Club Competitions
Only current State College Photo Club members may submit photos to our competitions.
For more about membership, click here.
In 2025-26, the SCPC will have seven monthly meetings devoted to competition. Photos are submitted ahead of time and are scored by club members or an invited external guest. Competition meetings are designed to provide constructive feedback through a friendly discussion of strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement.
All elements of submitted images must be completely your own work (e.g., use your own skies for sky replacement).
All meetings are at the Patton Township Municipal Building Boardroom, 100 Patton Plaza, State College, PA 16803
| Date | Time | Topic |
| Oct 20 | 7-9 pm | Competition, Geometry/Patterns Short Presentation: Night Photography by Jane Liechty |
| Dec 15 | 7-9 pm | Holiday Party Competition: Night Photography (excluding Astro) |
| Jan 19 | 7-9 pm | Competition: Open Short presentation: Portfolios by Jason Smoyer |
| Mar 16 | 7-9 pm | Competition: Landscape Short presentation: Shadows and the Nature of Light by Jane Liechty |
| April 20 | 7-9 pm | Competition: Single Light Portrait Short presentation: Travels by Jim Valent |
| June 15 | 7-9 pm | Competition: Smartphone Open Short presentation: BW Photography by Carolyn Todd Larson |
| July 20 | 7-9 pm | Competition: Black and White Open Short presentation: Travels by Rich Shore |
Common Questions
How do I prepare my images?
- Images should be 2000 pixels on their longest side and 300 ppi
- Save your image as a jpeg file in sRGB*
- File size should be no more than 2 MB
- Filename must include your full name and a title
*Note that repeated saving in jpeg format results in an excessively compressed file that is pixelated or lacks critical detail when viewed on the projector at meetings. We recommend you save full-size edited image as TIFF files until your final save as jpeg.
How do I submit my images?
- You may submit two images per competition.
- You may resubmit any images that have never won an SCPC ribbon previously.
- Each competition has its own upload page, accessed from your wwwStateCollegePhotoClub.org login. We use PollUnit to submit and score images.
- Images must be submitted to PollUnit via the link provided during the submission window.
- The image filename must include your full name and the title.
- If two competitions are offered concurrently (for example, May 19, 2025, is both a themed and open competition), you may distribute your two images however you choose (2 themes, 2 opens, or 1 in each).
How are images scored?
- Score photographs by accessing the online polling pages from your www.StateCollegePhotoClub.org log-in, in the same way you submitted images.
- You may score your own images.
- If you participate in scoring, you must score all images. Partial scores will be disgarded.
- You may score, even if you have not submitted images to this category.
- When scoring, view images on a big screen – desktop monitor or cast to a TV monitor. Smart phones will not show realistic image quality.
- Scoring is out of 15. The following rubric was created as a guideline:
What are the prizes?
Ribbons are given to first, second, third place, and honorable mention winners for each competition. We post winners to SCPC’s Facebook & Instagram pages. At September’s end-of-year meeting, ribbon-winning images from all monthly competitions are critiqued and ranked by an outside judge, and winners are awarded ribbons and social media posts. End-of-year cumulative points winners are also awarded ribbons.
Inter-club Competitions
PSA PID
We belong to the international organization Photographic Society of America (PSA) and participate in Inter-Club competitions in the Pictorial Projected Image Division (PID). Three times a year, our club submits six photos chosen by members. We compete against seventeen other clubs in twelve states and five countries. We have been steadily rising in the PSA club rankings.
Why compete with other clubs? We become exposed to different styles of photography and learn about what’s considered best in camera clubs throughout the world.
For more information about PSA, please visit here.
The 2024-25 calendar for PSA PID competitions is:
| Date | Competition |
|---|---|
| November 1, 2024 | PSA Inter-Club 1st Submission View past winners at: https://psa-photo.org/page/competition-results We compete in PID Color in Group F |
| February 1, 2025 | PSA Interclub Competition 2nd Submission. |
| April 1, 2025 | PSA Inter-Club Competition 3rd Submission |