Competition Goals and Guidelines

The monthly intraclub competitions are intended to be fun and educational. Every attempt will be made to be fair and kind in scoring and critiquing the images. It should be noted, however, that judges’ opinions are just that, and should not be viewed as a verdict. Our hope is that most of the time these competitions will be both enjoyable and enlightening. However, since the judging of art is far from an exact science, disagreement and disappointment are bound to be a part of the process. We will do our best to minimize this.

Below are the guidelines for submitting images. These along with category definitions found under “Contests” will help you be sure that your images meet requirements. For more detailed information, you are encouraged to read “Guidelines for Judges”, particularly the section on Elements of Photography.

The overarching rules for all our competitions are:

1. All elements of your image must be created by you, and photographic elements must predominate. Images should be in good taste.
2. An image may only be submitted once in Simsbury Camera Club competitions. Likewise, it is not permitted to submit an image that (as perceived by the average viewer) is substantially similar to an image previously submitted by the same maker. The Judging Chairman and Digital Coordinator shall be the arbiters in any disputes of image similarity. They may seek the opinion of the board of directors if they so desire.
3. No logo or watermark is allowed on a submitted image (a watermark will be added to your image for display on the website if you request that on submission).
4. In an attempt to maintain anonymity during the judging process, neither the maker’s name nor their recognizable image are allowed in a submitted image going forward.

5. Artificial Intelligence (updated rules as of November 2025):

a: Adhere to this new NECCC mandate:

Prohibited AI features: AI-generated elements, such as those produced by Generative Fill in Photoshop or Lightroom (when using “Auto” or “Generative Fill On” settings), are not allowed in any section of the competition. Using clip art, stock images, or replacement skies not photographed by the entrant is also forbidden.

 – This all pertains to our long-standing principle that all elements of a submitted competition image must originate from a photograph or photographs captured with a camera by the maker. 

b. Avoid using any AI process that uses the term “Generative” (i.e. Generative Fill, Generative Expand, Generative Image, etc.), as it seems “generative” almost always denotes use of an outside resource for pixels.

c. Simply do your best to determine that the post processing you do use honors the “only source material pixels” goal that we strive for.

For details on the mechanics of submitting images, click on “How to submit images” at the bottom of the left column on our website homepage