PSA Interclub Photo Travel Competition

Submit to VCC by:

Definition:

Like all of the PSA Interclub Competitions,  Photo Travel Competition season consists of three contests with closing dates of November 15, February 15, and April 15.  Submissions to VCC are due one month in advance of the PSA closing date.

Photo Travel is intended to be a truthful record of the real world we live in, as it is found naturally.  Subject matter is open.  PSA offers the following guides:

• landscapes or seascapes must include characteristic, distinctive and recognisable physical features, although it is not necessary to identify an exact location
• images predominantly of people must illustrate a distinctive culture of a country, region or continent
• images of animal populations are allowed if the animals are in their native environment characteristic of that country, region or contenent
• portraits or close-ups of people, in addition to the above, must include  elements of their surrounding environment sufficient to make it obvious it was not a studio shot.  Studio portraits are NOT allowed
• images of events or activities arranged for photography, or hired or directed for photography, are NOT allowed
• long exposures are allowed provided the long exposure does not create a special effect (like star trails) which dominates the image
• highly distorted images like "fish eye" lens images are not allowed.

Editing:

The following editing techniques ARE allowed so long as the "truthful record is maintained:

• conversion to grayscale monochrome
• cropping, straightening and perspective correction
• removal of dust spots, noise, chromatic aberration and lens distortion added by the camera or lens
• global adjustments such as brightness, hue, saturation and contrast provided they are used to restore the original appearance
• blending of images in camera or in post-capture for HDR or focus stacking
• image stitching of overlapping, consecutive images (panoramas)

The following editing techniques are NOT allowed, since they would not produce a truthful record:

• removing, adding moving or otherwise changing a part of an image
• adding a vignette during processing
• blurring parts of an image in processing to hide elements
• darkening parts of an image in processing to hide elements
• partial de-saturation, over-saturation or toning

Artificial Intelligence (AI):

Images must originate as photographs made by the entrant.  They may not contain images produced by anyone else, including clip art, stock images or replacement skies.  AI generated images are not allowed.

Signed PSA Permission

Members intending to participate in PSA competitions must sign a form permitting PSA to use and display their photos as stated therein.  Permission is specific to the photographer, not the image, and is valid for three years.  VCC must upload permission forms for every photographer before their photos can be entered in the PSA website.

Download the PSA Individual Inter-Club Competition Form or View the Form

Submissions

Members may submit up to 2 images to VCC by October/JanuaryMarch 15 for consideration by the External Competition Committee for inclusion in our Club submission.  Each Club may submit 6 images, all from different photographers.  Each image should have a title descriptive of the image no longer than 35 characters in length.

Specifications

1. Images should be in JPEG format,  1920 pixels on the horizontal X 1080 on the vertical, but 1400 pixels on the horizontal x 1050 on the vertical will still be accepted.
2. sRGB colour space.
3. Maximum number of submissions per VCC member is two

VCC Results

• 2024/25

ROUND 3 - VCC tied at 2nd place (with Ivanhoe Photographic Society of Australia) out of 22 clubs.  We are in Group B.  Congratulations to Bill Cubitts, 9 points for "Clearwater Beach Florida", William Fosdick, 9 points for "New Zealand Traffic Jam", Steve Barber, 10 points for "Tuscany Morning", Kim Passmore, 11 points for "Evening Calm on the Canal", Wendy Clay, 11 points for "Uplifting Gdansk", and Dennis Crabtree, 12 points (and an Honourable Mention) for "Golden Hour Along the Canal".  (PSA scores are based on a maximum of 15 points.)

ROUND 2 - VCC scored 57 points, and remains in 2nd place.  Congratulations to Steve Barber, "Tannery, Fez, Morocco, 11 points and an "HM", Peter Kolbleitner, "Postcard from Porto", 10 points, Kim Passmore, "Candy Coloured Canal", 10 points and an "HM", Heather Thompson, "Work Lunch Balance", 9 points, Daniel Rondeau, "Myanmar Monk School in the Modern Age", 9 points and an "HM", and Christy Grinton (Martin), "Wild Horses of the Camargue", 8 points.  (HM images go into the final round.)

ROUND 1 - VCC placed 2nd in Round 1 of the PSA 2024-25 Interclub Travel competition.  This is our highest placement to date.  Congratulations to Lori Moilanen, Normand Marcotte, Steve Barber, Christy Grinton (Martin), and a special congratulations to Bill Cubitt, 10 points and an Honourable Mention, and Daniel Rondeau, 12 points and a Merit Award.  (Photos are scored 3 times, each out of 5, so 12 represents 12 out of 15.)  All of this was BEFORE our special candid evaluation and commentary by a PSA judge.  While only a handful of VCC members took advantage of this opportunity, those that did generally felt enlightened.  A typical comment was "now I understand better what they are looking for".

FYI the first place club beat us by 1 point.

See gallery to the right

• 2023/24

ROUND 1 - VCC placed 9th out of 25 Clubs in Group B.  (You have to have some success to move up to Group A, and this was our first try at Travel.)  Each photo could potentially earn 15 points.

Bill Cubitt was awarded 13 points for “Planting Rice in Vietnam”,
Jerome Rozitis was awarded 10 points for “Moving the Herd”,
Alec Lee was awarded 8 points for “Celtic Harp Across the Liffey”,
Steve Barber was awarded 8 points for “Merchant - Morocco”,
John Clarke was awarded 7 points for “I’m more Colourful”, and
Daniel Rondeau was awarded 6 points for “Battistero di Parma”.

Congratulations to Bill Cubitt, who won a Merit award for his image, and good first attempt from all the others. This is a new competition to us and the concept is not quite what one might think it is.  See the gallery to the right.

ROUND 2 - Round 2 PSA Interclub Travel results are in, and Victoria has moved from 9th to 4th place.  Congratulations to Bill Cubitt (Petronas Towers Kuala Lumpur-12 points), David Cox (Setas de Sevilla, Spain-9 points), Heather Thompson (The Blue Doors of Chefchaouen-14 points), Kim Passmore (Colourful Night Market-14 points), Normand Marcotte (Imperial Palace - Tokyo-10 points) and Peter Koelbleitner (BAKU - Haydar Alive Center-11 points), and a special congrats to Heather Thompson and Kim Passmore who both won Merit awards at 14 points (out of 15).  All Merit images automatically go on to the final round with PSA judges.

ROUND 3 - As a result of Round 3, VCC now stands in 6th place in the Interclub “B” division.  Out of a possible 15 points, Kahsia Hartwell received 12 points and an Honourable Mention for her image “The Tailor - 7741”.  Peter Kolbleitner received 11 points for “Antarctic Tourism”.  Normand Marcotte received 10 points for "Mount Fuji & Heiwa no Tori Gate”.  Bill Cubitt received 10 points for “Victoria Legislative Building”.  Heather Thompson received 8 points for “Day is Done”.  Mrs. Joanne Couch received 8 points for “Isolated Picnic Site on Peace Island, Iceland”.

Honourable Mention and Merit images from the three preliminary rounds will be re-scored in a final round, with results expected sometime in May or June.

See the gallery

--to see a full image size slideshow, hover cursor over an image then click on the "Expand" icon on the right of the filmstrip--