanimate, that have not been made or modified by humans.

Nature images must convey the truth of the scene that was photographed. A well-informed person should be able to identify the subject of the image and be satisfied that is has been presented honestly and that no unethical practices have been used to control the subject or capture the image. Images that directly or indirectly show any human activity that threatens the life or welfare of a living organism are not allowed.
The most important part of a Nature image is the nature story it tells. High technical standards are expected, and the image must look natural.
Objects created by humans, and evidence of human activity, are allowed in Nature images only when they are a necessary part of the Nature story.
Photographs of human-created hybrid plants, cultivated plants, feral animals, domesticated animals, human-created hybrid animals, and mounted or preserved zoological specimens are not allowed.
Images taken with subjects under controlled conditions, such as zoos, are allowed.
Controlling live subjects by chilling, anaesthetic, or any other method of restricting natural movement for the purpose of a photograph is not allowed.

Only scientific names, common names or descriptive titles shall be used.

Images that have been previously entered in any MCC as "Open" may be re-entered into the MCC Natural History Trophy Competition.

Two images per medium (prints and digital images) can be submitted for a total of four images, so a very unique opportunity.

ALLOWED SUBJECTS

Subjects shall illustrate untamed animals, birds, and uncultivated plants in their natural habitat, astronomy, geology and phenomena not produced by man. Marine and botanical subjects (including fungi and algae) and naturalised subjects are allowed, provided they are taken under natural conditions.

Nature Editing Guidelines (includes all Nature Subcategories) as per PSNZ rules.

Processing or editing must be limited to making the image look as close to the original scene as possible, except that conversion to grayscale monochrome is allowed.

Allowed Editing Techniques:

Cropping, straightening and perspective correction
Removal or correction of elements added by the camera or lens, such as dust spots, noise, chromatic aberration and lens distortion
Global and selective adjustments such as brightness, hue, saturation and contrast to restore the appearance of the original scene
Complete conversion of colour images to grayscale monochrome
Exposure blending or focus stacking (the blending of multiple images of the same subject and combining them in camera or with software).
Image stitching - combining multiple images with overlapping fields of view that are taken consecutively (e.g. panoramas).

Editing techniques that are not allowed:

Removing, adding to, moving or changing any part of an image, except for cropping and straightening.
Adding a vignette during processing.
Blurring parts of the image during processing to hide elements in the original scene.
Darkening parts of the image during processing to hide elements in the original scene.
All conversions other than to complete grayscale monochrome.
Conversion of parts of an image to monochrome, or partial toning, desaturation or over-saturation of colour.

Shot of the Year - 3 topics

1: Digital Open Colour.

2: Print Open Colour.

3: Print & Digital B&W/Mono

There will be three separate entry tabs. Please ensure you enter into the correct one with your image

Submit your best images - new or previously submitted.

MCC Shot of the Year for the current club year. The results are presented as 3 places: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. The 1st placed image is awarded the trophy.

- Only one image can be submitted as long as it hasn't been previously submitted in any previous years' Shot of the Year competitions. This is entrusted to you to ensure you keep within these guidelines.

Please submit one image under SET subject. When submitted to the judge, the image will not be graded.

The judge will be asked for results and a critique. Depending on the volume of images, this might be restricted to just critique. The results will not be included in the end-of-year totals for MCC certificates or grade trophies.

Competition Rules