COMPETITION ASSIGNMENTS
September 2024 – May 2025
For a printable PDF click here.
September 2024 - WORN OR WEATHERED
Photograph an object or person (or animal) that depicts a worn or weathered state such as an abandoned building, a rusty truck, wrinkled hands, a withered leaf or a shed snake skin. The theme embodies the Japanese concept of "Wabi Sabi," in which aesthetic beauty is discovered in impermanence, imperfection and incompleteness. (Must be taken on or after September 1, 2022)
October 2024 - OPEN
Any photograph taken within the past 2 years. (Must be taken on or after October 1, 2022)
November 2024 - SOMETHING SOFT
An image of something innately soft (for example a cotton ball) or something captured or rendered to create a sense of softness (for example, a blurred or diffused flower or a baby snuggled in a blanket). (Must be taken on or after November 1, 2022)
December 2024 - ABSTRACT ARCHITECTURAL DETAIL Unlike architectural photography, i.e. to accurately represent buildings, your challenge is to be creative and interpretive to create an abstract image from an architectural structure. Use photographic techniques to take things out of context, simplify, render in graphic form, convey a feeling using angles, patterns, details, light and shadow, etc. (Must be taken on or after December 1, 2022)
January 2025 – OPEN
Any photograph taken within the past 2 years.
(Must be taken on or after January 1, 2023)
February 2025 - NATURE
May depict observations from all branches of natural history in such a fashion that a well-informed person will be able to identify the subject and agree to its honest presentation. Images including the “hand of man” (such as roads, fences, manicured lawns, etc.) will be disqualified. Any adjustments to the image must appear natural. Color images may be converted to monochrome. Infrared images are NOT allowed. NBCC’s expanded definition of Nature is here. (Must be taken on or after February 1, 2023)
March 2025 - SHOOTING THROUGH
Create an image using the technique of shooting through something or placing an object between the front of your lens and the intended subject. The idea is to have an out-of-focus foreground while keeping your subject in focus. For example, you can put crumpled plastic wrap around the outer edge of your lens to create a vignette blur; you can shoot through sheer fabric to create a hazy effect; or you can shoot through a hole in a fence to capture a subject. Creating a shoot-through image in post-processing defeats the purpose and is not permitted. (Must be taken on or after March 1, 2023)
April 2025 - NEGATIVE SPACE
An image where the negative space plays an important role in enhancing the positive space occupied by the subject. The actual subject would occupy a relatively small portion of the frame. Examples include a bland sky as a background to a small cluster of trees far off in the distance, a nondescript wall that emphasizes the colors and form of a passing pedestrian, or a small sailboat floating in a vast body of water on a foggy morning. (Must be taken on or after April 1, 2023)
May 2025 - BLACK & WHITE, OPEN
An image rendered in Black & White (i.e., ALL color has been removed either in the digital process or through the choice of film or camera). The purpose of this assignment is to find interesting subjects in which color does not create the impact. Black & White infrared is acceptable. (Must be taken on or after May 1, 2023)
Assignment Committee: Ruiqing Pamboukian, Toni Robinson, David Terao, Christina Papakonstantinou, Margaret Colaianni
September 2025 – May 2026
For a printable PDF click here.
September 2025 - STREET PHOTOGRAPHY
The capture, in-camera, of candid moments of life in public places, often with a poetic or artistic touch. Street photography can involve random, spontaneous, chance events in public places. It can involve people and how they behave, becoming a document recording life in a specific time, period, and place. (Must be taken on or after September 1, 2023)
October 2025 - OPEN
Any photograph taken within the past 2 years. (Must be taken on or after October 1, 2023)
November 2025 - NATURAL SHADOWS
Shadows created by natural light. May not include flash from a camera or studio lighting. May or may not include all or part of the object creating the shadow. However, the object creating the shadow must be discernable (recognizable) from viewing just the shadow. (Must be taken on or after November 1, 2023)
December 2025 - NIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY
A photograph capturing images outdoors at night (after sunset and before sunrise). The sun may not be a component of the image, e.g., sunrise and sunset images are NOT permissible. Light from other sources, such as streetlights, moonlight, buildings, monuments, or light-painting are permissible. The use of flash photography is NOT permissible. (Must be taken on or after December 1, 2023)
January 2026 - BLACK & WHITE, OPEN
An image rendered in Black & White (i.e., ALL color has been removed either in the digital process or through the choice of film or camera). The purpose of this assignment is to find interesting subjects in which color does not create the impact. Black & White infrared is acceptable. NO toning. (Must be taken on or after January 1, 2024)
February 2026 - PANNING
Panning involves tracking a moving subject in-camera while using a slow shutter speed. The result must keep the subject in focus while blurring the background, emphasizing motion in a single captured image. There may be some hint of motion in the subject, but it should be noticeably less than the background (i.e., it may not be all tack sharp). Panning can convey emotion and story by showing the movement of a subject in relation to the background. A panning motion is similar to the motion of a person when they turn their head from left to right. Motion may NOT be the result of post-processing manipulation. (Must be taken on or after February 1, 2024)
March 2026 - NATURE
May depict observations from all branches of natural history in such a fashion that a well-informed person will be able to identify the subject and agree to its honest presentation. Images including the “hand of man” (such as roads, fences, manicured lawns, etc.) will be disqualified. Any adjustments to the image must appear natural. Color images may be converted to monochrome. Infrared images are NOT allowed. NBCC’s expanded definition of Nature is here. (Must be taken on or after March 1, 2024)
April 2026 - MIXED COLOR AND BLACK & WHITE
A photograph containing both B&W and color elements with either one or the other being clearly dominant. For example, one or more elements in a B&W image may be in color for emphasis or for artistic purposes. The opposite may also be used, i.e., a color image with elements depicted in B&W for emphasis. Post-processing WILL be necessary to accomplish this type of image. (Must be taken on or after April 1, 2024)
May 2026 - OPEN, 5-YEAR (with limitations)
Any photograph taken within the past 5 years which has never been entered in any NBCC competition. It may NOT be the same or similar to others you have entered. (Must be taken on or after May 1, 2021)
Assignment Committee: Steve Lapidus, Peter Dunner, Cheryl Gillerman