VPS Competition Themes for 2023 - 2024
September: Nature (Realistic) & Vintage
October: Rocks, Stones or Shells & Reflections
November: Historic Places & Macro/closeup
January: Abstracts (including in Nature) & Barren areas and/or a lone element in a wider area
February: Street Photography & Textures and Patterns
March: Portraits & Black & White
April: Parent and child & Intentional Camera Movement
May: Town of Vienna (Realistic) & Silhouette
Detailed descriptions below:
September
Nature (Realistic)
Photographic images of outdoor scenes, wild animals, and plants. Human elements such as people, and things constructed by humans or transformed by human activity (i.e. buildings, fences, plowed fields, an orderly planted garden) are not allowed for this competition.
Realistic tagged images require limited post-processing so the realistic nature of the photo is enhanced and preserved: spot removal, contrast and level adjustments, conversion to monochrome, color and saturation adjustments are allowed. Focus stacking, HDR composites, stitched panoramas of the same scene are allowed. Combining multiple exposures of a changing scene are not allowed.
Minor cloning to remove extraneous elements (trash, telephone wires, etc.) is allowed. Cloning or other techniques that add, relocate, remove, or replace significant pictorial elements are not allowed. Techniques that add textures or other elements not appearing in the original scene may not be used.
Vintage
Vintage photographs are images you created that look as if they were taken in a prior era including by post-processing. They are typically characterized by low contrast. Over time, prints lose contrast, structure, and details. Their edges become blurred and faded. To make a photo look vintage, you might decrease the contrast while slightly increasing the brightness to create a haze effect. Most old photos have a high level of noise due to bad cameras and lenses.
https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/photography/discover/vintage-photography.html
October
Rocks, Stones or Shells
The image focuses on a rocky surface or groups or individual stones or shells.
https://www.art.com/gallery/id--b32436-c23946/rocks-stones-photography-prints.htm
https://www.pinterest.com/peridot180/photography-seashells/
Reflections
The image shows the image of something in a reflective surface such as water, glass or a mirror.
https://photographycourse.net/reflection-photography/
November
Historic Places
The goal is to create an image that tells a story in the image itself without requiring a separate explanation of why it is a historic place.
https://www.lifepixel.com/photo-tutorials/8-tips-photographing-historic-sites
Macro/closeup
Extreme closeup photography concentrating on the smallest details. Sometimes this results in an image that appears more abstract than representational. Photos can be of animate (living) or inanimate (not living) subjects. You do not have to have a macro lens to submit to this theme.
January
Abstracts (including in Nature)
To create an abstract photo, the photographer captures elements of a scene (light, color, pattern, lines, shapes) is such a way that the final image is not at all representational. The image is meant to evoke the viewer’s imagination or sense of wonder. Abstract photography can be exciting and fun because you are not constrained by the regular photography rules. For more tips on creating an abstract image, see the link below.
https://www.adorama.com/alc/abstract-photography-for-beginners-9-tips-for-capturing-stunning-abstract-images//
Barren areas and/or a lone element in a wider area
https://www.pinterest.com/aarondasher/barren-lands/
February
Street Photography
Street photography has many definitions one of which is that it is a record of everyday life in a public place.
https://jamesmaherphotography.com/street_photography/what-is-street-photography/
Textures and Patterns
Patterns in a photograph are shapes, objects, or colors that repeat. They can be arranged very orderly, or more randomly. Patterns are found everywhere from natural to urban environments. Using patterns in your images adds excitement and interest to your photos. For more information, see the links below.
https://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/tips-for-using-patterns-in-photography/
https://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/repetition-and-patterns-in-photography/
In photography, texture is the visual depiction of variations in the color, shape, and depth of an object's surface.
https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-capture-texture-in-photography#
March
Portraits
Must be a portrait of a living person or people (i.e. not a statue)
https://photographypro.com/portrait-photography/
Black & White
In this theme your images should display black and white tones that lack color and include neutral tones of black and white and intermediate shades of grey in a subject of your choosing. Photographs in sepia tones are also acceptable. If you are converting your color image to B&W using Lightroom or something else, be sure to examine the converted photo and make additional adjustments as needed. There are many articles about B&W photography. Here’s a link to get you started:
https://photographylife.com/black-and-white-photography
April
Parent and child
Could be people or animals.
Intentional Camera Movement
Intentional camera movement means deliberately moving the camera during the exposure.
https://www.juliaannagospodarou.com/guide-icm-intentional-camera-movement/#:~:text=Intentional
May
Town of Vienna (Realistic)
Photos must be taken within the town limits (see map in link below). Meadowlark Gardens is not within the town limits. But there are many gardens that are. You are encouraged to take pictures, landscape format, of town scenes, events and landmarks. You can go to the town of Vienna website and look up what events are happening each month. Lots going on! Images must be submitted in Sept. for a chance to appear in next year’s calendar. The calendar is printed in full color, and it’s a great way to showcase your photos!
https://www.viennava.gov/calendar
Realistic tagged images require limited post processing so the realistic nature of the photo is enhanced/preserved: spot removal, contrast and level adjustments, conversion to monochrome, color and saturation adjustments are allowed. Focus stacking, HDR composites, stitched panoramas of the same scene are allowed. Combining multiple exposures of a changing scene are not allowed.
Minor cloning to remove extraneous elements (trash, telephone wires, etc.) is allowed. Cloning or other techniques that add, relocate, remove, or replace significant pictorial elements are not allowed. Techniques that add textures or other elements not appearing in the original scene may not be used.
Silhouette
Silhouette means use of a backlight to create a black outline of the subject.
https://shotkit.com/silhouette-photography/
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