Themes – Rules and Sections

The Rules

This is a pdi competition.

You may enter up to four of the six themes. One photograph only per theme.

All photographs must be taken after the date of the theme’s announcement (22/05/2025). Your entries must not have been shown at the club or on any of KCC’s Internet pages before the night of the theme competition. 

Each of the six categories will be judged separately with the judge marking each image out of 10. 

Each entrant’s image scores across all categories will be added together to produce an overall winner for the theme trophy.

Remember, the theme must be the focal point of your images.

The Themes

Abandoned

To have been deserted or left. Unrestrained or uninhibited. To leave a place, thing, or person, usually for ever. There are so many examples that could be listed here but we will give one or two ideas to get your mind working: food that has been left to rot and is going mouldy, a building in disrepair, a vehicle that being eaten by rust, a baby left at the entrance to a hospital, litter in beauty spots or roadside dumping. Try to be creative in your composition, perhaps show the contrast between the abandoned item(s) and its surroundings.   

A Common Cliché Phrase

A quick search on the internet will bring up so many of these that you’ll be spoilt for choice. Try to make it obvious from the photograph what your chosen phrase is without having to rely on a title to explain the image. Let your imagination run wild. Here’s a few phrases to give you a head start: Think Outside the Box. Time Heals all Wounds. Can of Worms. All that Glitters isn’t Gold. Cat Got Your Tongue. 

Hats or other Headgear

A hat on a head or perhaps shown in a still life. If you choose to show another type of headgear then it must be something that is worn on top of the head or around the forehead. Glasses of all kinds and masks are excluded from this section. 

Rainy Days or Rainy Nights

Raindrops, rain bouncing off an umbrella or other object, rain streaking down a window, rain backlit by natural or artificial lighting, neon lights reflecting in wet streets, people sheltering from a downpour. These are just a few ideas to whet your appetite for this subject. 

Silhouettes

Your subject needs to be a true silhouette – solid black without any detail showing. Shadows are not silhouettes. Think about the shape of your subject – does it produce an interesting outline when shown as a silhouette? How does the silhouette relate to other subjects in your photograph? 

Under a Tree

The tree, or part of the tree must be included in your photograph so that anyone looking at your picture knows that your main subject is under a tree rather than a bush, hedge, parasol or roof of some kind. Your subject could be a person, an animal, a bench, wild flowers, crops, a fallen tree crushing a car, presents under a Christmas Tree or anything else you can think of.