Image Competition Rules
Everything you need to enter, compete, and succeed. Review key rules and guidelines below.
General Rules
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PPA of PA's Image Competitions are open to anyone. Members of PPA of PA, whose current year dues are paid 30 days prior to the competition, are eligible for awards.
There is no limit to the number of images an entrant may submit.
No photograph, or any other entry which has previously received a merit (score of 80 or higher) in a prior PPA of PA Inspire or Capture competition shall be eligible for awards in future competitions.
Images that were accepted into PPA's International Photographic Competition (IPC) or received a Merit through PPA's Merit Image Review (MIR) [BOLD ITALIC: are eligible] for awards (provided all other eligibility criteria are met).
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By submitting images into the competition, entrants certify that they have created, composed and made the original exposures; and that the processing, printing, and any special effects were done solely by them or under their direction.
No entry will be eligible that was made under the supervision of an instructor, as a class assignment, at a seminar, workshop or similar situation.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not permitted to be used on any entries in the competitions at this time EXCEPT FOR THE AI FUSION CATEGORY.
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It shall be the sole responsibility of each entrant to obtain a proper legal release form, correctly executed and signed by the person(s) (or guardian in the case of a minor), for an exhibition entry in which a likeness is recognizable. This must be made available, upon request, to the Image Competition Chairperson.
Entrant agrees to hold PPA of PA, Inc. harmless against any liabilities or claims arising out of display, publication, promotion, or other use of each photograph or other materials submitted to PPA of PA, Inc.
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$20 per image — PPA of PA Member
$25 per image — Non-Member (Early Bird Registration $20.00 before June 1)
$10 per image — Individual critiques
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PPA of PA's Image Competitions are held through PrintCompetition.com
Entries must be uploaded to Printcompetition.com to be judged in the competition.
Uploaded files must be sized so the longest dimension is 4,000 pixels (20 inches at 200 ppi). Each file must contain an embedded color profile of either sRGB or Adobe RGB1998 and be saved at a JPEG quality setting of 10.
No identifying information of the maker shall be included in the image title.
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100 to 95 — Exceptional
94 to 90 — Superior
89 to 85 — Excellent
84 to 80 — Deserving of a Merit
79 to 75 — Above Average
74 to 70 — Average
69 & under — Below Exhibition Standards
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Members may enter unlimited images into each category: Photographic Open, Artist, and Wedding.
Only the top eight (8) highest scoring images per section per competition year are eligible for exhibition merits.
A maximum of eight (8) exhibition merits per category shall be awarded per calendar year.
Trophies do NOT earn additional merits. They are honorary recognitions only.
ANY image that receives a merit (score 80+) in PPA of PA competitions is ineligible for future entry into any PPA of PA image competition, even if it was in addition to the eight merits counting towards a degree.
Competition Categories
Photographic Competition
Entrants must have captured and/or created the original exposure(s). All elements within the image must have been created or captured by the entrant. All artwork or post-processing must be done solely by the entrant or under their direct supervision. Digital backgrounds or other elements not created by the entrant are NOT permitted to be included in the image.
The Image Competition Committee reserves the right to change the category of an entry if they feel it does not qualify for the entered category. All decisions of the Image Competition Committee are final.
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General Portrait — This sub-category includes families, groups, couples and adults (18 and older), relationships, models and fashion portraits, in addition to tastefully artistic figure studies.
Child Portrait — This sub-category includes a child, or children, from birth through 16 years old.
High School Senior — This sub-category includes a child, or children over 16 years old.
Animal Portrait — This sub-category captures an animal(s) using structured lighting in a studio or outdoor environment, where the animal is controlled by the owner or photographer.
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Landscape — This category includes, but is not limited to, mountain ranges, cityscapes, sunrises & sunsets with or without people, urban landscapes, waterfalls, rivers, etc.
Nature — This category includes wild animals in an uncontrolled lighting environment, flowers & plants, or other aspects of nature that do not meet the Landscape category requirements. Animals photographed on a safari, in a wild animal park or zoo would be placed in this category.
General Illustrative — Images that do NOT meet the criteria of the Landscape or Nature category. Entries can be, but are not limited to, conceptual or abstract images.
Commercial — This category is for images created to help promote, market, or sell a product or service. A tear sheet is optional but highly recommended as it shows how the image is used for commercial purposes.
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Images that illustrate an actual public or non-public event, life, an area of human interest or telling news, that have meaning on the context or record of events, high impact and/or lasting emotional response. Images that illustrate sporting events are included in this category. ONLY basic color and brightness adjustments, cropping, dodging, and burning in are allowed. Only single-capture images will be accepted.
Wedding Competition
The purpose of this competition is to allow photographers to enter images created during the actual wedding event. For an image to be merit worthy in the wedding competition, additional evaluation may be considered for the entries that illustrate the personality of the subject or subjects and the story of the wedding as well as the artistic and technical skills of the image maker. Judges will keep in mind that the maker may have limited control over many aspects of a wedding — subject matter, environment and time of day, etc. Ultimately, additional consideration may be given to the maker for technically and artistically executing at a merit level despite challenges involved at an actual wedding.
The entrant must have captured and created the original exposure(s) during the time constraints of the actual wedding event..
The Image Competition Committee reserves the right to change the category of an entry if they feel it does not qualify for the entered category. All decisions of the Image Competition Committee are final.
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Wedding Portrait — Portraits created during an actual wedding event.
Wedding Candid — Candid (non-orchestrated) image created during an actual wedding event.
Artist Competition
Images in the Artist category are judged for artistic, digital and technical proficiency. Entries can be created from existing photographs, portraits, graphics or any other artwork provided the entrant is able to provide appropriate written documentation verifying permission for use, if requested. All processing and manipulation of artwork or rendering must be done by the entrant. Guide images of elements not created by the entrant MUST be included on the submitted image.
The Image Competition Committee reserves the right to change the category of an entry if they feel it does not qualify for the entered category. All decisions of the Image Competition Committee are final.
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AI Fusion — Show a thumbnail of your starting image and create a new image with any prompts or techniques using artificial intelligence. NOT eligible to receive PA artist merits.
Creative — Images created by any artistic technique.
Trophy Judging and Honors
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Trophy judging is head-to-head among all merited images (80+ scores) created by members in good standing who have paid dues 30 days prior to image competition.
There must be one member in good standing entrant per image category for a trophy to be awarded.
Winning a trophy or Top Photographer of the Year does NOT grant additional merits.
If winners are unable to receive their trophies in person, there is a $25 shipping fee to have a trophy mailed.
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Best of Categor: Every category with at least one merit image created by a member in good standing whose dues are current 30 days prior to the competition is eligible for an award which will be chosen by Jury Panel
Best of Show: Chosen by Jury Panel
ASP State Elite Award: Highest Scoring Image by an ASP member
CPP Award: Highest Scoring Image by a Certified Professional Photographer
Non-member Best of Show: Chosen by the Jury Panel
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Best of Category: Every category with at least one merit image created by a member in good standing whose dues are current 30 days prior to the competition is eligible for an award which will be chosen by Jury Panel
Best of Show: Chosen by Jury Panel
Non-member Best of Show: Chosen by the Jury Panel
Annual Top Awards Process
The annual top awards shall be presented at a date chosen by the Image Competition committee following the Inspire and Capture events. To qualify for the title and trophy for "Photographer of the Year," members in good standing must have both:
Earned at least 1 service merit in the current year, by participating in an approved volunteer capacity (committee, event, mentorship) and
Attended either Inspire or Capture, or a PPA of PA continuing education event in the current calendar year.
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Photographer of the Year (Photographic Open Section):
Combined cumulative scores of each maker's top 8 highest-scoring merited Photographic Open images from Inspire and Capture.
Wedding Photographer of the Year (Wedding Section):
Combined cumulative scores of each maker's top 8 highest-scoring merited Wedding images from Inspire and Capture.
Artist of the Year (Artist Section):
Combined cumulative scores of each maker's top 8 highest-scoring merited Artist images from Inspire and Capture.
In the event of a tie, there will be two Photographers of the Year for the category.
In the event no maker has 8 meriting images for the year in a category, the top three contenders' images will be reviewed by the Capture Jury panel in head-to-head judging.
The Image Competition Committee reserves the right to change the category of an entry if they feel it does not qualify for the entered category. All efforts will be made to contact the maker prior to the competition. All decisions of the Image Competition Committee are final. [BOLD ITALIC: Please contact an image competition member for further questions.
Revised May 21, 2026