The exhibit is held on the third Thursday of the month. The Exhibit will start at 7:00 pm.
The submission of entries into the monthly exhibit is limited to Members
in good standing.
The purpose of the Tampa Bay Camera Club Exhibit is to encourage
expanding each member’s photographic experience, especially through the monthly Assignments, and serving as a medium for improving photographic skills via our extensive Commentary (with Lightroom and possibly PhotoShop work, if possible, and when appropriate) after the Exhibit images have been reviewed and scored.

There are no restrictions on equipment or materials used to produce
the entry, only that the entry was photographed by the entrant.

Exhibit classifications, rules, and guidelines

2024 Monthly Exhibit Assignments

January

Macro Photography (Redemption Assignment) – Creative image of anything at a 1:1 ratio or closer. FYI, 1:1 ratio or closer means that the subject is recorded at its actual size or larger than its actual size on the camera sensor without cropping the image to achieve magnification of the subject. Do not crop your image files for this assignment. No exceptions for cropping for purposes of composition. Composition will not be a scoring factor in this instance.

February

Geometric Shapes in Nature – Creative image of squares, circles, rectangles, and triangles found in nature. Do not photograph elements that have been artificially manipulated or fashioned into shapes for this assignment. Present images of naturally occurring geometric shapes.

March

Creative Lens Flare. Use your lenses to create artistic flare in-camera in an image. This assignment is a test of your camera skills – no post-processing lens flare filters are permitted. Lens flare may include star patterns from strong light sources, iris patterns, low contrast effects, etc. (Watch J.R. Sykes’ January 2024 education presentation for explanations and examples.)

April

Action Sports Photography. Capture and present compelling moments of action that are definitive of a particular individual or team competitive sport.

May

Shadows. The primary and obvious subject of your image must be a shadow or shadows. The shadow(s) may be of anything and the object(s) casting the shadow(s) do not necessarily need to be included in your composition. This assignment allows plenty of room for artistic creativity –  visual impact and composition will be key judging points.

June

Dancers of any kind. Present a technically well-produced image with a strong visual impact that is definitive of the genre of dance that is being represented.

July

Short Form Video. Present a video with any subject matter that is 90 seconds or less in length. Your video may include any combination of dialog, narrative, music, titles, or graphics. Scoring will be most heavily weighted on overall visual impact/interest/storytelling and lesser scoring weights will be applied in descending order to camera skills, editing skills, soundtrack/narration/dialog, and lastly – finishing touches (titles, graphics, etc).

IMPORTANT: Absolutely do not use copyright-protected music in your video. Use royalty-free or licensed music only! (J.R. Sykes will be scheduling and presenting a series of online video workshops for beginners that will be helpful.)

August

Creative Bokeh. Create an image that has its visual impact enhanced by artistic use of shallow depth of field and pleasing out-of-focus background elements. Bokeh may enhance the subject of an image and it can also be the actual subject of the image – abstract images for example.

September

ICM (Redemption Assignment) including Multiple Exposure/Pep Ventosa method – Creative image using any ICM (Intentional Camera Motion) technique. ICM-style images must be created in-camera. Multiple Exposure/Pep Ventosa style images may be created in-camera or in post-production using software to stack/blend/composite multiple exposures. (Watch Robert’s educational presentation on the subject, that is to be scheduled, for tips and techniques.)

October

Low Angle Perspective. (Get those knee pads out!) – Create an image made from a very low angle in relation to the main subject. 

November

Landscape Panorama w/ 2 Row Minimum – include in submission the pre-cropped image. The final image presented must consist of a minimum of 4 separately captured images stitched together with a minimum of 2 rows of images. The aspect ratio may be square, vertical or horizontal and while a minimum of 4 individual images must be used there is no limit on the number above 4 that may be used. The subject matter is to be a landscape image. (Robert Rostic will be doing an education night in September 2024 on this technique). 

You may find the following general description helpful when considering what constitutes a landscape image:

“Landscape photography commonly involves daylight photography of natural features of land, sky, and waters, at a distance—though some landscapes may involve subjects in a scenic setting nearby, even close-up, and sometimes at night.

Photography of artificial scenery, such as farm fields, orchards, gardens, and architecture, may be considered “landscape” photography as well. Even the presence of human-made structures (buildings, roads, and bridges, etc.) or art (such as sculpture) may be considered “landscape” if presented in artistic settings or appearing (or photographed) in artistic style.” – Wikipedia

2023 Photography Monthly Exhibit Assignment Subjects:

January:  Blue Hour:  Creative image made during the short period of time “blue hour” just before sunrise or just after sunset. 

February:  Minimalism (redemption!):  Let’s try minimalism again.  Here is a link to Jim’s Minimalist Gallery.  Link: https://adobe.ly/3QIYC1Z 

March:  Macro Photography:  Creative image of anything at a 1:1 ratio or closer. FYI, 1:1 ratio or closer means that the subject is recorded at its actual size or larger than its actual size on the sensor without cropping the image to achieve a magnification of the subject. Do not crop your image files for this assignment. 

April:  Long Exposure Landscape:  Creative landscape image using a shutter speed of at least 1 second. 

May:  Bird Portrait:  Creative image of a bird in a normal bird pose. 

June:  Environmental Portrait:  Portrait of a Person or Pet which includes the environment around them.  The context of the portrait to the environment is important.

July:  Telephoto/Intimate Landscape – Creative landscape using a telephoto lens out to at least 200mm on a full-frame sensor, 135mm on a crop sensor.

August:  Timelapse – Creative timelapse.  Watch Jim Sykes’s presentation to TBCC for some ways to produce a timelapse.  Link to video tutorial with time-stamped section links: https://vimeo.com/745693164?embedded=true&source=video_title&owner=23081359

September:  Travel:  Creative image showing the character of a place away from your home city.

October:  Night Street Photography – Creative street photography taken after nightfall. 

November:  Waterfalls:  Creative image of a waterfall. 

2022 Photography Monthly Exhibit Assignment Subjects:

January – City Skylines – Be creative.

February – Emotion – Create an image that evokes or shows emotion.  Does not necessarily need to be of a human.

March – Light Trails – Get out the tripod and create an impactful image with light trails as the main subject.  There are many sources of light that move over time…be creative!

April – Triptych – 3 different creative images displayed side by side as one image.  They must have some relationship with each other.

May – Wildflowers – Be creative.

June – Minimalism – A creative image with mostly negative space.

July – Black & White Portrait using only Window Light – Find that perfect window light.  The portrait does not have to be a human.

August – Stormy Weather – BE SAFE!  The image should show the drama of a stormy scene.

September – Panorama – Create a wide-angle image either horizontally or vertically using sequential frames and stitching them together via post-processing.

October – ICM – Intentional Camera Movement – Creative image using a slow shutter speed and moving the camera.

November – Fall Colors – Creative image with fall colors as the main subject.

2021 Photography Competition Subjects:

January – Leading Lines. Create an interesting composition that has elements that work as a visual path to guide the viewer to the main subject.

February – Old Buildings. Be creative -interiors, exteriors, architectural details, etc.

March – Nightscapes. Photograph an interesting landscape or cityscape at night.

April – Places of Worship. This doesn’t necessarily have to be a building, it can be a spiritual or holy locale. Make sure your photograph informs the viewer in some way that the subject is a place of worship. It should not require additional explanation to make the connection.

May – Flowing Water. Show an interesting scene that creatively uses flowing water as the primary subject. Be creative, remember that flowing water exists in many places other than in nature.

June – Long Exposure. Make an exposure 1/2 second or longer in such a way that that length of the exposure contributes substantially to the appearance of the subject.

July – Reflections. Submit an image in which the subject is shown creatively in a reflective surface. For example but not limited to water, glass, mirror, metal, etc.

August – Double Exposure. Present an interesting image that is obviously combined from two distinct and separate original images. This may be done in camera or via software. Since this process is altered reality by it’s very nature you will not be required to label your submission as such.

September – Rainy Day. Create an image that is obviously created in rainy conditions and in which those conditions contribute substantially to the story you are visually telling your viewer.

October – Capture Motion. Create an image in which the motion itself becomes the subject. Freeze-frame, blur, timelapse composite, etc.

November – Automobile/Truck/Motorcycle. Make an interesting photo of any of these three modes of transportation. Be creative – think about static beauty shots, action shots, detail shots etc. If including people remember that for this assignment the vehicle must obviously be visually more important as a subject than a driver, rider, etc. For example if you submit a photo of a motorcycle with a rider you must be creative enough to ensure that the motorcycle is obviously more important visually than the combination of the rider paired with the motorcycle in your composition.

2020 Photography Competition Subjects:

January – Patterns. Create an interesting composition that features one or more repetitive patterns.

February – Symmetry. Show symmetry in your composition.

March – My Pet, My Friend. Highlight the interaction and relationships between people and their pets.

April – The Unknown. Present an image that engages the viewer in a mystery.

May – Into the Distance. Show an interesting scene that is composed with a visually distinct vanishing point.

June – Odd Couples. Present an image with non-complementary subject elements. (Things that normally wouldn’t be expected to be seen together.)

July – Home Town Pride. Submit an image that showcases something special that residents would be proud of as a representation of their community.

August – Abstract. Present an interesting image that is not immediately recognizable to the viewer as depicting a particular object or scene.

September – Framed. Compose a scene in which all or some of the important subject matter is seen through another element of the composition.

October – Superstition. Create imagery that represents the concepts, elements, or practice related to a superstitious belief.

November – Window Shopping. Make creative use of windows in a composition.

2019 Photography Competition Subjects:

Jan – Unusual Angle of View
Create interesting images of any subjects from an unusual camera. Low angle, high angle, tilted camera angle, etc.

Feb – Patterns
Create interesting images that are based on visual repetition of subject elements.

Mar – Backlighting
Create images with strong visual impact where the subjects are very obviously illuminated from behind by a strong light source

Apr – Night Sky
Create compelling images using the night sky as the primary subject element. The night sky should not be secondary or incidental to the images.

May – Simplify/Minimalism
Create impactful images utilizing a single element as the subject while eliminating or minimizing other visual elements within the scene.

Jun – Bridges
Create well-composed images using either entire bridges or visually interesting portions of their structure.

Jul – Dance
Create artistic images that represent the beauty and motion of the art of dance.

Aug – Lens Flare
Create well-composed images of any subject that is visually enhanced by any of the many forms of lens flare that can occur when light from a strong source strikes the front element of a camera lens.

Sep – Bokeh
Create interesting images of any subject that is visually enhanced by having an obviously very out-of-focus background.

Oct – Reflections
Create compelling images where the primary subject is reflected on any surface or is strongly visually supported by reflections.

Nov – Moving Water/Liquid
Create interesting images where the primary subject is any form of moving liquid with the artistic goal being to specifically show the motion of the liquid in an interesting way.

Technical Meetings that are scheduled as of now are:

January 25thTechnical Meeting – How to make a Blurb book

February 23^rd Technical Meeting – Saturday morning photo scavenger hunt at Hillsborough River State Park. Arrive by 9:45 am latest, event starts at 10:00 am. Additional details to be announced.

2018 Competition Assignments:

January – Cell phone photos (Any subject is acceptable. You must include the metadata with your file to prove it was taken with a cell phone.)
February – Historic (Present photos of historically significant places, things, or reenactments of historic events.)
March – Night Photography (Present images of subjects that show them at night.)
April – Panorama/Vertorama (Present images in a narrow aspect ratio.)
May – Leading Lines (Present images that make use of leading lines within the composition.)
June – The shape of things (Present images of subjects that have photographically interesting shapes.)
July – Nautical (Present images of  subjects that relate to sailors, boating, maritime navigation, etc.)
August – Children (Present candid or posed images of children.)
September – Competitive events (Present images of activities that are of a competitive nature.)
October – Silhouette (Present images of subjects rendered as dark shapes without discernible detail against a lighter background.)
November – City life (Present images that evoke the lifestyle associated with people that reside in urban environments.)

2018 Technical Night Schedule:

January – No 4th Friday meeting due to our club field trip to St Augustine.
February – Techniques for photographing and processing panoramic images
May – Field trip to Ybor City for street photography
June – Leon Robinson will give a presentation on sports photography
July – Susan Anderson will give a presentation on street photography
August – Lynn Wiezycki will give a presentation and host a hands-on night of macro photography
September – Robert Rostick will give a demonstration on focus stacking techniques and software
October – Night photography field trip to downtown Tampa

2017 Competition Assignments:

January – Doorways (Present a photo that shows a literal or figurative doorway.)
February – Domestic Animals (A domestic animal is an animal that is bred and/or lives in a tame condition as a pet, a work animal, or a food source.)
March – Shadows (Present an image that utilizes shadows in a prominent manner.)
April – Cars
May – Music (Create an image that visually conveys the concept of music.)
June – Science (Present an image that conveys the concept of science or highlights scientific phenomena or paraphernalia as the subject.)
July – Glass (The subject matter should be made of glass.)
August – Weather (Present an image highlighting weather phenomena.)
September – Falling Up (Present an image that illustrates the concept of falling away from the ground.)
October – Culture (Present a photo that is representative of the beliefs, rituals, customs, arts, attitudes, etc., of a particular society, organization, group, location, or era in time.)
November – Environmental Portrait (Present a portrait of person taken in a location that illuminates an aspect of that persons life that you wish to highlight.)

2017 Technical Night Schedule:

June – Photographing glass
July – Mirrorless camera introduction
Aug – Compositing
Sep – One light portrait with off-camera flash
Oct – Tentative FMOPA tour

2016 Technical Night Schedule:

January – Printing from Lightroom
February – Tips and Techniques for Emulating the Masters
March – Flower Photography
April – No fourth Friday meeting
May – Tips and Techniques for Architectural Photography
June – Tips and Techniques for Food Photography
July – Tips and Techniques for Butterfly Photography
August – Aurora HDR Software Tips and Techniques
September – RAW File exchange
October – Tips and Techniques for Landscape Photography

2015 Competition assignments:

January – Landscape (Present a photo that shows a space within the world and focuses primarily on the presence of nature or in the case of an urban landscape, the lack of the presence of nature)
February – Macro (True macro of 1:1 or greater magnification preferred, reasonable close-ups considered by judges)
March – Black on black / white on white (Image may contain some color but must be primarily a white subject against a white background or a black subject against a black background)
April – Animals in action (Not standing still or dead on a plate)
May – Fairytale gone bad ( Use your imagination and show a new twist on an old classic)
June – Night sky (Create an image that includes the night sky or celestial objects in the night sky as a primary part of the composition)
July – Light painting (Use a light painting technique to illuminate the subject matter in a composition)
August – Composite image (Combine 2 or more original images into a single composition)
September – Family event storyboard  (3 to 5 images that when presented together tell the story of a family event)
October – Adventure sports (Photograph an activity that is considered to be relatively dangerous to participants due to factors such as speed, height, environmental conditions and high level of physical exertion.
November – Emotional portrait (Present a portrait of someone displaying genuine emotion or that is intended to invoke an emotional reaction from the viewer)

2015 Technical Nights:

January – Night photography, details to be announced
February – Saturday field trip to Tampa Bay Downs
June – Compositing techniques

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2014 Competition assignments:

Nov     Photograph a public performance (Photograph a dance performance, theatrical play, music concert, etc)