Dates and Deadlines; Categories and Rules; Printing and Matting Information; Awards;
Student Competitions
Competition Dates and Deadlines
| Date | Deadline |
| April 28, 2025 | Student Competition – Opens |
| May 12, 2025 | Student Competition – Closes |
| June, 2025 | Student Competition – Judging Ends |
| Sunday, August 10 | Nature and Photo Art Competitions – Open |
| Sunday, August 31 | Nature and Photo Art Competitions – Rejected images that were submitted after this date cannot be replaced |
| Sunday, September 7 | Nature and Photo Art Competitions – Last day to submit images |
| Tuesday, September 9 | Nature and Photo Art Competitions – Judging begins |
| Sunday, September 28 | Nature and Photo Art Competitions – Judging ends |
| Friday, October 3 | Nature and Photo Art Competitions – Accepted images announced |
| At the Event | People’s Choice Award voting; Winners announced and awarded |
Photo Art Competition
Submissions can be made to the Photo Art Competition in August and September of each year. If an image conforms to the Nature competition rules, it may not be entered into the Photo Art competition.
The Photo Art competition aims to provide a place for photographers to enter non-nature images (people, architecture, street scenes, still life, abstracts, etc., etc.) and the judge(s) will be asked to reflect this purpose in their scores.
There is no specific theme for the Photo Art Competition.
Each club member may submit up to six (6) photographs in the Photo Art Competition.
All elements of the final image must originate as one or more in-camera photographs taken by the submitter.
If textures are used they must be from images photographed by the submitter; the use of smartphone apps or programs (e.g., Topaz Texture Effects) that apply their own built-in textures is not allowed.
All manipulations, including digital filters that alter the original pixels (e.g., blurring, distorting, colorizing, etc.) are allowed in post-processing. However, images processed using generative fill are unacceptable.
Judging Categories
There is no limit to the number of images an individual may enter in a category as long as the total number of entries for the Photo Art Competition does not exceed six.
The categories are:
Architecture/Agriculture/Industry – This category includes images of buildings and other man-made structures and images of their interiors or parts. Also included are images of cityscapes, agricultural scenes (cultivated fields, terraced hillsides, garden landscapes, etc.), industrial installations, and machinery.
Abstracts/Altered Reality – Abstracts are images in which the object being photographed is not readily identifiable or has been made unidentifiable by software or other manipulation. The emphasis in abstracts is on patterns, textures, tones, shapes, colors, etc. Images submitted as Altered Reality may be of any subject, and it may be identifiable, but images should display a change in natural color, form, shape or any combination of these so that the subject obviously does not appear as it naturally does. Simple conversion to monochrome does not constitute Altered Reality.
People – This category includes Documentary Photography, which chronicles events happening in the world and conveys information about them, as well as Street Photography, which typically records everyday life in a public place. Street photos are usually candid and capture moments that might otherwise go unnoticed. Portraits of people should also be submitted to this category.
Studio Photography – This category includes images of smoke trails, water drops and other studio techniques. It also includes Still Lifes which are images of inanimate subject matter, typically a small group of objects such as fruit in a bowl or flowers in a vase. Still Lifes may be of an arranged or a found subject.
Sports/Action/Adventure – Images of sports or other types of action showing someone or something in motion, as well as images of other adventurous activities. Images of animals must not conform to the Nature rules.
Other – Images that don’t fall into any of the above categories and do not conform with the Nature competition rules.
The choice of the category into which an image is submitted is up to the artist. If the judges feel that an image is not submitted to the proper category they may, at their discretion, reflect this in their scores.
If you are unsure of the category to which you should submit your image, you may wish to check with your photography club’s Mid-Atlantic Photo Visions representative for guidance. Some overlap between categories is unavoidable and you should use your best judgment as to the proper category.
Upload Information
Images uploaded will be reviewed for appropriate content and to ensure they are submitted according to the rules of the competition.
- File Format: JPEG (JPG)
- Max Width: 1400 px
- Max Height: 1050 px
- Max File Size: 2MB
- Recommended Color Space: sRGB
Printing and Matting Information
If your image is selected, you will need to print and mat it for the event. Photos will be displayed at our gallery so that attendees at the event can admire your work and, if you choose to offer it for sale, purchase it. After printing and matting your work, please coordinate delivery and onsite display with your club’s representative. Your representative will work with you to ensure that your print meets criteria and is labeled properly. Information about printing and matting.
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Awards
- A “Best in Category” award will is given for each category.
- A “Best in Show” image will be selected from the “Best in Category” awards in the Photo Art exhibit.
- People’s Choice: Expo attendees will be provided an opportunity to vote for a “People’s Choice” award from among the highest-scoring images chosen by the judges from the Photo Art exhibit. These images will be separately displayed and specifically identified as candidates for the “People’s Choice” award.
Marketing Rights
Any image submitted to the competition may be used by Mid-Atlantic Photo Visions for marketing purposes. Credit to the photographer may be given if feasible.
Nature Competition
The Nature Competition accepts entries in August and September each year. Subject matter is related to birds, wildlife, macro, water, grand landscapes, and intimate landscapes.
Each club member may submit up to six (6) photographs into the Nature competition.
Theme
The theme is nature photography, which is defined as photographic images of natural scenes, animals and plants. Studio shots (images generally created indoors under carefully controlled conditions) run counter to the spirit of the competition. Although there are no absolute restrictions on where a photograph may be taken, obvious studio shots are discouraged and the judges will be asked to reflect this in their scores.
Processing Rules
Computer manipulation such as spot removal, contrast and level adjustments, conversion to monochrome, color and saturation adjustments, and cropping are permitted.
Focus stacking, HDR composites, stitched panoramas and similar procedures that combine multiple images of the same scene are allowed, however, traditional multiple exposures of a changing scene, or scenes, are not allowed.
Minor cloning to remove extraneous elements such as trash, telephone wires, etc. is also permitted; but cloning or other techniques that relocate, replace, or remove significant pictorial elements are not permitted.
In addition techniques that artificially create or add image elements not in the original scene are not permitted; this includes textures, whether created or purchased and whether applied directly by the maker or with the use of a plugin such as Topaz Texture Effects.
Creative digital filters that manipulate existing photographic pixels (e.g., to produce brush strokes, surface texture, added noise) are permitted. However, images processed using generative fill are unacceptable.
Rules about Human Elements
Human elements shall not be present – this includes, but is not limited to: people, objects constructed by humans (buildings, vehicles, roads, bridges, etc.), and evidence of human activity (obviously plowed or cultivated fields, obvious garden or park scenes, etc.).
Images of hybrid and cultivated plants and trees, or captive or domesticated animals, are allowed as long as human elements are absent. Scientific bands, scientific tags or radio collars on wild animals are permissible or may be cloned out.
Upload Information
Images uploaded will be reviewed for appropriate content and to ensure they are submitted according to the rules of the competition.
- File Format: JPEG (JPG)
- Max Width: 1400 px
- Max Height: 1050 px
- Max File Size: 2MB
- Recommended Color Space: sRGB
Printing and Matting Information
If your image is selected, you will need to print and mat it for the event. Photos will be displayed at our gallery so that attendees at the event can admire your work and, if you choose to offer it for sale, purchase it. After printing and matting your work, please coordinate delivery and onsite display with your club’s representative. Your representative will work with you to ensure that your print meets criteria and is labeled properly. Information about printing and matting.
Judging Categories
Participants may enter their images in the category(ies) of their choice.
There is no limit to the number of images an individual may enter in a category as long as the total number of entries for the Nature Exhibit does not exceed six.
Abstract nature images (including traditional multiple exposures and camera swoops) shall be submitted to the Photo Art competition only.
The choice of the category into which an image is submitted is up to the artist. If the judges feel that an image is not submitted to the proper category, they may, at their discretion, reflect this in their scores.
If you are unsure of the category to which you should submit your image, please check with your photography club’s Mid-Atlantic Photo Visions representative for guidance. Some overlap between categories is unavoidable (e.g., images with water and land in equal proportion) and you should use your best judgement as to the proper category.
Categories:
- Birds – All types of birds. Images in this category would feature birds such as songbirds, hummingbirds, owls, eagles, other birds of prey, etc.
- Wildlife – All animals other than birds. Images in this category would feature animals such as: zoo animals, wild animals, pets, marine life, etc.
- Macro/close up/other – Subjects could include insects, spiders, snakes, flowers, lilies, frogs, etc. Macro/close-up images are generally taken with a narrow/small field of view, where the subject matter is specifically identified. The use of a macro lens is not required.
- Water – rivers, lakes, waterfalls, oceans, ponds, streams. Generally, images submitted in this category will have a medium field of view. The water element must be the overwhelmingly predominant feature and clearly be the subject of the image. As an example, the image must be of a waterfall, not an image with a waterfall.
- Grand Landscapes – The images submitted in this category will generally be of a broader field of view and would include all large vista images of expansive landscapes, skyscapes and weather (cloud formations). If you are submitting a larger ocean or lake vista, it should be submitted in the Water category.
- Intimate Landscapes – The images submitted derive their subject matter from smaller details within a larger scene. The image breaks the scene down into smaller elements (i.e., shapes, objects, lines, color, texture, patterns, light) highlighting the aspects of the landscape that resonate with the photographer. Examples are: a part of a mountain or other natural feature; an image of one or more trees, bushes or flowers; the way the light hits a particular set of dunes. While the sky isn’t always shown, it can be present in the image. As reminder, abstract nature images should be submitted to the Photo Art competition.
Awards
- A “Best in Category” award is given for the best photo from each category.
- A “Best in Show” image will be selected from all the “Best in Category” awards in the Nature exhibit.
- People’s Choice Award: Expo attendees will be provided an opportunity to vote for a “People’s Choice” award from among the highest-scoring images chosen by the judges from the Nature exhibit.
Marketing Rights
Any image submitted to the competition may be used by Mid-Atlantic Photo Visions for marketing purposes. Credit to the photographer may be given if feasible.
MAPV 2025 Student Photo Competition
Each year, the contest is open to any high school or rising 9th-grade student from the following areas:
- Washington, DC
- Maryland: Frederick, Howard, Montgomery & Prince George’s counties and adjacent Maryland cities and towns
- Virginia: Arlington, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, Prince William, counties and adjacent Virginia cities and towns
Fee: $0 (free!). Students can enter up to 2 images.
Theme: None. Be creative and let’s see your finest work!
Timeline: The competition opened April 28, 2025 and closed May 12, 2025.
Prizes: The Grand Prize is $500. Nine other finalists win $100 each.
Judges: The student competition judges for 2025 will be announced.
Questions: If you have any questions about the student competition, including image entry, please email us at: studentcontest@midatlanticphotovisions.org.
Submissions: https://midatlanticphotovisions.visualpursuits.com