The Lions Gate Camera Club Celebration of Nature 

 
Submit images to VCC no later than:
15 October 2023

CAPA

North Shore

Lions Gate

Eastwood vs VCC

LIONS GATE CAMERA CLUB CELEBRATION OF NATURE

This is an annual competition organized by the Lions Gate Camera Club, open to other clubs in British Columbia and the Yukon.  Photographers may enter with only one club, and MUST be permanent RESIDENTS of British Columbia or the Yukon Territory.

Your RAW file may be requested by LGCC.

Definition

As “Nature” implies, this competition is devoted to photographic observations from all branches of natural history in an honest and true representation. There are four categories in this competition: “Botanical” includes wildflowers, plants, trees, fungi and algae, germinated and grown without human assistance, although wild plants grown in a botanical garden are permitted; “Nature” is for animals, birds, insects/reptiles/amphibians and marine subjects all of which can be under the control and feeding of man, provided man’s involvement is not obvious, and no feral or domesticated birds or animals are permitted; “Landscape” is for weather phenomena, geological formations, landscapes, seascapes, natural phenomena, planets, stars and astronomical events, with no hand of man; “Wildlife” is only for living and untamed mammals, birds, insects/reptiles/amphibians and marine subjects, with no hand of man.   Animals restrained in traditional zoos, open range zoos and game farms are not permitted.  Animals living free in nature parks are allowed, as are scientific bands, tags and radio collars, but no tethers or harness attachments.

Lions Gate has adopted the CAPA Nature/Wildlife definitions and editing criteria, which are repeated herein. There are awards for both club submissions and individual photos, in each category, and “best in show” 1st, 2nd and 3rd. This is a competition in which the VCC has done very well in the past. We won gold last year.

"Hand of man" is allowed in the "Botanical" and "Insects, Reptiles and Amphibian" categories, but only where it is an integral part of the nature story, and even then it must be less than 10% of the total area.  Note that "hand of man" includes jet trails, cables, artificial light, man-made paths, food, cut trees and systemically planted plants. 

"Hand of man" is permitted in the "Nature" category provided it is an element of an adaptive environment, such as where the subject uses a human-created structure for nesting or feeding their young or attracting a mate or eating their food or prey.  No "hand of man" is permitted in the "Wildlife" and "Landscape" themes.

Editing

No techniques that add, relocate, replace or remove pictorial elements (except by cropping) are allowed.  Enhancing techniques such as HDR, long exposure, focus stacking and dodging/burning are allowed, provided they do not change the nature of the story or alter the content of the original scene.  All allowed adjustments must appear natural.

AI renderings generated by text prompt may not be used either in whole or in part.

Removal of elements added by a camera, such as dust spots, digital noise and film scratches, are permitted.  Infrared and stitched images are not allowed.   Borders or digital frames are not allowed.

You must preserve your original RAW or JPEG file unaltered and make it available to Lions Gate should it be requested.

Submissions   

Members may submit to VCC two photos each, no later than October 15 2023. The Club may submit up to six images in total.

Specifications

Image size should be a maximum of 1400 pixels on the horizontal and a maximum of 1050 pixels on the vertical, using JPEG format and sRGB colour space. One dimension must be exactly the maximum allowed and neither dimension may exceed the maximum pixels for that dimension. Maximum file size is 1.8 MB.

See CAPA Nature Definitions


  • 2023/24

  • VCC won Gold for the second year in a row at 149.5 points, beating Lions Gate (2nd at 146.5) and North Shore (3rd at 146.). In addition, Alec Lee won First Place - Best in Show for his picture “Dining in the Rain - Grizzlies of the Khutzeymateen”, receiving 29 points.  Kathryn Delany wasn’t far behind with “Fresh Catch” at 27 points, followed by three images all at 23.5 points, “Black Bear Twins wait for Mom’s Return” by Christy Grinton (Martin), “Eel with Water Chaser” by Jerome Rozitis, and “A Force of Nature” by Jill Turyk.  Bill Cubitt completed the roster with “Picking Berries” at 23 points.  Congratulations to this year’s winning team. See that gallery to the right
  • 2022/23

  • The VCC won First Place in this club competition with 159 points.  Congratulations to David Russell, Daniel Rondeau, Jonathan Adams, Nick Delany, Evan Guengerich and Jackye Mills.  As part of the team, Daniel Rondeau won First Place in the Nature division, Jonathan Adams won First Place in the Landscape division, and David Russell won First Place in Wildlife.  VCC member Judy Johnston won first place overall, but she was competing for Comox Valley, not VCC.  David Russell won Second Place Overall, with 27.5 points. See gallery to the right. (See the gallery)

  • 2021/22

  • The VCC did not enter the competition

  • 2020/21

The VCC has an extraordinary record at Lions Gate. This year we came in first among 24 clubs, with Steve Smith winning the Best in Show and Wildlife categories, and Evan Guengerich coming in 3rd on Best in Show and 2nd in Wildlife! In the past five years we have finished 1st three times, 2nd once and 5th once. During this time VCC members have won Best in Show three times, 2nd once and 3rd twice. (See the gallery)

Celebration of Nature 2020 - 1st Place

  • 2019/20
    The Victoria Camera Club took 5th place out of 27 camera clubs. Leah Gray’s great image of two young grizzly bears came 1st in the Best in Show category as well as 1st in Mammals. (See the gallery). Watch the Results Video
  • 2018/19
    Victoria Camera Club placed 1st out of 26 clubs
    This year, Suzanne Huot was 2nd in Best of Show and, 3rd in Nature (category 3) with "Red Eyed Tree Frog". Mike Wooding was 3rd in Birds (category 1) with Brown-headed Cowbird Family Quarrel", and Evan Guengerich garnered an HM Best in Show and 1st in Mammals (category 2) with "Sibling Rivalry. See the External Comps Report here. (See the gallery)

  • 2017/18 
    Victoria Camera Club Awarded 2nd Place in 2017

    This year, two of our members won individual awards. Suzanne Huot walked away with 1st’s in the Best in Show and Mammals categories with “Lions on Their Honeymoon” and Mike Wooding was awarded 2nd place in the Birds category with “Mountain Bluebird with Prey”.  Read More 
     (See the Gallery)

  • 2016/17
    Victoria Camera Club Awarded 1st Place in 2016
    The Victoria Camera club has a distinguished history at Lions Gate. In the last six years, the VCC has finished second twice, third once and no worse than 6th.
    In 2016, we finally finished first, just ahead of the Lions Gate Camera Club and the North Shore Photographic Society. Three of VCC's members won individual awards. Peter Koelbleitner was awarded first place in the Mammals category with his Sea Lion image which also took second place in Best in Show.  James Kissinger won second place in the Mammals category with his Grizzlies which also won third place in Best in Show. Neil Boyle was awarded an Honourable Mention in the Mammals category with his Vampire Bat photo. Other members who contributed to our win are Margarita Huang, Suzanne Huot, Carrie Cole, Leah Gray and Hanna CowpeSee the Gallery
    Press Release

  • 2015/16 
    See the 2015 Gallery
 



This website is hosted by Visual Pursuits, a service provided by Software Pursuits, Inc.