Definition
Members should refer to the CAPA web pages 2025 Nature/Wildlife Competition regarding ethics in nature photography for references to "species at risk" and the Audubon "Guide to Ethical Bird Photography" for details.
CAPA bases their definition and editing criteria on FIAP criteria for nature and wildlife salons. Note the the rules change slightly from theme to theme.
Themes
There are five themes within this category.
Botanical - Only wild plants, including fungi and algae, in their natural environment are allowed. Hybrids and cultivated plants are not permitted. Wild plants grown in a botanical garden are allowed. In cases where a plant species is known to occur in the wild and has been cultivated by humans, the judging panel will give the image the “benefit-of-the-doubt” and accept the image as meeting the definition of this theme.
Insects, reptiles and amphibians.
Landscape - including weather phenomena, geological formations, landscapes, seascapes, planets, stars and astronomical events.
Nature - including living birds, animals, anthropods (invertebrates with an exoskeleton, differentiated segments, and paired, jointed appendages, such as spiders and crustaceans) and marine subjects. They may be under the care and feeding of humans (in zoos, game farms or aquariums) provided the human element is not obvious. No feral or domesticated birds or animals are permitted.
Wildlife - only living and untamed mammals, birds and marine subjects. No traditional zoos, open-range zoos, game farms or areas where animals are restrained or confined. Animals in nature parks are allowed where animals are living free, as are scientific bands, tags and radio collars, but no tethers or harness attachments.
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. Filters that change the mood of an image are not allowed.
Alterations or additions generated AI, whether by text prompt or non-text technique, may NOT be used either in whole or in part.
“Hand-of-man” is allowed in the “Botanical” and “Insects, reptiles and amphibian” themes, 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” theme provided it is an element of an “adaptive environment”. An “adaptive environment” is where the animal, bird or marine subject uses a human-created structure for nesting or feeding their young or attracting a mate, consuming a cultivated plant or flower, and using a human-created structure for another purpose, such as consuming their prey or food on a fence post or sawn log.
No hand-of-man (except scientific bands, tags and collars) is permitted in the Wildlife or Landscape themes. No tethers or harness are permitted in Wildlife.
Removal of elements added by a camera, such as dust spots, digital noise and film scratches, are permitted. Infrared images are not allowed, nor are stitched images or borders or digital frames.
Go to the CAPA web page, scroll down to Editing Criteria, click the down arrow, and select the English (or French) version of the Updated CAPA stance on AI-Generated Images for full details on AI use. See 2025 Nature/Wildlife Competition
By submitting your images to a CAPA competition you are asserting that your images meet their requirements. In simple terms, your photos must be "photographic" in origin, captured by you, and must be free of "generative" AI content. Every CAPA competition web page contains a link to their "ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA" page.
You must preserve your original RAW, XMP or JPEG file. Submitted images should maintain complete metadata. Screenshots or screen captures are not accepted. If your image is selected for an award, you will be required to produce all your original files incorporated into the image. Make edits on a copy.
Submissions
VCC members may enter two images as Club images. The Club may enter only 6 images from 6 different photographers. The Club must enter images in at least two different themes to be eligible for medals.
The DEADLINE for submission of up to 2 images to VCC in the Club category is September 15, 2024, midnight PDT.
Individual CAPA members may enter a maximum of 3 images. They too must enter into at least 2 themes to be eligible for overall CAPA medals. The CAPA deadline for individual submissions is October 15 at midnight, EST.
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