Monthly Image Competition: Showcase Your Photography Skills

The Society Monthly Image Competition is a ‘must’ for all our members. There are 28 categories that cover all aspects of photography, and it is judged by some of the most esteemed Fellow, Master and Grand Master photographers in the UK and across the world. All entries which gain the coveted ‘Gold’ award are put forward to our annual judging and, if deemed to be the best, can gain their maker a prestigious ‘Photographer of the Year’ Award within its category at our annual Awards Presentation Evening.

The closing date for the monthly competition is the last day of each month and it runs every month except December. All the awards for this competition are presented at the annual Awards Presentation Evening in January at the Convention.

Check out the categories and definitions and what the judges are looking for before entering.

How to Enter the Competition

To upload your competition entries, follow these simple instructions:

Firstly, once your image is ready to be uploaded to the competition. Take the image in to your editing software and set the image size to 4,500 pixels on the longest side.

Then use the ‘Save for Web & Devices…’

Setting should be:
JPEG
Maximum
Quality: 100

This will strip the exif data out of this image to avoid an error message.

We require all files to be named as follows:
Firstname_Lastname_Category_monthofentry countryofresidence_currentyear_membershipnumber.jpg
For example, if I were entering the Commissioned Portrait category this month I would name my file:
Terrie_Jones_Commissioned_Portrait_July_UK_2023_0695.jpg

https://thesoc.net/competition/

Click the link ‘Upload file’
Select the Album (Category) you wish to enter.
Browse your computer for the image.
Leave ALL other fields empty.
Click upload file.

The image will then be approved by our staff; please bear in mind this may take up to 48 hours with longer delays over the weekends.

Applicants agree that any entered photograph may be used by The Society and/or Professional Imagemaker in any of the publications, printed materials or electronic media. Also the image may be used for promotional use by the The Society, unless otherwise agreed.

Judges’ Choice Award

Each month one of the Gold images is selected as the Judges’ Choice Award.

This image is deemed to be the most outstanding of all the Golds.

Monthly Image Competition – Score Categories

Gold: Excellent use of imagination, skill and technique in most areas. Awards will go forward to the annual judging and are deemed to be images of the highest standard and will be published in Professional Imagemaker.

Highly Commended: Good saleable work exhibiting above average skill and technique in most areas. These images will be reviewed at the end of each year by a panel of judges and have the potential of being reclassified as Gold.

No Award: Images which are EITHER a) Good saleable work consistent with standard professional practice in most applicable elements or b) images needing improvement in skill and technique in most applicable elements.

Disqualified: These images have not adhered to the competition rules or category definitions.

Rules of the Monthly Image Competition

1. Entrant must have solely captured and created the original photographic exposure. (Strictly no images created using AI software are permitted)
2. All digital manipulation must have been performed by the entrant.
3. Any images that violate copyright, trademark or any other applicable law will be disqualified.
4. The entrant’s name, or any other distinguishing marks, must not appear on the face of the image.
5. Only one image per category per month is to be entered.
6. No entry will be eligible that has been made under the supervision of an instructor, in collaboration with another photographer, or as a class assignment.
7. No exact same image may be entered more than once under any condition.
8. No image that receives a Merit in the 20×16 annual competition may be entered into the monthly image competition in the same year.
9. Any images uploaded which are not correctly named will be automatically disqualified.
10. Any image which does not follow the category definition will be automatically disqualified.
11. Any entry which has been reproduced from an existing photograph, portrait, graphic or any other artwork produced by another person is a violation of the competition rules and will be disqualified, this includes stock images and digital backgrounds.
12. Third-party non-photographic filters and actions that enhance an image’s characteristics without adding elements or significantly altering its intent or content are allowed in all categories, except for Documentary and In-camera Artistry.
13. Entrants agree that any photograph entered may be used by The Society and or Professional Imagemaker in any of the publications, printed materials, or electronic media. Also the image may be used for promotional use by The Society, unless otherwise agreed.
14. Images entered into Wedding must have been taken on the day the register was signed and must be commissioned work only.
15. By uploading and entering in to The Society Monthly Image Competition, You agree to have read and fully understood the Rules of the Competition and Category Definitions.
16. Only open to current Society Members
17. We reserve the right to: change or modify the rules without notice.
18. Images entered into The Natural World – Wild Animals must be of wild animals in their environment. Images taken of captive wild animals not permitted. Examples of this are animals in zoos, wildlife parks, sanctuaries and farms where the animals are kept in enclosures and often a fee or donation is charged for visitors to see them. Images taken using commercial hides where the lighting is set up by somebody else will be disqualified.

Failure to name your image(s) correctly will result in your image(s) being deleted.

Monthly Image Competition Results and Photography Awards