NATURE

Nature photography is restricted to the use of the photographic process to depict observations from all branches of natural history, except through anthropology and archaeology, in such a fashion that a well informed person will be able to identify the subject material and to certify as to its honest presentation. • Human elements shall not be present, except on the rare occasion where those human elements enhance the nature story. • The presence of scientific bands on wild animals is acceptable. • Photographs of artificially produced hybrid plants or animals, domestic and farm animals, mounted specimens, or obviously set arrangements, are ineligible, as is any form of manipulation that alters the truth of the photographic statement. Manipulation includes but is not limited to adding or removing any element by means other than cropping. Please read the full definition of manipulation. • The faithful representation of what was captured at the time of shooting must be maintained. Digital and printing adjustments are only acceptable if limited to minor cleaning work (removing dust spots), levels, curves, colour, saturation and contrast work, dodging and burning. Sharpening is allowed. • Compositing, multiple exposures, sandwich/montage shots and double exposures are not permitted except for new digital techniques such as HDR, Stacking and Stitching where the end result is a faithful representation of the original scene. • Adding or removing animals, parts of animals, plants, distractions, people, etc. into/from the image is not allowed. • Borders, if used in digital projections, should be unobtrusive and generally limited to a thin stroke that separates the image area from the black projection background.

 WILDLIFE

Falling within the Nature category is WILDLIFE, which is defined as one or more organisms living free and unrestrained in a natural or adopted habitat. Therefore, while photographs of zoo or any other animals in captivity, insects or other creatures photographed in the studio or other controlled locations are NATURE subjects, they are not WILDLIFE and cannot not be entered in a Wildlife section. Animals living free and unrestrained on game farms, private game reserves and National Parks are considered to be wildlife. NOTE: Wildlife subjects are not limited to birds and mammals. Insects, reptiles, amphibians, sea creatures and botany are also eligible wildlife subjects as long as they are not captive subjects. The main subjects must be living organisms; therefore landscapes are not eligible wildlife subjects.

PORTRAIT

A likeness, personality, and mood of a living subject where that subject is dominant in the image. Portraiture is not restricted to head and shoulders and may include just a part of the face, a back view or even a full length study..

PHOTO JOURNALISM

An image that tell a news story. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography by the qualities of: Timeliness -  the images have meaning in the context of a recently published record of events. Objectivity -  the situation implied by the images is a fair and accurate representation of the events they depict in both content and tone. Narrative - the images combine with other news elements to make facts relatable to the viewer or reader on a cultural level.

ACTION & SPORT

This New Category is intended to capture any sport or action not covered by 'Photo-Journalism' - i.e. it does not need to be a newsworthy event - just any shot where the emphasis is on the action.  This could use a fast shutter speed to freeze the action, slow shutter speed to blur the action, or any technique where the emphasis is on the action, whether it is news-worthy or not.  Manipulation would be allowed if this helps to tell the story of the action.

PHOTO ART / CREATIVE

This Category will include -

• Altered Reality,
• Abstract,
• any Photo-Art picture where the emphasis is on the artistic manipulation of the picture

Manipulation is allowed in all of these topics

'SCAPES

This will include all 'scapes - including -

• Land-scapes
• City-scapes
• Sea-scapes
• Sky-scapes, etc.

We will need to define the set of rules for Scapes, but this should not be too difficult and not as restrictive as the 'Nature' Category

This Category will also include Architecture & Panorama.

OPEN

Includes any topic that might be excluded from any of the other topics - e.g. a Nature, Wildlife, Photo-journalism type picture where manipulation was required in order to present the image. 

This category will also include what was previously called 'Pictorial'