Digital Competitions are on the 2nd Thursdays of the months listed, 7:30PM.
Print Competitions are on the 4th Saturdays of the months listed, 10AM, at First Baptist Church of Decatur.
Competitions are all judged by professionals and advanced amateurs, Ribbons are awarded to the best entries for both Monochrome and Color entries.
A to Z Returns! - But It's Digital
Briefly stated, for the A to Z Competition, a subject is assigned for each letter of the alphabet, and the subject can be either a noun or a verb, a person, place or thing, or a concept or idea (e.g., A=Apple, B=Beauty, C=Crystal…).
The participant makes ONE exposure for each subject, IN ORDER, on a photographic media (an SD card or other digital media in our case, previously a roll of slide film). The participant submits the SD card for judging, WITHOUT post-processing (sorry – no PhotoShop/image editing of any kind!)
Dates & Deadlines
January 22, 2026 - Digital A to Z introduction and Early Sneak Preview
Please read the full A-Z procedures, rules and example subject list.
February 12, 2026 - Digital A to Z Full Package Release
April 25, 2026 - Deadline to turn in the A to Z competition media card
June 27, 2026 - Digital A to Z Competition Results (Saturday): Winners and Best Images announced and shown.
About Competitions
Image critiques and competitions are an important part of our photo club. Judging of monthly competitions is usually done by independent, professional judges and sometimes by Master Photographer members of the club. Absorbing the valuable information from critiques of your entries (and of other members' entries) is a great way to learn and improve one's photography.
Members Judging a Masters Competition
At each monthly competition, the judge critiques all the images for everyone's benefit. The judge then chooses the best for ribbons. About 20% of the entered images receive ribbon awards (1st, 2nd, 3rd and Honorable Mentions for each category).
Monthly Competitions – Members have the opportunity to enter as many as 6 images per competition (up to 3 monochrome images and 3 color images).
IMPORTANT NOTE: Entry limits for both virtual competition meetings (on Zoom) and in-person competition meetings are as follows:
Open Competitions - 3 Mono and 3 Color, total of 6, and
Theme Competitions - 3 Mono and 3 Color, total of 6.)
Competitions are held each month, January through October, with the Masters Competition in November.
The entry fee for our monthly competitions is $2 per Category: Mono, Color and Digital. Or pay one time for the whole year, $35.
Awards 2023 - The Club's Founder Helene Mewborn shows off her phone-camera skills.
Masters Competition – All the ribbon-winning images from monthly competitions throughout the year are entered into the November Masters Competition.
The Masters Competition is the only competition where no critique takes place. Our members score each image, scores are tabulated after the competition, and “Best of the Year” ribbons are presented at our annual holiday party in December.
Join our Meetup group to follow our scheduled events calendar of competitions, programs, field trips and other club activities.
