Welcome to the Oshawa Camera Club online photo judging main page.
This page contains information for Main Judges as well as JiTs.
Please read before starting.
This is one of four general competitions for our club members. There are 3 categories: Pictorial, Nature & Special Topic.
For this competition, each member submits up to 5 images with up to 3 in any one category. They may request a comment on any of these.
All entries have been vetted and are considered in category.
The images can be sorted in any order in each category. We do not display the divisions for judging.
Category Rules/Guidelines
- Pictorial (Any Subject other than those defined as Wildlife Nature)
- Nature (Nature Zoology: Non-Captive or domesticated animals, birds, invertebrates or Nature General: Non-Cultivated plants, geology or natural phenomena. Hand-of-Man is not allowed for Nature General Images. Hand-of-Man is allowed for Nature Zoology if kept to a minimum and follows the rule for natural adaptation.
- Assigned Topic: (This will be an assigned topic per each competition. Any subject matter as long as it follows the theme requirement. See below)
General Comp 4 Assigned Topic: “Macro/Close-Up”
Captures detailed, up-close images of subjects which emphasize fine details that aren’t usually visible to the naked eye. This could include textures, patterns and intricate elements of your subject. It also may require magnification either by using a macro lens or by moving closer to your subject than you would normally. For those who do not own a Macro lens the use of inexpensive extension tubes can easily create a “macro lens result”, help is available from a Comp Committee member if needed. Altered reality is not allowed.
- Theme Adherence – The image must feature a close-up or extreme close-up view that highlights fine details not easily seen with the naked eye.
- Focus on detail – Sharp focus on the entire subject is crucial, especially in macro photography, where even slight blurring can detract from the impact.
- Lighting – Proper lighting is essential to emphasize textures, patterns, and minute details. Experimentation with natural or artificial light can enhance the composition.
- Composition – The framing should draw the viewer’s attention to the most intricate or compelling aspect of the subject.
- Scale and Magnification – The photo should make ordinary objects or subjects appear extraordinary by capturing the smallest nuances, often making them appear larger than life.
Originality – The work should be unique and showcase the photographer’s perspective or creative approach.
Main Judging Deadline
After all three judges complete the scoring, we will award placements in each of our two divisions and award placements to the highest scoring images, with all images with the same score sharing the placements (no tie-breaking) and the competitions committee may award HM’s, depending on the scores in each division.
We ask that you complete your scoring no later than __ Wednesday, February 11, 2026, 6:00pm_ET_ in order to give us time to prepare the results presentation for our club meeting. After the presentation at the club meeting we will send each judge a full report of scores and comments by all three judges so that you can compare your results and comments with the other judges. We will send you a link to view all of the images at your convenience.
Viewing standards
It is recommended that when judging, you use a desktop monitor with a minimum resolution of 1920 pixels wide, 32 bit colour.
You have confirmed that your monitor meets these standards and that it has been recently calibrated using a colour calibrating device.
The very first time, you click on a thumbnail, the first image displayed will be the colour calibration screen. You can also access this image by clicking on “Display Test Image” at the bottom of the image preview window.
You should be able to see all of the greyscale boxes, from white to black, the white dress should not be blown out and the colours should look normal.
Judging Form
Please note the first time you access each category in the judging interface, it may take 2-3 minutes before you can use the interface as the images are cached on your computer. After the first time they will come up quickly.
In the left hand column of this scoring form, for each image there is a thumbnail and the title. If the maker has requested a comment we require you to offer a comment in the text area in the Comment column. The last column is a dropdown option box for your score.
When you click on an image thumbnail, it will open the image in a separate window and you should arrange the two windows so that you can view the entire image within the image window and the scoring form in the other window. The scoring window is flexible and may be narrowed substantially if necessary.
The images are sized at a maximum pixel dimension of 1920 wide and 1080 high. This is the maximum size that they will appear on your monitor.
Please do not zoom to enlarge them and ensure there are no scroll bars in the window in which the image appears otherwise you will not be viewing the entire image in that window.
Recommended viewing distance from the monitor is 24″.
Scoring and Comments
We support the O3C Scoring model and rating structure.
Images assessed for Impact, Composition and Technical Execution criteria.
Rating guideline with half point allowance:
- 5 or less = Image has significant flaws
- 6 = Image is a record shot but average in all criteria
- 7 = Shows signs that maker has made the image and excels in one of the criteria
- 8 = Image has impact, good story, no technical flaws
- 9 = Superior technically, high impact, strong story
- 10 = outstanding technical, impact, composition, plus real strong story, originality or creativity. Judge bonus points.
For the ACC (Annual Club Competition), No Comments are required..
Sorting Columns
Before Sorting – Do a Save All to lock in scores/comments. (We’ve noticed this feature is still a bit buggy on some browsers and we’re working on resolving it). For reviewing your progress, you have the option to sort entries within the columns by clicking on the arrow in the heading. This can be useful to sort the given scores from highest to lowest. Clicking again will reverse the order form low to high.
Please note:
Each “Save All” button saves all unsaved items. A red outline appears around these boxes indicating which images you have changed but not yet saved. It is recommended that you save often (every few images) so that you don’t lose any unsaved entries.
- A small box at the bottom left of your screen keeps track of how many items you have completed.
- You may also sort the images by using any of the available sort buttons at the top of the columns
- Reloading the page will revert it to the original alphabetical Title order
- You must score all of the images before completing the judging
- You are able to change your scores and edit your comments until you have completed your scoring form and press the “Finished” button
- Please ensure that any entries marked with Comment Requested is filled in prior to finishing.
-
- Each individual category requires that you press the “Finished” button to close it.
We will send you the final compiled results from all 3 judges for your reference. We also have a program to run analysis on the judging process and if you are interested we would be happy to send that to you upon request.
Additional for Judges in Training (JiTs):
JiT’s have until __ Saturday February 14, 2026, 6:00pm_ET_ complete this competition. If for some reason you need more time, please contact Bharat Mistry
Each image has a field to write comments.
For JiTs, we would like you to make comments on at least 18 images in each of the 3 categories:
- Select 6 entries where you gave a low score (5-6.5)
- Select 6 entries for a medium score (7-8) and
- Select 6 entries for high scores (8.5-10)
- In a case where you do not have enough high or low score then pick any images where you feel you can make a quality comment that would help the maker improve the image.
- For practice, you may comment on additional images if you want and these can be reviewed with your Mentor.
- It’s also good practice to comment on genres /subject matter that you are not experienced in to get you comfortable assessing those types of images.
If you have any questions contact Kathy Braznick, our competitions Director competitions@oshawacameraclub.ca
or Bharat Mistry occ@oshawacameraclub.ca
There are new updates to the system that we have put in place for online judging and we would appreciate any comments or suggestions for future improvements.
Welcome to the Oshawa Camera Club online photo judging main page.
This page contains information for Main Judges as well as JiTs.
Please read before starting.
This is one of four general competitions for our club members. There are 3 categories: Pictorial, Nature & Special Topic.
For this competition, each member submits up to 5 images with up to 3 in any one category. They may request a comment on any of these.
All entries have been vetted and are considered in category.
The images can be sorted in any order in each category. We do not display the divisions for judging.
Category Rules/Guidelines
General Comp 4 Assigned Topic: “Macro/Close-Up”
Captures detailed, up-close images of subjects which emphasize fine details that aren’t usually visible to the naked eye. This could include textures, patterns and intricate elements of your subject. It also may require magnification either by using a macro lens or by moving closer to your subject than you would normally. For those who do not own a Macro lens the use of inexpensive extension tubes can easily create a “macro lens result”, help is available from a Comp Committee member if needed. Altered reality is not allowed.
Originality – The work should be unique and showcase the photographer’s perspective or creative approach.
Main Judging Deadline
After all three judges complete the scoring, we will award placements in each of our two divisions and award placements to the highest scoring images, with all images with the same score sharing the placements (no tie-breaking) and the competitions committee may award HM’s, depending on the scores in each division.
We ask that you complete your scoring no later than __ Wednesday, February 11, 2026, 6:00pm_ET_ in order to give us time to prepare the results presentation for our club meeting. After the presentation at the club meeting we will send each judge a full report of scores and comments by all three judges so that you can compare your results and comments with the other judges. We will send you a link to view all of the images at your convenience.
Viewing standards
It is recommended that when judging, you use a desktop monitor with a minimum resolution of 1920 pixels wide, 32 bit colour.
You have confirmed that your monitor meets these standards and that it has been recently calibrated using a colour calibrating device.
The very first time, you click on a thumbnail, the first image displayed will be the colour calibration screen. You can also access this image by clicking on “Display Test Image” at the bottom of the image preview window.
You should be able to see all of the greyscale boxes, from white to black, the white dress should not be blown out and the colours should look normal.
Judging Form
Please note the first time you access each category in the judging interface, it may take 2-3 minutes before you can use the interface as the images are cached on your computer. After the first time they will come up quickly.
In the left hand column of this scoring form, for each image there is a thumbnail and the title. If the maker has requested a comment we require you to offer a comment in the text area in the Comment column. The last column is a dropdown option box for your score.
When you click on an image thumbnail, it will open the image in a separate window and you should arrange the two windows so that you can view the entire image within the image window and the scoring form in the other window. The scoring window is flexible and may be narrowed substantially if necessary.
The images are sized at a maximum pixel dimension of 1920 wide and 1080 high. This is the maximum size that they will appear on your monitor.
Please do not zoom to enlarge them and ensure there are no scroll bars in the window in which the image appears otherwise you will not be viewing the entire image in that window.
Recommended viewing distance from the monitor is 24″.
Scoring and Comments
We support the O3C Scoring model and rating structure.
Images assessed for Impact, Composition and Technical Execution criteria.
Rating guideline with half point allowance:
For the ACC (Annual Club Competition), No Comments are required..
Sorting Columns
Before Sorting – Do a Save All to lock in scores/comments. (We’ve noticed this feature is still a bit buggy on some browsers and we’re working on resolving it). For reviewing your progress, you have the option to sort entries within the columns by clicking on the arrow in the heading. This can be useful to sort the given scores from highest to lowest. Clicking again will reverse the order form low to high.
Please note:
Each “Save All” button saves all unsaved items. A red outline appears around these boxes indicating which images you have changed but not yet saved. It is recommended that you save often (every few images) so that you don’t lose any unsaved entries.
We will send you the final compiled results from all 3 judges for your reference. We also have a program to run analysis on the judging process and if you are interested we would be happy to send that to you upon request.
Additional for Judges in Training (JiTs):
JiT’s have until __ Saturday February 14, 2026, 6:00pm_ET_ complete this competition. If for some reason you need more time, please contact Bharat Mistry
If you have any questions contact Kathy Braznick, our competitions Director competitions@oshawacameraclub.ca
or Bharat Mistry occ@oshawacameraclub.ca
There are new updates to the system that we have put in place for online judging and we would appreciate any comments or suggestions for future improvements.