Club Competitions
The Club holds monthly competition for its members. The second Monday of each month is the competition night.
Our competitions are intended to be a means to improve one's photography. We hope that members will use them as a motivational tool to better their own work.
The second Monday of each month is competition night. This meeting is always keenly attended: it’s where we get to share our images, see each other’s work, and hear feedback from independent judges on our own images as well as everyone else’s. It’s a great learning experience, and an inspiration to better our photography and challenge ourselves to try new things. A measure of the success of this is the number of members who progress up the grades each year, from Beginners to Advanced to Masters. We encourage you to participate!
The monthly competitions run from March to December, with images for each month’s competition due on competition night the previous month. Points from the March to November competitions accumulate to decide the winner for the year in each grade, and progression from one grade to the next.
Images can be submitted as either print or digital, and entered as either Set Subject or Open. The monthly topics for the Set Subject category are listed below; images submitted as Set Subject must meet the brief for the month’s topic. Any image may be entered as Open. The set subjects often challenge us to try something new, so are worth more points towards your total for the year.
Each club member may submit a maximum of TWO images each month, except for the December competition, which runs a little differently. These can be your choice of two Set Subject, two Open, or one Set Subject and one Open.
See the “Competition Rules” link below for detailed rules and submission instructions, and use the links below when you’re ready to submit. Any questions? Just ask a member at a meeting!
Image sizes for competition entry
By pixel dimensions:
Maximum width 3840 pixels, and maximum height 2160 pixels
Recommended minimum: width at least 1920 pixels, or height at least 1080 pixels
By file size:
Recommended size 2-5MB; maximum size 10MB
Files larger than 10MB will be rejected by the competition entry form
The maximum and minimum pixel dimensions are based on the display resolutions of a 4K Ultra HD television (3820 x 2160 pixels) and a typical laptop screen (1920 x 1080 pixels). An image smaller than the recommend minimum pixel dimensions given above is likely to be too small for the judge to assess.
Some help for resizing images on a Mac or Windows computer can be found below. Remember however that you should only reduce the size of a image. Enlarging an image cannot add detail that wasn’t present in the original, so start with your full size original and create a smaller copy that meets the size requirements. Take care not to overwrite your original.
Set subjects for 2026
The set subjects and briefs for 2026 are as follows. You can also download them as a PDF below, which you can save to your phone or print and keep in your camera bag.
Collecting in February for judging in March: A man altered landscape and Open
A man altered landscape: An image that shows human intervention on the environment through structures, industrial sites, urban sprawl, cropping and more.
Collecting in March for judging in April: Creative portrait and Open
Creative portrait: A portrait that evokes emotion and tells a story through artistic choices in lighting, posing, styling and post processing. A portrait that goes beyond a realistic portrayal of the subject.
Collecting in April for judging in May: Geometric lines and Open
Geometric lines: An image created with the main focus on lines and shapes where geometry creates a strong structured rhythmic narrative. Geometric lines include straight, diagonal or curved lines, and can be found in architecture, abstract scenes and nature.
Collecting May for judging in June: Time and Open
Time: Use your creative genius for an image showing time. This could range from clocks through to the ravages of time on buildings and equipment.
Collecting in June for judging in July: Still life and Open
Still life: An image that focuses on arranging inanimate objects to create a visually appealing and controlled composition with a strong emphasis on lighting, texture, colour and shape to evoke emotion or tell a story.
Collecting in July for judging in August: Street photography (prints only) and Open
Street photography: Street photography is a sub-category of photojournalism focused on artistic or documentary moments captured in public spaces. It captures spontaneous unmeditated moments or chance encounters.
Set subject images submitted for Street photography may be submitted as prints only.
Collecting in August for judging in September: Surreal and Open
Surreal: Surreal Images are dreamlike, uncanny or explore the mind, in that they combine both illogical and bizarre ideas.
Collecting in September for judging in October: Through their eyes and Open
Through their eyes: An image that captures a specific perspective through the eyes of a subject (either human or animal) that immerses the viewer in the subject's experience. Try to capture an emotional connection within an authentic moment.
Collecting in October for judging in November: Frozen and Open
Frozen: Create an image where the scene is already frozen such as a landscape or where you have purposely frozen something to create a frozen image.
Collecting in November for judging in December at the end of year event: A panoramic image (ONE PRINT ONLY, NO DPI)
A panoramic image: This image is panoramic in shape only and needs to be at least twice as wide as it is high. This image can contain one or more images within that shape. This does not have to be a landscape (i.e. landscape genre) image.
In the December competition we also have two additional categories, Club Outings and Best Image. Details will be provided closer to the time; for now, see the December 2025 PDF instructions linked below, for an idea of what to expect.
Some important notes
Entrants always retain ownership of their submitted images. Images may be used to promote the Manawatū Camera Club or displayed at club evenings unless expressly specified by the entrant in writing - for example “Not for publicity use.”
The submission of an entry in any assignment or competition is deemed to be acceptance and understanding of the rules of the Club.
The image entry deadline is on the second Monday of each month for evaluation on the following month's competition night.
All possible care will be taken to safeguard the entries but the Manawatū Camera Club, its officers or the judge or evaluator cannot be held responsible for any damage to or loss of entries during processing, transit, evaluation or exhibition. The entrant carries the sole risk.
A full copy of the “Manawatū Camera Club Assignment & Competition Rules” can be found at the links above and below.