On October 21, 2025, Lancaster Photography Association is having a Nature General Competition at the Antelope Valley Senior Center. Nature General is a reality-based class with limitations on editing and borders. See below.
Our judge will be Christine Pence. She is an active member of PSA, IEPPV (Inland Empire Professional Photographers and Videographers), and the Redlands Camera Club, and has won awards for her travel and wildlife photography. We are looking forward to her constructive critiques!
We encourage all our members to participate, as this is an opportunity to get feedback on your images from an accomplished judge. Attending the competition is a very educational experience because the judge's comments will help you learn more about what constitutes a great nature photograph and how you can improve your own photographs in the future.
DEADLINE: October 14, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. - ENTER HERE
ZOOM LINK: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84430846247?pwd=Bab1gepuX2XGaz2jP743nog9HObRaq.1
NATURE DEFINITION: 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 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. Something that exists in nature: insects, butterflies, spiders, trees & leaves, etc., Nature can have landscapes, geologic 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. [SEE: Note], [SEE: Borders], [SEE: Checklist and Explanations of Nature Definitions]
Photographs of all flowers and plant blossoms, hybrid or not, in any stage of development (including buds, seedpods, fruit, etc.) are ineligible - unless they are acting as an adopted habitat for eligible living organisms that are the main focus of the image*. However, small flowers may be included provided they are incidental to the main subject of the image. – Such as a bee in the wild pollinating in a flower, its adopted habitat for the purpose.
SEE Alterations: As with all reality-based divisions, (Nature, Photo Travel, and Photojournalism), techniques that add, relocate, replace or remove any element of the original image, except by cropping, are not permitted. The only allowable modifications are the removal of dust, scratches or digital noise, restoration of the existing appearance of the original scene, sharpening that is not obvious, and complete conversion to grayscale monochrome. Other derivations, including infrared, are not eligible. All allowed adjustments must appear natural.
SEE Note: “Restoration of the appearance of the original scene” may include techniques such as HDR, focus stacking and dodging/burning provided they do not alter the contents of the original scene and the result looks natural.
SEE Border: Borders are optional, but must be 3 or 4 pixels in width and must be white or a shade of gray.
More information regarding Nature General entries is available on our website under "Checklist and Explanations of Nature Definitions".
