At some camera clubs, judges select 1st, 2nd and 3rd winners in addition to critiquing and scoring. Because we view our meetings as learning experiences, not competitions our judges provide evaluation and scoring only. 

• Evaluation Meetings are typically held on the second Wednesday of the month throughout the year. Our club year starts in September and ends in August.
• It is not necessary to enter photos, though having your own work evaluated greatly enhances your learning experience.
• Paid members may enter up to 2 photos for Workshops and 3 photos for Evaluation Meetings each month. The more photos you enter, the more you learn.
• Photo entries must be uploaded to Dropbox no later than midnight of the Monday prior to the Meeting.
• Our guest judges have much experience and advanced technical skills. Most have their own preferences, which may affect your score. You may not agree with a judge, but to improve your photos consider trying some of the suggestions they make.

Participants are divided among three groups based on their level of experience, both in camera club membership as well as photographic know-how:

• Level 1 – Beginner, the least experienced in terms of camera club membership and/or photographic skills.
• Level 2 – Intermediate, more advanced photographers who have belonged to this or other camera clubs previously and/or have a higher level of photographic skills.
• Level 3 – Advanced, the most experienced group, having demonstrated the highest photographic skills.

There are two categories:

1. Assigned Subject: Photos entered as Assigned Subjects must clearly fit the category as described in the Assigned Subject list. The subject must constitute the majority (over 50%) or be the primary theme of the image. These entries will also be evaluated for composition, technique, and impact.
2. General/Open: Photos entered as General may be of any subject (including altered reality or obviously manipulated work).

Each month, members may enter 3 images, distributed in any combination of Assigned Subject and General. An entry may be color or black and white.

• A maximum of 9 make-ups are allowed in a club year, but no make-ups can be allowed for the assigned subject of the month being made up.
• A member can enter a maximum of 3 make-ups in one month.
• Make-ups can only be submitted for the month after the month that was missed. In other words, if you submitted 0, 1, or 2 images in March you would have to submit 3, 2, or 1 make-up images in April.
•  Make-ups are limited to one month at a time, that is, if the member missed February and March and needs two make-ups, these must be entered on the next two consecutive Evaluation Meetings (April and May).
• Because scores are accumulated only within the club year and start anew each September, there is no such thing as a make-up in September.

While scores remain meaningful and can be fun, the judge’s comments and suggestions are more important than the number. The judge is asked to be as specific as possible, considering all aspects of the photograph: impact, composition, and technical characteristics such as exposure, sharpness, distracting elements, clarity of colors or range of whites and blacks, etc.

Our Scoring Guide
We use a four–point scoring system that spans a high of 9 to a low of 6:

• A “9” is an excellent picture, having impact and needing very little, if any,
  improvement.
• An “8” is a strong picture in terms of subject, composition, exposure, etc., but
  needs minor corrections.
• A “7” is an average or OK picture, which needs corrections and/or lacks impact.
• A “6” is reserved for seriously flawed images.

For teaching purposes, we ask the evaluator to comment on aspects that make the 9 images especially strong.

For the 6, 7, and 8 photos, we ask the evaluator to suggest ways to improve these pictures.

In the last year or so, software has become available that will create a photo just by writing a suggestion. For example, giving the suggestion “show the New York Skyline at sunset,” produced a photo that was recognizable but the quality was poor. It would not be a competition photo but in the next year or two (perhaps sooner) it could be.

The Camera Club guidelines allow for and encourage the use of the “digital darkroom” which is the software such as Photoshop, Lightroom, etc. used for editing. The software today allows us to replace the sky, change the background and make many other changes to enhance the original RAW or JPEG that came out of the camera.

Accordingly, the following Rules go into effect immediately:

1. All submissions must start with a photograph you took with a camera or a cellphone camera.
2. Any sky or background replacements must be from photos you took NOT supplied by the software company or purchased.
3. The same applies to Altered Reality “Creative”, it must start with an original photo. Since it is Altered Reality, you can add items that were not original to you.
4. No A.I.-created images will be accepted at either the Workshop or the Evaluation meetings.

We rely on an honor system and expect that our club members will follow the above rules.

Scores and ranks are recorded monthly for Levels 1, 2, and 3. The club calendar runs from September through the end of August. In September, the member (or members) whose accumulated score is (are) the highest in Levels 1 and 2 is (are) invited to move to the next higher Level. The end-of-year cumulative score for Level promotion purposes will factor in the number of images submitted.

Moving up is not required, but people are encouraged to move in fairness to those in each lower level as well as in recognition of their increasing skills.

Regardless of their scores, anyone in Level 1 and Level 2 may request and be granted promotion to the next level. This choice should be considered carefully since the evaluation is stricter in each progressive level and, once promoted, a member may not return to his former level.