POTY

Themes for 26 – 27

Sept 26 – Sport

October 26 – Nature Digital
FIAP nature rules will apply except for Novice section.

Nov 26 – Mono Portrait and both Open images also mono

January 27 – Still Life Digital

February 27 – Bad Weather

March 27 – Architecture

April 27 – Environmental Portrait Digital

May 26 – Minimalist

POTY Rules

Saint Brigid’s Photo Group
2026/2027 Club Competition Guidelines

1. There will be 8 photo competitions held throughout the 2026/2027 club year. Five monthly
   competitions will be in Print format and three will be Digital. No competition will be held in the months
   of December, June, July or August.
2. Only paid-up members are eligible to enter into the monthly Club competitions.
3. The judging of each monthly competition will take place on the last Tuesday of the month unless
   otherwise notified.
4. Each monthly competition will consist of an “Open” and “Themed” category. Each member can enter
   up to a maximum of 3 photographs into the competition overall. Members can enter a maximum of 2
   photographs into the “Open” category and 1 photograph into the “Themed” category (members cannot
   enter 3 photographs into the “Open” category of the competition).
5. All photographs for print competitions must be mounted on a 40 x 50cm (20”x16”) Mount Board
   (Mount Boards are currently available from the Club). Points are neither awarded or deducted for the
   standard of mounting.
6. For digital competitions, members should submit their entry details on the appropriate digital form.
   The current link will be circulated before the hand in date. Image files should be named using the
   following format: Theme or Open – Novice, Intermediate or Advanced – Club membership number –
   Title of the image.
   Images should be resized to have a maximum of 3000 pixels on the longest side.
   The digital images are added to the form and sent when the ‘Submit’ button on the form is clicked.
   Images cannot be entered by email.
7. Each image, whether in the “Open” and “Themed” category of the monthly competitions will be
   judged out of 20 points. For the “Themed” category we will inform the judge that some of these points
   are to be allocated as to how well the image matches the theme. This is to encourage members to think
   about the composition of their photograph and not just put a title on it which matches the theme even
   though the image itself doesn’t. We will also request the judge to have a clear 1st, 2nd, 3rd. and 4th place
   in each category.
8. The following bonus marks will be awarded to those photographs placed in the top 4 positions in each
   of the 2 categories:

• 1 st Place is awarded 4 points
• 2 nd Place is awarded 3 points
• 3 rd Place is awarded 2 points
• 4 th Place is awarded 1 point

9. The overall POTY score for each participating member will be based on the total of all eight monthly
   results achieved by that member.
10. After judging night, our “Competition Secretary” will enter each member’s score into the league
    table which will be disseminated to all members.
11. The judge’s decision shall be final.

Guidelines on the Use of AI and Image Editing

in POTY Competition Entries

1. Purpose
   The spirit of club competitions is to celebrate photographic skill, creativity,
   and learning. These guidelines are intended to preserve the integrity of
   photographic competition within the club, ensuring that submitted images
   reflect the skill, vision, and authorship of the photographer while recognising
   accepted post-processing practices.
2. AI-Generated Images
   Images that are fully or partially generated by artificial intelligence are not
   permitted in club competitions unless explicitly stated otherwise in the
   competition rules.
   This includes, but is not limited to:
    Images created entirely from text prompts.
    Images where significant visual elements (subjects, backgrounds, skies,
   objects, or people) are generated or replaced using AI.
    Any AI-generated content not captured by the photographer.
3. Acceptable Editing of Photographers’ Own Images
   Editing is permitted provided that the original image was captured by the
   photographer submitting the entry. And all edits are applied to the
   photographer’s own photographic work. These are typically AI tools that
   are used to enhance the image rather than create or replace visual
   elements.
   Permitted edits include:
    Exposure, contrast, brightness, and colour correction.
    Cropping, straightening, and perspective correction.
    Dodging and burning.
    Noise reduction and sharpening.
    White balance correction and Black and white conversion.
    Focus stacking and HDR, where all source images are taken by the
   photographer.
    AI-based masking or selection tools.
    Removal or correction of elements added by the camera or lens,
   such as dust spots, noise, chromatic aberration and lens distortion. 
4. Un-acceptable AI-Assisted Editing

Examples of unacceptable AI use:
 Generating skies, people, animals, or objects.
 Replacing backgrounds using AI generation.
 Altering facial features or body shapes beyond basic retouching.
 Removing items by AI that replaces these with AI generated content
5. Declaration and Transparency
Entrants may be required to declare their editing methods if requested by
the competition secretary or judges.
The club reserves the right to request original files (RAW or equivalent) for
verification purposes.
Failure to disclose prohibited AI use may result in disqualification.
6. Ethical Standards
All entries must be the original work of the photographer.
Images must not infringe copyright or use content created by others without
permission.
7. Rule Changes and Special Competitions
As editing software varies all the time, the committee reserves the right to
make reasonable clarifications and changes to these rules..
The committee may introduce competitions that specifically allow or explore
AI-generated or heavily AI-assisted imagery. Any such competitions must
clearly outline permitted and prohibited practices in advance.