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. 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.

The Themes

Animal Headshot

We’re looking for headshots of animals of all kinds (non-human). These can be wild animals or domestic, so anything from an elephant to the smallest of insects, a pet cat, dog or parrot, to beasts found on farms or in zoos all count. The animal kingdom is vast, so there is no shortage of subjects. Your photograph must concentrate on the head of the creature and not show the whole of the animal. 

Blur

Intentional blur can be achieved in a number of ways. ICM (intentional camera movement) or holding your camera in one position whilst something moves during a long exposure can create interesting blurred images. Taking your picture through a filter smeared with Vaseline is another way to blur an image as can shooting through poor quality glass or plastic. Many of the resulting images could be called impressionistic, so think about how the colours of the scene will work together. A definition for the word blur is “make or become unclear or less distinct.”

A Human Emotion 

Emotions are associated with thoughts, feelings, behavioural responses, and a degree of pleasure or displeasure. Scientists have named 27 different emotions. Here are a few of them; happiness, sadness, fear, disgust, anger, surprise, boredom, confusion, adoration, amusement, excitement, desire. Expressions and body language will help convey the emotion you are illustrating, as will the colours within your photograph. 

A Lone Walker

No matter how big or small your solitary figure is in your photograph they must be the focal point of the image. Brightly clothed walkers in dull landscapes or cityscapes will all make your subject standout. An out-of-focus background and/or foreground can make the walker become the main subject of your photograph.

Minimalistic 

Using the smallest range of subject matter and colours possible, concentrating on shape and/or form will result in a minimalistic image. Keep it simple, use negative space, isolate the subject, pay attention to composition. Minimalistic photographs are often abstract.  

A Triptych on a theme of your choice

Three photographs presented on the same image. Think about their relationship with each other when putting them together. None of the images should stand out from the other two. They should work together to tell a narrative, show a sequence, or illustrate different elements of similar or the same subject. Colour and contrast across all three images need to be considered to give them a uniform appearance.