We have roughly one competition per month during the Club year. These are shown on the Calendar page of this site. There are 6 general categories: Pictorial, Creative, Travel, Photojournalism, Nature, and Man's Hand in Nature. These are described in greater detail below.
Each general category is headed by a Competition Chair who manages the process from judging to returns presentation.
The judges' feedback gained from these competitions, coupled with open discussion, is intended to help members understand what goes into making a compelling image.
Each member may submit up to 2 digital images for each competition judging. The images are sent to an independent judge, often a PSA member or local professional, for judging. The judge may award a top 3, and up to 3 honorable mentions.
In addition to the awarding of top 3 and honorable mentions, the judging also classifies image quality separately from the competition by including a star rating of 1 to 5 stars for each submittal to indicate technical and artistic merit. A member's average star rating is then utilized to determine Group placement at the end of the club's fiscal year.
Group PlacementThere are three competition peer-groups, named by color: Red, Green, and Blue. Each Club member is placed within one of these competition groups in order to fairly distribute members into competitive peer-groups. This is intended to level the competition field, giving everyone a more equal opportunity to succeed in our monthly competitions. At the beginning of each new Club year, members are grouped into competition peer-groups based on their adjusted average star score from the preceding year. The current member grouping can be seen by clicking here - Competition Peer Groups
Each member’s adjusted average star score is calculated at the end of the Club year by eliminating one (1) of their lowest star scores before calculating the average. Eliminating one lowest star score is meant to encourage submission and reduce the effect of one unfortunate event.
Image-of-the-Year:
At year-end in October, a final judging is conducted to award the Image-of- the-Year. Winning entries from the various competitions throughout the year are eligible for entry.
Competitive Field Trips:
At least once a year, the club takes a photographic field trip. Though working independently, each participating member works from a common list of subjects. A limited number of images per category is submitted for judging depending on the number of subjects. Past field trips have included Monterey's Fisherman's Wharf, Carmel Valley, the charming San Juan Bautista area, the Moss Landing waterfront, Carmel by the Sea, Pacific Grove, and beautiful Capitola.
Group Shoots:
Unlike the annual Club Field Trip, our Group Shoots are not competitive and all about learning from other club members in a field setting. It's stimulating to see how other photographers set up for a shot, what equipment they bring (or don't bring), and watch experienced shooters work a subject. We try to work in several of these each Club-Year.
A pictorial is defined as a visually impactful photograph which projects emotional intent and/or artistic quality, and through the photographer’s efforts, emphasizes beauty of subject matter, tonality and composition. This category offers artistic freedom: the “digital dark room” is allowed, as long as the compositional reality of the photograph is maintained. Entries should be a faithful representation of the original scene, and localized adjustments can be used appropriately. Pictorial is typically an "open" category, but may be "directed" to incorporate specific photographic elements.
Directed pictorial competitions may call for a specific technique, such as the use of leading lines, selective focus, negative space, black and white, compositional themes, etc.
Image Alterations and Adjustments:
"Creative" is the only category that allows altered reality. If fact, it is required. It is intended for imaginative, artistic effects not otherwise possible in photography. Any photo that could be submitted to another competition probably doesn’t qualify as creative photography. The final image should demonstrate originality of concept and/or imagination and must be based on the photographer’s original photograph(s), with modifications made exclusively by the photographer. Images must include some alteration of reality, done either in post-processing or in the camera or both. This category is free from the restrictions of the other competition categories. Imagination and originality of concept are paramount.
Image Alterations & Adjustments:
Travel photography must express the characteristic features or culture of a place naturally. While images are expected to be of high technical quality, the visual message is considered most important. Images should indicate location within the file name.
Image Alterations & Adjustments:
Photojournalism presents informative content, primarily told through the use of photographs. Emotional impact is important, reflecting the human presence in our world. Journalistic value of the photograph shall be considered over technical quality. The image must be captioned within the file name (no greater than 200 characters), in a way that identifies the situation implied by the image, and both the image and caption must be a fair and accurate representation of the event.
Image Alterations & Adjustments:
Nature photography is the use of the photographic process to depict all branches of natural history, except anthropology and archaeology, in such a fashion that a well-informed person will be able to identify the subject material and recognize its honest presentation. The visual message of the photograph is considered more important than the technical considerations but high image quality is essential.
Image Alterations & Adjustments:
Visible human elements such as:
Any manipulations such as:
Man's Hand in Nature photography is a category intended as a complement to the Nature category, substituting a requirement for evidence of human involvement and not the prohibition of it. Other characteristics remain the same.
Must contain human involvement in the image such as:
Image Alterations & Adjustments:
Competition Groups: There are 3 different skill groups within the club (placement within these groups are currently evolving and are subject to change). Beginning on October 1, 2020, Padre Trails will move away from the POINTS system previously used to determine competition groups. The new grouping will be: "RED," "GREEN," and "BLUE". Group Red includes new members and novice members. Placement within a group is based upon an annual evaluation using a group star rating system. The judge for each competition evaluates each photo and provides a ranking of 1 to 5 stars for that image. The stars represent both technical proficiency and artistic merit. At the end of our fiscal year, determination of group placement is made for each participating member according to their average star ratings attained during the course of the year.
Competition Points: Images placed in a competition are awarded points based on the guide shown below. Throughout the year, point total grows with a competitor's successes. At the end of the Club Year, the top point earners in each competition group are recognized for bragging rights at our year-end awards ceremony. *
| Place | Points awarded |
| 1st | 4 |
| 2nd | 3 |
| 3rd | 2 |
| HM | 1 |
*NOTE: Judges have full discretion to award places as they feel are warranted
Images placing (1st through HM) are eligible for Image-of-the-Year judging. Images that win places or honorable mentions within a competition may not be entered again in future competitions. Non-placing images may be entered again in any category.
