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Club Competitions - Member Information

Deadlines

These are the last dates for entry for the competitions for the 2025/26 season:
27 Oct 25 - Running Competition- Round 1 - 'scapes (a 'scape can be a landscape, seascape, cityscape etc.)
01 Dec 25 - Running Competition Round 2 - Taken at Home

12 Jan 26 - Running Competition Round 3 - Make Me Smile
02 Feb 26 - Annual Projected Image Competition (any topic, colour or monochrome)
23 Feb 26 - The President's challenge
09 Mar 26 -Annual Monochrome Print Competition (any topic, unmounted prints)
23 Mar 26 - Annual Colour Print Competition  (any topic, unmounted prints)

Also, if you are entering the Yorkshire Photographic Union Annual Exhibition, the club competition secretary will need your prints and projected images no later than 9th February 2026 Details from YPU here

Each of the Interclub competitions will have its own deadlines and we will publish these as soon as we know them.

Competition format instructions and guidance for 2025/26 season

Important rules that apply to all the club competitions

Images that are not sent in the correct format cannot be accepted - just ask in advance if you need help and we will happily help youI

Images submitted late cannot be accepted

Any images must have been taken no earlier than 1st September 2023.  For composite images, it is fine to use parts of older images, but the submitted image should have been produced no earlier than 1st September 2023.

Images that are taken were part of a group shoot or training day, where the model and lighting were set up by another person are not permitted for club competitions. It must be your own work, including setting up. Note this is for our club competitions, there is nothing to stop you entering images like these for external competitions including YPU.

You must not use 'generative AI' to produce any or part of the images submitted for club competitions. For collage type images, all the components of the images must have been taken by you (i.e. use of stock photographs or material from the web is not allowed). Use of Photoshop or other tools to clone, move, tidy, recolour, scale, skew etc. parts of the images are permitted, it is only generative AI that is disallowed.

It must be all your own work. Everything you use to produce an image you must have photographed yourself, for example you cannot use any part of images you find on the internet or obtain from another person.

You cannot submit an image that you have already submitted to a club competition, for example if entered in a running competition it cannot be entered to the Digital Projected image competition. This rule applies across years, you may only enter one image one time to any of the club competitions.

Please make sure you give your image either digital or print a title, and make sure that the file name is the title of the image. Please don't send images in with separate correspondence stating the title, as these can be misplaced. If you need help in renaming an image file, please ask and we can show you how.

By submitting an entry you grant permission to Bingley Camera Club to use the image on Social Media (Facebook, Instagram, X), on our Website and in publications (blogs, leaflets, posters). You retain the copyright and full rights to your image. If you submit images you do not want to be used in this way let us know when you submit them.

Judges' guide to entering competitions

Running Competition

  • There will be three rounds of digital projected images. Each round is themed as follows:

    Round 1 - 'scapes (a 'scape can be a landscape, seascape, cityscape etc.)

    Round 2 - Taken at home

    Round 3 - Make Me Smile
  • Interpret each theme as you see fit. However, also remember that your fellow photographers are scoring the images and if they don’t think it fits the theme they may not get it and might not mark it highly. So give some thought to what you show, and also the title
  • Each member can submit two images for each round 
  • The size of image should be no greater than 1600 pixels wide x 1200 pixels high. i.e for landscape format make your image 1600 pixels wide (max) x whatever it works out as and for portrait format: 1200 pixels high (max) x whatever it works out at. The file format must be JPEG.  The colour space should be sRGB.
  • Image file names must contain the title of the image followed by your membership number.  For example: The Haywain - 25
  • WeTransfer your entries to Chris Duffy at bingleycompetitions@outlook.com
  • We aim to provide a critique of at least one image per member on the night of each competition as constructive feedback.
  • This is an internally judged competition and marks given by members are added up and then averaged out to get a score per image. We will announce the 'top 10' images from each round in no particular order. We will not be announcing any scores until the end of the season. This is simply to try to encourage people to keep entering all 3 rounds. Nobody will know who is in what position at any point, so hopefully nobody will be put off entering future rounds.
  • At the end of the season, certificates will be awarded for the 1st, 2nd & 3rd in each round, and the overall winner will be the one with the highest combined scores across all 3 rounds.

Annual Projected Image Competition

  • Each member can submit two images  
  • The topic is open i.e. any subject. 
  • The images can be colour or monochrome
  • The size of image should be no greater than 1600 pixels wide x 1200 pixels high. i.e for landscape format make your image 1600 pixels wide (max) x whatever it works out as and for portrait format: 1200 pixels high (max) x whatever it works out at. The file format must be JPEG.  The colour space should be sRGB.
  • WeTransfer your entries to Chris Duffy at bingleycompetitions@outlook.com
  • Image file names must contain the title of the image followed by your membership number.  For example: The Haywain - 25
  • This competition is externally judged.  Feedback on each of the submitted images will be provided at the meeting by the judge. On the night we will announce first place, second place, third place as well as any highly commended and commended images. We will not be providing any scores until the end of the season.

Annual Monochrome Print Competition

  • Each member can submit two unmounted prints
  • The topic is open i.e. any subject. 
  • The images must be monochrome
  • If you would like help in preparing your images for printing then please ask in advance and someone from the club will show you how to do this.
  • Prints should be brought into the club on or before the deadline.  Photographs should be printed on paper that is 18 x 12 inches or A3 (18 x 12 inches is preferred). The photograph does not need to fill whole paper, e.g. it can have a border. Each print should be labelled on the back top right hand corner with the name of the image and your membership number.  Do not write your name on the picture.  We advise using a label rather than writing directly on the back of the print to prevent damaging the print. 
  • You must also submit a copy of the file that you used for printing to the competition secretary by WeTransfer your entries to Chris Duffy at bingleycompetitions@outlook.com . The file format must be JPEG.  The colour space should be sRGB. The Images must be tiled in exactly the same way as your print and include your membership number e.g. The Haywain - 25. These files are needed for the presentation night.
  • This competition is externally judged.  Feedback on each of the submitted images will be provided on the night by the judge. On the night we will announce first place, second place, third place as well as any highly commended and commended images. We will not be providing any scores until the end of the season.

Annual Colour Print Competition

  • Each member can submit two unmounted prints
  • The topic is open i.e. any subject. 
  • The images must not be monochrome
  • If you would like help in preparing your images for printing then please ask in advance and someone from the club will show you how to do this.
  • Prints should be brought into the club on or before the deadline.  Photographs should be printed on paper that is 18 x 12 inches or A3 (18 x 12 inches is preferred). The photograph does not need to fill whole paper, e.g. it can have a border. Each print should be labelled on the back top right hand corner with the name of the image and your membership number.  Do not write your name on the picture.  We advise using a label rather than writing directly on the back of the print to prevent damaging the print. 
  • You must also submit a copy of the file that you used for printing to the competition secretary by WeTransfer your entries to Chris Duffy at bingleycompetitions@outlook.com . The file format must be JPEG.  The colour space should be sRGB. The Images must be tiled in exactly the same way as your print and include your membership number e.g. The Haywain - 25. These files are needed for the presentation night.
  • This competition is externally judged.  Feedback on each of the submitted images will be provided on the night by the judge. On the night we will announce first place, second place, third place as well as any highly commended and commended images. We will not be providing any scores until the end of the season.

President's Challenge

  • This year's topic will be announced at the beginning of the season.
  • Each member can submit one file
  • Image files names must contain the title of the image followed by your membership number.  For example: The Haywain - 25
  • Submit the file to the president (marcus.rattray@googlemail.com) by WeTransfer on or before the deadline. The file format must be JPEG. 
  • This competition is judged by the president who will provide feedback on each of the submitted images. On the night we will announce first place, second place, third place as well as any highly commended and commended images.
  • This competition is stand alone and does not count towards the Photographer of the Year awards.

Topic: Inspired by the Past

Recently the club has been involved in helping restore some of Frank West’s photographs. He was a young amateur photographer in Bingley in the 1960s from a family that was passionate about photography and lived at number 49 Park Road, with a dark room in the attic.  We think that Frank’s father Irving was a member of Bingley Camera Club.  From this work, some club members have also been helping scan some picture postcards of Bingley for the Bingley & District Local History Society archives.

This year’s challenge is to take inspiration from one or more of the photographs/postcards and create your own tribute to the past. You can do this in any way that you want to. You could capture exactly the same scene today, create something that looks old, capture a modern scene that echoes the past or even blend a modern photo with the old photo or just use one of the photos as the starting point for your imagination.  The possibilities are (almost) endless. 

The starting images are all in a google album (link sent to all club members by email). Note these are copyright images, and while it is fine to use them to produce your own photograph (we have permission), you must not share photographs from this album in any public place or print them out for your own use.

Images:

Teenagers posing at Druids Altar 1959.jpg

Bingley & Gilstead Moors looking towards Bingley grammar.jpg

Frank and his girlfriend at park road 1966.jpg

Bingley view from Gilstead moors Focus on goods yard Rows of Terrace houses Crownest Road 1963.jpg

Family on Fernbank Drive Bingley 1960.jpg

Child with Wooden play horse Park Road Bingley 1967 to 1968 B.jpg

Mum barefoot going over the stepping stones River Aire Bingley 1960.jpg

Frank's Scottish grandmother Myrtle park bowling green 1963.jpg

Grandmother on Fernbank Drive 1968.jpg

Looking down onto Brunswick Street.jpg

Frank's sister and friend at Five Rise Locks ca 1968.jpg

Boy on Ferncliffe Road.jpg

Picture Postcard-2.jpg

Picture Postcard.jpg

Walker stood on Lady Blantyre's Rock St Ives 1965.jpg

Britannia Mill and bridge Glovers coal yard Girl on Tin bridge 1960.jpg

Train near Treacle Cock Alleyjpg.jpg

Picture Postcard-4.jpg

Picture Postcard-3.jpg

Trophies and Awards


Photographer of the Year is the award for the person who scores most points over all competitions (apart from the President's Challenge) during the season. The current holder from the 2024/25 season is Gary Allan.

We also have trophies and awards for each of the competitions e.g. Running Competition, Projected Image, Monochrome Projected Image, Colour Print. These trophies are awarded in the categories of newcomer, intermediate and advanced photographers so that members are competing with people at around the same level of experience.  The other two club trophies are for the President's Challenge and for outstanding contribution to the club. We list our trophies and awardees here

Members in their first two years of club membership are usually placed in the newcomer category. If you join the club and know you are more than a beginner, let the secretary know and you will be added to a category more suitable. People who win a trophy in newcomer or intermediate will be moved up a class the following season. 

Yorkshire Photographic Union Annual Competition and Exhibition

2026 Competition Details from YPU here

  • Members will be able to enter up to 10 projected digital images (PDI) and 10 prints. There will be a fee for entering that will need to be paid to the club after all the entries have been submitted.
  • Young Photographer (aged 21yrs or under) may enter 3 Prints and 3 PDIs into Young Photographer Categories
  • The entries are submitted to Yorkshire Photographic Union by the club competition secretary. We have a club deadline in early February for everything to be received by Chris Duffy, so that he has enough time to check entries, submit all the information and fee. It is a complex process!
  • We encourage members to start the process early and seek feedback from experienced club members to prepare print and digital projected images. The Yorkshire Photographic Union rules need to be followed carefully, as they are different to our rules for our own competitions. There is a vast amount of experience in the club, and we will have extra sessions in the autumn to help people review and improve their images.
  • When you submit your images please use the following spreadsheets to assist the competition secretary put them in the correct category:
Print Entry Form
PDI Entry Form