NOTE: All photos must be taken on or after April 1, 2024.

It should be obvious by looking at the photo what category it is in.

Birds in the Human Environment

Send us your birds!  This is your chance to capture images of these beautiful creatures in human spaces.  The “nature story” sought after in typical competitions will not help you.  Don’t worry about hand-of-man; that’s what we’re looking for! Photos here should show how birds live among us – a gull grabbing your French fries, or pigeons crowding a sidewalk. Just make sure a bird or birds is the subject.

Clouds

Forget those clear blue skies; give us clouds!  Listen to Joni Mitchell and head out to shoot them – cirrus, cumulus or even altocumulus!  Other objects can be in the frame, but it needs to be clear that clouds are the subject. Although fog might be considered a cloud of sorts, we’re sorry to say it doesn’t fall into this category.

Environmental Portraits

Environmental portraiture shows subjects in a setting that reveals details of their lives and illuminates the essence of their personality.  This might be the subject’s home or place of work, but locations outside the subject’s normal environment can provide a fresh perspective.  It's all about context.  Where is this person?  Why is this person in this place?  How do they relate to the place where they are?

Night Photography - People and Places

Let’s get you out shooting at night. You can shoot anywhere – urban, suburban, landscape, etc. – as long as it’s between the hours of dusk and dawn.  But no star trails, Milky Ways, or other night sky shots and no sunrises, sunsets or eclipses.  Instead, we want to see people and/or places in your shots.

You might take inspiration from the painter Edward Hopper, who was most admired for his night scenes.  Check out his work.  He adapted the device of highlighting a scene against a dark background, creating the sense of sitting in a darkened theater waiting for the drama to unfold. By staging his pictures in darkness, Hopper was able to illuminate the most important features while obscuring extraneous detail.

Perspective

Perspective refers to the visual connection between the elements in a photo.  It may involve the angle from which the image is taken, the composition of the subject(s) within the frame and how the photographer positions themself during the photographing process.  A recent article states that perspective is not only an effective way of making a photo more captivating, it's also an opportunity to challenge the way people see the world.  With a skilled eye, you can show a unique view of the most commonly photographed subjects.

Keeping the above in mind, try applying various perspective techniques, including Linear, High Angle, Low Angle and Leading Lines, to name a few.  This is also an opportunity to experiment with lenses and filters, as well as to take advantage of light and shadows, but make sure you have fun doing so.  Try to create some drama in your photographs.  Let creativity take hold in the field.

Selective Focus

Selective focus leaves one part of the image sharp and the rest blurry.  Choosing a pinpoint focal point in your image and using a shallow depth of field is a technique you can use to simplify an image, eliminating distractions and drawing the viewer’s attention to the most important portion of your shot.

The Thrill of Victory, The Agony of Defeat

Starting in 1961, ABC's Wide World of Sports ran for 37 seasons, providing a weekly digest of sports’ major events.  The show’s opening sequence featured a dramatic fanfare and a voice-over intro that went, "Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sport... the thrill of victory... and the agony of defeat... the human drama of athletic competition... This is ABC's Wide World of Sports!” while showing a video montage of of dramatic winners and losers — a heroic athlete being carried from the field, a weightlifter raising an impossible weight over his head and, most memorably, a ski jumper crashing horribly off the end of the jump.

Though sports may be the best venue for capturing these images of human drama, you can also capture displays of victory celebrations or disappointment at defeat in other venues for this category – games, child’s play, political rallies, etc. – as long as the emotion is there!

Trees

Trees come in all sizes and shapes, have unique leaves, flowers and fruit. In winter, the bare branches provide opportunities for silhouettes. Light, color and shadow are important elements.  Submit an image in which the tree or trees is the main subject.