Categories for the
2011-2012
season.

This year, both Digital and Print competitions will have four categories each month.  
Print competitions will no longer have separate Color and Monochrome sections.

Finally, there will again be both Advanced and Novice competitions each night. 
Novice and advanced categories will be the same.

Open - Nature categories mean there can be no hand of man. 

Open - no Nature means hand of man must be easily visible somewhere in the image.

And here are the categories for the 2011-2012 season:
(see the notes, designated by a note number (1/), at the end of the categories)

Digital 

January
Advanced & Novice
1. Nature - Open
2. Standing Out from the Crowd
3. Unusual Perspective
4. Open (No Nature)

March
Advanced & Novice
1. Nature - Open
2. Repetition
3. All That Noise!
4. Open (No Nature)

 

PRINT

February
Advanced & Novice
1. Nature – Open

2. Unusually Close Up (6/)

3. Commercially Problematic (7/)

4. Open – No Nature

April
Advanced & Novice
1.  Nature – Open

2.  A Dramatic Sky (8/)

3.  Digital Sandwiches and other Flights of Fancy (9/)

4.  Open – No Nature

1/ Getting out of your comfort zone - Photograph subject matter that you don't normally photograph

2/ Festivals, Fairs and Parades - The festivals, fairs and parades of summer (and fall) provide a great
opportunity to get out and have some fun.  Go early for the crews preparing their equipment for the day
or capture the smiles on children’s faces as they tackle a snow cone.  The object of this category is
to photograph a festival, fair or parade.  It is your choice if you want to include people in your image. 
If you travel the world, we’d love to see how other people/cultures celebrate their memorable events. 
But if you stay close to home there are plenty of weekend events to experience.  There is usually a
listing of the various festivals each month in the counties around our area. 
If this doesn’t work, there’s always a parade somewhere!

3/ The Decisive Moment - This category asks that you capture an image which you feel
captures a special moment in time.  These moments happen not only with the activities of people but
with all aspects of nature such as animals, birds, reptiles, plants (e.g., the Venus Flytrap), lightening and
non-living things such as cannons firing or an Alka-Seltzer tablet as it just hits the water.  The list is endless.

4/ Man’s Mechanical Transportation - Any form of man-made transportation from any era and in
any condition is this month’s topic.  You can choose from a range of beautifully restored museum-quality
vehicles to relics abandoned in the woods.  The vehicles can be functional or not.  Besides automobiles,
there are trucks, buses, motorcycles, bicycles, scooters, buggies, trains and airplanes from which to select. 
Just a word of caution, if you choose to photograph in Amish/Mennonite areas please respect people’s
right not to have their faces included in the photograph.  It is considered to be a breach of etiquette.

5/ The Window - Looking in?  Looking out?  Looking at?  What view does the window present for you? 
Is the window new or is it comprised of bits and pieces of old remnants?  Is it the view beyond the
window that will hold the observer’s attention or is the window itself the point of focus? 
Walk up to the window and take a look for this month’s creative challenge.

6/ Unusually Close Up - Select any subject and study the details that the casual observer would overlook. 
What do you find fascinating about it?  You can keep the entire image tack sharp or you can use
creative blurring to guide the viewer’s eye and add impact.  The subject matter can be anything. 
If you’re just not into nature photography look around your house, garage or refrigerator.  Still not
inspired?  Try taking your camera to a garage sale where you might see a new angle on an old item. 
Just be prepared to answer the question “What is it?” at the end of the evening’s competition.

7/ Commercially Problematic - You’re tired of the art director for a staid commercial shoot guiding
your every thought.  Break loose and take a shot that reflects your creativity for a product or advertising concept. 
Perhaps after you’ve opened the image up in your favorite imaging software you find that your idea just melts
on a tree branch like Salvador Dali’s time pieces.  Whatever you do it’s possible that the mythical art director
won’t buy it but at least you’ve displayed your creativity for a commercial style of photograph.

8/ A Dramatic Sky - If winter has you feeling a bit down just lift your chin and look up at the sky for inspiration. 
You can choose to capture the delicate colors of dawn or the vivid colors of a spectacular sunset.  If you’ve
always wanted to be a “storm chaser” there can be many opportunities with the clouds in the roiling squall
lines and eerie colors as the storm builds.  Afterward the towering thunderheads from the passing storm
can create an impressive monochromatic photograph.  The thing to remember is we want the sky to be the main
subject.  Silhouettes and foreground scenery may be useful to help ground your image and provide the viewer
with a sense of place.  If you do chase the storm remember that your safety is most important.

9/ Digital Sandwiches and other Flights of Fancy - Years ago photographers stacked multiple slides
together as one way to create montages.  Jerry Uelsmann still uses the wet darkroom to create surreal
black-and-white images composed of multiple objects from his photography.  Today we have computers and
software.  This is an opportunity to use your favorite digital imaging software to combine photographic images
into a one-of-a-kind print.  The criteria are (1) all elements used must have been photographed by you
(i.e. not downloaded from a website) and, (2) you have not added any text or other graphics. 
This category asks you to create an image reminiscent of the old slide film sandwiches. 
For those members using HDR, you could try combining several HDR images to see if you could simulate
a 3-D photograph.  Whether or not the resulting image is “believable” is up to you.   For those of you
whose minds drift into other realms, this is an opportunity to let your inner Jerry Uelsmann loose on this category!