Competitions Ideas

Subjects for Photographic Competitions

In November 1960, a past President of FCC - Mr. L. G. Clark, prepared a handbook to be distributed by FCC entitled "COMPETITION SUBJECTS - Suggested Subjects & Definitions". It is a given, that since then, many clubs have introduced competition subjects additional to his initial thought starter listing. Regrettably they have not been recorded for continued use by club committees. So, in this section we seek to ensure the original thinking of all FCC members is available to club committees when they prepare their clubs' annual competition programme/syllabus.

To start the ball rolling he wrote:

"The following subjects include many that are suitable for present day competitions. The listing has been compiled to help club committees to decide upon topics for the annual competition syllabus.

The exact meaning of each subject for competition should be defined and printed in the syllabus. This will prevent any competition entry from being declared ineligible. From the photographer's perspective, having gone to the trouble of preparing and exhibit only to have it declared ineligible could be both disappointing and embarrassing. Other competitors might well resent entries being submitted which do not comply with the conditions of the competition particularly in the case of competitors closely placed in the club annual points scoring. Thus, it is extremely important for the set subjects to be accurately defined.

A club should encourage members to photograph a variety of different subjects! Competitions should be programmed/selected with this in mind. Both the public and member interest may be stimulated by a more ambitious selection of subject matter.

Note too, if unusual or difficult monthly competition topics are set the monthly competitions may be poorly contested. However, members who take the initiative to enter the more difficult competitions are then fully deserving of any "extra" points going toward an annual point score.

Types of Competitions:

Type	Suggested Definition/Description
Open	Any subject treated pictorially. A pictorial treatment is one embodying the elements of good design, arrangement or composition and which reflect the interpretation of the photographer.
Set Subject	A subject set on the club syllabus and defined by the club committee - similar to examples elsewhere.
Set negative contest	Every competitor is supplied with a duplicate negative or, digital image from all or part of which they are to make a picture. The subject should be sufficiently complex to allow several interpretations and there should be no serious faults of composition in the supplied negative/image.
Diverse subjects	A set number of pictures of widely different subjects allowing the photographer to demonstrate skill and versatility.
Restricted subject	A subject selected to have limited possibilities of interpretation. Eg. statues, night scene all photographed under similar lighting conditions. Although there is little scope for originality such competitions are useful to compare the relative techniques and skills of the club members..
Pictures telling a story (3)	A set number of pictures which together illustrate a theme or story selected by the photographer. The pictures will either be submitted on separate mounts or as a montage on one mount - as decided by the committee.
Picture a title	Pictures made to illustrate a set title - such title being either balloted for or selected from a limited number of set titles.
Outing	Photographs taken on a club outing either at the rendezvous or within the area covered when touring. A certain theme is sometimes set for these competitions.

Finally, it is hoped this and what follows will serve as a "Source of Ideas" for members to extend the scope of their work. Clearly, the more of these subjects a photographer is competent to handle, the greater will be the photographer's versatility.

"Inspired? Using the feedback function please forward your suggested topics/subjects together with definitions to FCC for consideration prior to incorporation with the lists found elsewhere in this website.

Federation of Camera Clubs