BCC Logo transparent 200

Club Competitions - Member Information

Deadlines

These are the last dates for entry for the competitions for the 2025/26 season:
09 Nov 26 - Running Competition- Round 1 - Landscape or Seascape
07 Dec 26 - Running Competition Round 2 - Community

11 Jan 27 - Running Competition Round 3 - Shadows and Light 
01 Feb 27 - Annual Projected Image Competition (any topic, colour or monochrome)
22 Feb 27 - The President's Challenge
15 Mar 27 -Annual Colour  Print Competition (any topic, unmounted prints)
12 Apr 27 - Annual Monochrome 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 8th February 2027 Details from YPU will be linked here. (The rules from 2025/26 are here) 

Competition format instructions and guidance for 2026/27 season

Important rules that apply to all the club competitions

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 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.

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 where you have had assistance or paid set ups for external competitions including YPU or the interclub competition.

Any images must have been taken no earlier than 1st September 2025.  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 2025.

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.

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

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.

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 2025/26 season is Nigel Lumb.

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 three 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. 

Judges' guide to entering competitions

Running Competition

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

    Round 1 - Landscape or Seascape

    Round 2 - Community

    Round 3 - Shadows and Light
  • 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 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 help you to learn 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 close to 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 n.e.sheard@gmail.com on or before the deadline. The file format must be JPEG. There is no size restriction, as long as it is not too big to be sent by email or by WeTransfer.
  • 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.

Interclub Competition

  • We are part of the Interclub Competition which is 10 West Yorkshire Camera clubs in competition with each other with four rounds per year.
  • All members are most welcome to attend any of the interclub meetings.
  • We have a subgroup who selects our club images for submission.
  • We will draw on images submitted to club competitions in previous seasons for some of our entries. We also will ask members for images from time to time during the season. In particular we are keen to have a pool of excellent images on the different topics and themes.  We need to submit images about a month before each of the rounds.
  • Round 1. Hosts Cookridge Camera Club Wednesday 14th October 2026
    Set Subject – Illusion of a Scape
    Set Theme – Portrait, People &  Figure Studies
    Venue -  Via Zoom

    Round 2. Hosts Leeds Photographic Society. Tuesday 24th November 2026
    Set Subject – Towards Infinity
    Set Theme – Travel
    Venue – St. Edmund's Church Hall, Lidgett Park Road, Roundhay, Leeds LS8 1JN

    Round 3.Hosts Bingley Camera Club. Monday 22nd March 2027
    Set Subject – Music
    Set Theme -  Creative
    Venue – Bingley Methodist Church, Herbert Street, Bingley, BD16 4JU

    Round 4. Hosts  Huddersfield Photo Imaging Club. Wednesday 14 April 2027 
    Set Subject -  Night Scene
    Set Theme - Monochrome 
    Venue - Kirkheaton Parish Church Parish Centre, Church Lane, Kirkheaton, Huddersfield HD5 0BH

Yorkshire Photographic Union Annual Competition and Exhibition

We are hosting the 2027 Exhibition in Bingley with the assembly on 8th May at Bingley Arts Centre and the exhibition at Damart from 8-23 May.  We will post the latest rules as soon as possible. Guidance below is from previous competitions and is unlikely to change.

  • 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 our competition secretary, 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