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. The cornerstone principle in all SCC competitions, in accordance with what is mandated by the Photographic Society of America is that “Competition images must originate as photographs made by the entrant. Entrants may not incorporate images or image elements authored by anyone else (for example Photoshop replacement skies or textures, clipart or stock images), and there is zero tolerance for plagiarism. Editing or alteration of images is only permitted within the limits specified in the Division Definitions”.
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. Using clip art, stock images, or replacement skies not photographed by the entrant is also not allowed.
6. Artificial Intelligence (updated rules as of November 2025 and in accordance with 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. 
   • 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.
   • Simply do your best to determine that the post processing you do use honors the “only source material pixels” goal that we strive for.
7. Image content considerations:
   • Images must be in good taste. The Judging Chairperson reserves the right to appoint an ad hoc committee to determine the appropriateness of content in disputed cases.
   • Political Neutrality Policy: The Simsbury Camera Club recognizes the power of photographic images in making social commentary and shaping public opinion, and in no way wishes to dissuade members from pursuing such imagery outside of club competitions. But because the goal of our club is to maintain a welcoming and inclusive environment focused on the art of photography, the Simsbury Camera Club requires all monthly contest entries to be non-political. We do not accept submissions that promote, oppose, or serve as an endorsement for specific political candidates, parties, or ideologies. The goal of our competitions is to celebrate photographic technique and creative vision rather than social or political advocacy.

Editing Tool particulars:

1. Brushes are the tools with a myriad of editing capabilities, all of which can be adjusted to taste by the maker. One of their potential uses is to create textures. Allowed brushes include all those brushes provided by Adobe within Photoshop, as well as brushes created by the maker from their own image(s)
2. Textures are image overlays such as stone, wood, clouds, or more abstract patterns created by the maker from one of their images. All textures must be entirely the work of the submitting maker. These textures may be then blended with images on other layers and adjusted in a variety of ways to add depth, grittiness or other artistic effect to the final image.

No brushes, textures, borders or frames from an outside source may be used. In keeping with this rule, brushes created under Filters in Photoshop using the Render option may not be used, as the Render drop down menu includes options that clearly use external images in their process.

Third party editing platforms: Post processing apps such as Luminar, DXO, ON1, Topaz and many others may be used, as long as the cornerstone principles delineated above are observed. We recommend that members ask, either directly from the company, or (ironically) by using an AI search engine whether that platform will employ generative AI or add any pixels from outside the source image while performing the image adjustment that they are requesting. We rely greatly on member integrity here, as these things are impossible to police.

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