APPRAISAL & COMPETITION RULES AND GUIDELINES as of September 2026
1.0 GENERAL
Lymington Camera Club organizes a range of Appraisal evenings and Competitions for members. Only fully paid-up members of Lymington Camera Club may participate in any of these Appraisal evenings or club Competitions. All Appraisals and Competitions will be independently assessed whenever possible or appropriate. Prints and images for digital projection will be assessed as separate categories
Prints and Projected Digital Images (PDI) must be titled and assigned a priority. All PDI and Print entries, including images, must be submitted via the club’s competition uploader by midnight on the Appraisal or Competition close date (normally the previous Sunday). For Prints, titles and author’s name must be clearly marked on the back of the presented Print and match the title entered in the competition software. There will be a maximum of 3 entries per member per Appraisal evening or Competition evening, unless stated otherwise in the programme. Where both PDI and Print Appraisals or Competitions take place on the same evening, entries may be any combination of 3 Prints and 0 PDIs, 3 PDIs and 0 Prints, or 3 entries spread across both PDI and Print competitions.
The Competition Secretary reserves the right to adjust the number of entries appropriately, if it is found there are too many entries to be appraised or judged comfortably in an evening. This will be done by removing some or all of the lowest priority entries. This will be communicated to members prior to commencement of the Appraisal or Competition. Unless a set subject has been specified in te program, club appraisals and competitions are for images of any subject
There is no age-limit for entered images unless stated otherwise in the programme
Prints or Projcted Digital Images (PDI) can be either Colour or Monochrome except where the competition subject specifies otherwise. An image is considered to be Monochrome if it (in addition to a straight black and white image) is toned entirely in one colour. Therefore, a black and white image modified by partial toning or by the addition of one colour becomes a Colour work
Prints may be commercially printed
All Prints must be mounted. Print entries, including mounts, MUST NOT EXCEED 40cm x 50cm unless specified in the programme Physical Prints should be handed in no later than 7.20pm on the evening of the Appraisal or Competition – late entries may be refused
Unless indicated on their application form or via the competition software, members agree that their images may be used in inter-club competitions and may be chosen to represent the Club or Southern Counties Photographic Federation (SCPF) in external competitions. Copyright always remains with the author.
Every effort is made to ensure safe handling of all images submitted for Appraisal Evenings and Competitions, however, Lymington Camera Club accepts no responsibility for any loss or damage that may occur.
Whilst these rules aim to be comprehensive, they may not cover every situation. In these cases, members should use their best judgement and respect the intent behind the rules. Page 1 of 4 Updated: September 2026
2.0 OWNERSHIP / AI
Images must originate as photographs (image-captures of objects via light sensitivity) and must be entirely the work of the entrant. Composite images are permitted provided the author retains copyright to all their components. Content derived from other sources are not permitted. Examples include the inclusion of entire or partial elements of clipart, stock photographs, copyright-free material or AI-generated imagery.
The Committee reserves the right to request original image files for verification purposes.
Clarification on AI Tools: • Whilst the use of AI-generated imagery is not permitted, editing using AI-assisted tools to enhance or correct image quality is allowed. Examples include noise reduction, sharpening, or exposure optimization. These tools must remain under the photographer’s control and not introduce content that compromises the integrity of the image. • Tools such as the clone stamp, healing brush, patch tool, and content-aware fill are acceptable provided they work with and derive content from the original image. Generative fill or any feature that introduces new pixels based on external data or models, rather than from the photographer’s own image, is not allowed.
3.0 APPRAISALS
The emphasis of Appraisal Evenings will be on constructive critique, learning and photographic development rather than competition and ranking. Appraisers will comment on composition, technique, creativity, impact and potential improvements. Where time permits, the appraiser may initiate interaction with the audience There will be a single ‘Open Ability’ Class with no expected “base competence” level. Images will be considered on their individual merits
As part of the commentary, members will be provided with a measurable indication of progress for each image. These evaluations are intended to provide encouragement and a useful indication of progress over time, rather than create a competitive ranking. The following ‘banding’ will be used: Award Standard Gold Highest Standard Silver Very Good Standard Bronze Good Average Standard Pass Scope for Development
4.0 ANNUAL COMPETITIONS
There will be two Annual Competitions held towards the end of each club season, one for Prints and another for Projected Digital Images (PDI).
Any image entered (or image so similar as to be deemed to be the same) must not have been entered in any other annual competition, in any format: Print or PDI. This includes any previous ‘Print of the Year’, ‘PDI of the Year’ or ‘Best of Year (BoY)’ Competitions. Updated: September 2026 P
An image is “deemed to be the same” if it features the same subject, composition, or content with minor variations, such as cropping, sky swapping or conversion to monochrome. Images must be sufficiently different to be clearly distinguishable one from the other, without the need for detailed comparison.
The Competition Secretary’s judgement as to the acceptable degree of similarity between images shall be final. Members may seek advice from the Competition Secretary before submission.
Whilst entered images may not be carried into future competitions in any other year, it may be submitted into future Appraisal evenings.
The judge will assess and comment on all entries. Judges will select 1st, 2nd, and 3rd placed images and, at their discretion, any ‘highly commended’ images. Marks are not given. The Competition Secretary will maintain a record of all image entries and placings Trophies are awarded at the end of the club season to the winners
Any images submitted that have been ‘culled’ from the competition (for example, due to over-subscription) are not deemed entries and may be submitted to future Annual Competitions
5.0 AD-HOC COMPETITIONS
Lymington Camera Club may hold some ‘fun’ competitions for members during the season. Examples include Knockout competitions (you be the judge), Girls versus Boys, Portfolio Competitions. Any additional rules and guidelines for these competitions will be published in the programme as and when required
6.0 EXTERNAL COMPETITIONS
As an active member of the Southern Counties Photographic Federation (SCPF), Lymington Camera Club regularly participates in their League, Annual Exhibition, Championships, and inter-Federation Competitions
Members belonging to other photographic clubs must ensure any image used by Lymington Camera Club in SCPF competitions is not used in the same Federation competitions by their other club(s). Similarly, members allowing use of their images for external competitions must inform the Competition Secretary of any image likely to be or that has been used by their other club(s) in the same Federation or inter-Federation competitions
7.0 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION (GUIDELINES)
Uploading Images – Lymington Camera Club uses PhotoEntry to upload entries to Appraisals and Competitions. Instructions on using this software are available in the members area of the Club Website. There is also a useful FAQ section in the software https://compent.photoentry.uk/compent/
Uploaded images must be JPEG format (8-bit) and no more than 1600 pixels wide by 1200 pixels high. Colour space must be sRGB. (The dimensions for digital images are not reversible as they must be no larger than the proportion of the resolution of the projector we use, which is in landscape format. This limits the height of a portrait or square image to 1200 pixels) Images do not have to fill these dimensions entirely, but landscape format images cannot be wider than 1600 pixels and Portrait format images cannot be taller than 1200 pixels. Smaller images should not be placed on a 1600×1200 black canvas
The uploader is set to convert non-compliant images to this format – however, it is better for the author to control any conversion (note: set Quality of conversion to JPEG: 12)
Entries must be submitted in order of preference, i.e. the order you would like them to be used in competitions. Preference is indicated in the uploader system with the highest priority appearing at the top and the lowest at the bottom when viewed. If you change your mind, you can reorder your images using the blue up and down arrows on the left of the image in PhotoEntry.
PDIs and Prints will be set up as separate ‘competitions’ in PhotoEntry. Where two ‘competitions’ have been set up for the same date (for example, Appraisal Evenings including both PDIs and Prints), PhotoEntry will link these together when calculating and limiting the number of entries allowed.
Due Date – Normally, Appraisals and Competitions close at midnight on the Sunday immediately preceding the competition date. The Competition Secretary reserves the right to vary the due date. In exceptional circumstances, with the agreement of the Competition Secretary, it may be possible to submit images after the due date, but this is not guaranteed
Presentation – PDIs are projected using the software DICENTRA.
Images are displayed with a black background. For dark images, applying a narrow white or grey stroke line of 1-2 pixels around the image works well as it separates it from this background
Assessments – Competition placings do not necessarily reflect the overall quality of the pictures but may be relative to entries on the night. They will inevitably reflect the assessor’s opinion of how each image compares to others. Commentary and Appraisal ‘banding’ should, however, better reflect overall quality
Southern Counties Photographic Federation have a section on Judging on their website which includes information and guidelines on appraising and judging images. This section is equally relevant for club members as for appraisers/judges https://southerncountiespf.org.uk/judging/
Sensitivity – Images likely to cause offence should be avoided and may be removed from Appraisals or Competitions. The appraiser or judge is also within their right to decline to appraise any material they feel uncomfortable with. Members may seek advice from the Competition Secretary before submission offence”,
Useful guidelines, described as “how to navigate the fine line between artistic freedom and sensitivity to avoid causing have been produced by Southern Counties Photographic Federation https://southerncountiespf.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/SCPF-Sensitivity-Guidelines-V1_1.pdf.
A guide for appraisers entitled “SCPF Judging Guidance Paper – Appraising Sensitive Images” is also available under the Judging Tab on the SCPF Website, accessible to all Image Privacy – Who can view an image and how it is used can be controlled while entering it into PhotoEntry using the toggle and the Title field. (See additional PhotoEntry instructions for Appraisals document in the members area of the Club Website for more details)
If your image is a ‘work in progress’, by adding an apostrophe in front of the Title it will not be downloaded for External Competition selection or publicity. toggle remains set to ‘YES’
Setting the toggle to ‘NO’, The image will not be seen on reports, the PhotoEntry Viewer, or downloaded to be used for external competitions or publicity Updated: September 2026