Capture the Moment: Join Our Exciting Photo Contests
Unleash Your Creativity with Contests
Participate in our exclusive photo contests and showcase your talent to the world. Discover the thrill of competition and the joy of sharing your unique perspective through the lens.
Celebrating Creativity: A Showcase of Winning Images
Gallery of Champions: A Few Contest Winners
Why we have Contests
Photo contests at Piedmont Photo Club exist first and foremost to encourage growth. Entering a contest means committing to an image — deciding that this photograph is your best work in a given category and standing behind it in front of fellow photographers. That act alone sharpens your eye.
The competition structure also gives you:
Honest feedback through voting. Members vote anonymously, so the results reflect the genuine response of your peers rather than social politeness.
A record of your progress. Every finalized image becomes part of your permanent member gallery on the club website, building a visible history of your photographic journey.
A community experience. Seeing how other members interpret the same theme or category broadens your own creative thinking.
You do not need to win anything to benefit from entering. Consistent participation is the most reliable path to improvement.
The Contest Calendar
The club holds four regular contests each year, plus a Year-End contest in the summer:
|
CONTEST |
APPROXIMATE MONTH |
|
Regular Contest 1 |
October |
|
Regular Contest 2 |
January |
|
Regular Contest 3 |
April |
|
Regular Contest 4 |
July |
|
Year-End Contest |
August |
Note on the October contest: Because the Year-End contest draws from a full year of regular contests, October is treated as the start of a new contest year rather than the end of the previous one. So the October, January, April, and July contests form a single group whose winners all feed into the following August's Year-End contest.
Each regular contest runs for several weeks from the submission opening date through to results publication. The administrator will announce each phase by email and by posting on the club website.
Competition Levels
Most contest categories are divided into two levels: Intermediate and Advanced. You compete only against members at your own level, which keeps the contest fair and meaningful at every stage of a photographer's development.
Intermediate
Intermediate is the entry level for new members and members who are still developing their technical and compositional skills. If you are joining the club for the first time, you begin at the Intermediate level.
Intermediate photographers compete in categories prefixed DI (Digital Intermediate) and PI (Print Intermediate).
Advanced
Advanced members have demonstrated a consistent level of technical skill and artistic vision through their contest participation. Advancement from Intermediate to Advanced is based on contest performance over time and is determined by the club's advancement criteria.
Advanced photographers compete in categories prefixed DA (Digital Advanced) and PA (Print Advanced).
The ART and THM categories
The Altered Reality / Digital Art (ART) and Theme (THM) categories are open to all members regardless of level — Intermediate and Advanced photographers compete together in these two categories.
Contest Categories Explained
Digital Categories
Digital images are displayed on screen at the club meeting and voted on online through the club website.
DIC — Digital Intermediate Color
Color photographs submitted digitally by Intermediate-level members. This is the broadest and most popular category — landscapes, portraits, street photography, wildlife, macro, travel, and virtually any other subject in color all belong here.
Intermediate members enter here for color images.
DIB — Digital Intermediate Black & White
Black and white or monochrome photographs submitted digitally by Intermediate-level members. The conversion to black and white should be intentional — images entered here are judged on how effectively they use tone, contrast, light, and shadow rather than color.
Intermediate members enter here for B&W/monochrome images.
DAC — Digital Advanced Color
Color photographs submitted digitally by Advanced-level members. The standard expected here reflects greater technical mastery and more deliberate artistic choices than the Intermediate color category.
Advanced members enter here for color images.
DAB — Digital Advanced Black & White
Black and white or monochrome photographs submitted digitally by Advanced-level members.
Advanced members enter here for B&W/monochrome images.
ART — Altered Reality / Digital Art
Images that have been significantly manipulated or composited beyond conventional photographic processing. This category welcomes creative digital art, photo-composites, painterly effects, surrealism, and any image where the result clearly goes beyond what the camera captured. Light retouching and tonal adjustments belong in the color or B&W categories rather than here.
Open to all levels. Intermediate and Advanced members compete together.
THM — Theme
Each contest has a specific theme announced in advance — for example, "Leading Lines," "Reflections," or "Shadows." Your Theme entry should clearly and intentionally respond to that theme. You may submit only one Theme image per contest, and the connection to the theme should be evident without explanation.
Open to all levels. Intermediate and Advanced members compete together. Maximum 1 image per member per contest.
Print Categories
Prints are physical photographs — printed at home or through a lab — that members bring to the club meeting. Print judging takes place in person at the meeting rather than through the online ballot, though prints are still submitted through the website system so the administrator can track entries and results.
PIC — Print Intermediate Color
Color prints by Intermediate-level members.
PIB — Print Intermediate Black & White
Black and white or monochrome prints by Intermediate-level members.
PAC — Print Advanced Color
Color prints by Advanced-level members.
PAB — Print Advanced Black & White
Black and white or monochrome prints by Advanced-level members.
The Year-End Contest
What is it?
Each August the club holds a Year-End contest using the Honorable Mention winners from all four regular contests held that year. This is the club's most prestigious competition — the best images from the year going head to head for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Place in each category.
Do I need to do anything to enter?
No. If you earned an Honorable Mention in any regular contest during the contest year, your winning image is automatically entered into the Year-End contest on your behalf. You do not submit anything.
Who is eligible?
Any member who earned an Honorable Mention in a regular contest during the contest year is automatically entered. This applies to both Intermediate and Advanced levels and to all categories including ART and THM.
Year-End voting is different from regular contest voting. Instead of selecting a set of images, you rank three images per category:
1st choice — the image you consider the best in that category
2nd choice — your second favourite
3rd choice — your third favourite
