For full rules refer to by-laws.

1. New Members' Gradings. A selection of new members' work will be assessed by two committee members to determine if they should compete in A or B grade.

2. . Monthly competitions run from February to November. Prints or projected images having previously gained an award or already entered 3 times are not accepted in any other section for that competition year. A maximum of 2 entries may be entered in each print section and 2 images in the digital Colour & Monochrome sections.

3. . Entries are to be handed to the Competition Secretary for the monthly competition no later than:
• Projected Images with the members grade ("A" or "B"), number and image title for each entry are to be lodged with both the Webmaster & Assistant Webmaster by email no later than 6pm on the Monday night two weeks prior to the competition.
• Competition entry forms with titles, member's number, section, and grade ("A" or "B") for each print entry are to be emailed or phoned to the competition secretaries no later than 6PM on the Saturday before competition night.
• All prints are to be lodged no later than 7:30PM on the night of the competition, prints submitted after this time may not be accepted.

4. . Competition points All cumulative.
5 points for a Merit.
3 points for a Credit.
1 point for each entry not otherwise scoring points.

5. . Compliance: Prints/Projected Images presented for competition must comply with FCC rules.

(a) Digital Projected images (Grade "A" and "B").
• Must be the author's own work.
• Must be submitted as 1920px(W) x 1200px(H) and under 1mb.

(b) Small prints (Grade "A" and "B").
• Must be the author's own work.
• May be commercially or home processed.
• Maximum print surface area of 310cm2
• All prints are to be mounted on a card mount with a maximum area of 500cm2.
• On back mark top to indicate correct way to view.
• Label on back of mount must include club number, name and title.

(c) “B" Grade Large Colour Prints.
Rules as per small prints except size.
• Maximum dimensions of print is 21 x 29.7 cm (A4)
• Maximum dimensions of entry including mount is 30 x 40 cm.

(d) "A" Grade Large Colour Prints
Rules as per small prints except size.
• Maximum dimension of entries is 40 x 50 cms. Including mounting board.

6. . Special Outings Competition. Entries must have been taken on a club outing during the current year. Each member may submit a maximum of 4 images. These can be in any category (small prints, projected images, monochrome prints and colour prints). Entrants must have attended 10 meeting nights in the current year (or apply to the committee for an exception).

7. . Annual trophies for best Print and Projected image of the Year will be awarded in December. Four images may be submitted in each section. Entries must have been entered in the current years' monthly point score competition, but not have won a previous Trophy. Entrants must have attended at least 10 meeting nights in the current year or apply to the committee for an exception based on personal or extenuating circumstances.

8. .To be eligible for a competition Awards trophy a member must attend at least 10 club meetings throughout the current year.

Nature [Joy Reynolds Trophy]
Nature photography is restricted to 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 certify its honest presentation. The story telling value of a photograph must be weighed more than the pictorial quality while maintaining high technical quality. Human elements shall not be present, except where those human elements are integral parts of the nature story such as nature subjects, like barn owls or storks, adapted to an environment modified by humans, or where those human elements are in situations depicting natural forces, like hurricanes or tidal waves. Scientific bands, scientific tags or radio collars on wild animals are permissible. Photographs of human created hybrid plants, cultivated plants, feral animals, domestic animals, or mounted specimens are ineligible, as is any form of manipulation that alters the truth of the photographic statement.

No techniques that add, relocate, replace, or remove pictorial elements except by cropping are permitted. Techniques that enhance the presentation of the photograph without changing the nature story or the pictorial content, or without altering the content of the original scene, are permitted including HDR, focus stacking and dodging/burning. Techniques that remove elements added by the camera, such as dust spots, digital noise, and film scratches, are allowed. Stitched images are not permitted. All allowed adjustments must appear natural. Color images can be converted to grey-scale monochrome. Infrared images, either direct-captures or derivations, are not allowed.

Images entered in Nature sections meeting the Nature Photography Definition above can have landscapes, geological formations, weather phenomena, and extant organisms as the primary subject matter.

This includes images taken with the subjects in controlled conditions, such as zoos, game farms, botanical gardens, aquariums and any enclosure where the subjects are totally dependent on man for food.