2025 Monochrome Competition

2025 Monochrome Competition

Scope of Competition

Monochrome photography challenges entrants to see beyond colour, focusing on the interplay of light, shadow, texture, and form to create compelling visual narratives. This section invites entrants to demonstrate their mastery of light and shadow, contrast, and composition through black and white imagery that strengthens rather than diminishes their subject’s impact.

A monochrome image must fall into one of these two categories:

  1. A purely greyscale image using only black, white, and shades of grey
  2. A greyscale image that has been uniformly tinted with a single colour across the entire frame (such as sepia, red, or gold toning)

An image is NOT considered monochrome if it:

  • Has selective colour toning in different areas
  • Includes spot colouring or partial colourization
  • Uses multiple tints or tones across different parts of the image

Such images that mix colours or toning effects are not considered a monochrome and will be disqualified.

For Individual members, a maximum of three (3) images can be entered into the Individual category of this competition.  

For camera clubs, a maximum of six (6) images can be entered into the Club category of this competition. All six (6) images must be from six (6) different club photographers.

Competition Process

Competition Coordinator – Sheldon Boles – CAPA Director of Competitions: competitions@capacanada.ca

Questions about the scope of the competition and/or the editing criteria should be directed to the Coordinator well in advance of  the closing day of the competition.

Closing Date of Competition – November 15, 2025 at midnight Standard Time (Ontario).

Check out our – How To Upload Images To CAPA Competition here. 

Special Note : Following a period of 2 weeks after the competition’s closing date, you can access the final competition report by logging into the CAPA website and navigating to the ‘Competition Reports’ under the ‘Competitions’ dropdown menu

Competition Details (click arrow for more details)
Themes

Submitted image must fall within one of the following themes:

  • Candid Person(s) – images that capture unscripted moments of subtle interactions, and spontaneous dramas of everyday human life – genuine moments found in street scenes, cultural gatherings, or daily activities rather than posed portraits or professional models.  
  • Natural Surroundings – images that showcase the raw beauty and drama of our environment through weather phenomena, geological formations, cityscapes, landscapes, seascapes, and celestial events. Human elements may be included if they serve to enhance the scale or narrative of the natural scene.
  • Dramatic Contrast & Shadows – images where the interplay of light and shadow creates compelling visual narratives through low-key, silhouette, or selective lighting techniques. Image may include architectural elements, human forms, urban structures or natural subjects.
  • Nostalgia – images that transport viewers through time by capturing the weathered beauty of bygone eras, from abandoned places and vintage artifacts to creative composites that bridge past and present.

Editing Criteria

  • Eligibility Criteria – Prior to submitting any photo in a CAPA competition, all entrants must first read the CAPA Eligibility Criteria relating to images submissions. – READ ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA HERE
  • Permitted Editing Techniques:

All In-Camera Techniques: Any adjustments made directly within the camera during image capture.

On-Camera Techniques: Utilizing on-camera features and settings for image enhancements.

Post-Processing Techniques: Editing the image using post-processing software.

Sky Replacement: Sky replacement is permitted but, the replacement sky must have been captured by the same photographer submitting the image into the competition.

Triptychs (an image of three (3) separated images contained in a single image) are  permitted in this competition.

  • Editing Techniques Not Permitted:

Images without Photographic Origin: Images that are entirely generated electronically with no photographic origin.

Frames, Borders, Pin-lines, and Mats: Photograph must not contain any decorative elements like frames, borders, pin-lines, or mats.  This includes the edges and markings of scanned film.  When the frame is integral to the captured image, for instance a window frame or door frame that has been captured by the camera, these elements are permitted.

New AI Authentication Standards : To support our new AI Authentication Standard and Content Credentials requirement, we’ve developed five “AI Pitfalls” guidelines to help protect photographers’ competition eligibility. These guidelines clarify which AI features are acceptable for competition submissions and which should be avoided:

Adobe Photoshop – (English) (French) 

Lightroom – (English) (French)

Luminar Neo – (English) (French) 

ON1 Photo RAW – (English) (French)

Topaz Labs – (English) (French)

Effective as of January 1, 2026, all photographers processed with any of the above applications must use the specific export or save features outlined in the respective AI Pitfall document.

All images edited with all other post-processing applications should be saved or exported as normal.

SPECIAL NOTE – Screenshots and screen captures are not accepted as they remove essential metadata needed for fair evaluation.

  • Image Metadata Required:

All submitted photographs should maintain complete, unaltered original metadata (EXIF). Preserving this information facilitates verification of potential winning entries.

Submissions must include full metadata from post-processing applications to ensure competition integrity. 

The Competition Director will request original, un-retouched JPEG/RAW files, XMP files and/or any other image files for any potential winning image to verify compliance.  Only images with intact metadata will be accepted for verification and authentication purposes.

If a photographer fails to provide requested image files when asked by the Director, their potential winning entry will be withdrawn and competition results recalculated.

These requirements aim to ensure transparency and verify adherence to the competition’s specifications regarding image authenticity and compliance with the editing criteria.

  • Accepted Image Types:

– Black & White image
– Colour images converted to black & white
– Infrared image which consists of only black & white

Image Specifications

Title of Image

When images are uploaded into a competition, you are required to enter the title of your image into the Title Field which is now limited to 32 characters. Title can be in either  English or French.

Do Not: enter your name, the name of the photographer or the club name in the Title Field (that is for the Title of the image)

Do Not: include punctuation or symbols (such as / –_  , ; : ‘’ “” ! ? & $%*{} [ ] @ # &) or quotation marks in the Title of your image.

The Image Title should be simple, and introduce or set the mood or perspective for your image.  For example:  Sublime Nova Scotia Sunset

A weak image title, such as ‘pretty flower,’ will fail to stimulate the judge’s interest in the image and may result in a lower score than expected.

Image File Name

The image file name that you create prior to uploading into this competition should also be simple, and could be the same as the Image Title. For example: John Snow-Sublime Nova Scotia Sunset

Image Size – Dimensions

You must ensure your image is re-sized to meet the following two parameters:

    1. Saved as a jpg image with a maximum file size of 1.8 MB.
    2. Dimensions: Maximum horizontal size: 1400 pixels and maximum vertical size: 1050 pixels.

Example of Image Sizing – Double-click to view image

Note: Images smaller than the maximum dimensions will ONLY be accepted when one of the image edges has a horizontal size is 1400 pixels or the vertical size is 1050 pixels.  For example: square image – 1050 x 1050 pixels; 1400 x 800 pixels; or 700 x 1050 pixels.

Note: Images will NOT be rotated by the judges and will scored as submitted.

During the uploading process of your image, our online competition system will verify if the image is less than 1.8 MB and meets the two parameters.

If your image fails this verification process, you will receive an error message and it will appear below the upload image box.

Depending on the error message – you will need to either reduce the file size of the image to be 1.8 MB or less or re-size the dimensions of your image.  After doing so, please re-try uploading your image.

Suggestions – Use sRGB colour space for your image.  For colour accuracy: we strongly recommend that you calibrate your monitor to ensure colour accuracy from your monitor to the image projected to the judges.

Judging Criteria

  • Judges will assign scores primarily based on the Creative Intent of the image maker. Creative Intent refers to the characteristics of originality, expressiveness and imagination in communicating a story or eliciting an emotional response that gives the image a strong and lasting impact.
  • Judges will also take into consideration in their scoring the degree to which the Organizational and Technical Components contribute to or support the Creative Intent.

    *Organizational Component refers to composition/design, use of space, balancing of elements, use of lighting, and presentation of the image.

    *Technical Component refers to the exposure triangle (aperture, ISO, shutter speed), sharpness, in-camera and post-processing techniques such as intentional camera movement, use of colour, monochrome, duo and multi-tone, HDR, focus stacking, or any other technique permitted by the competition rules. 

  • An Image’s title may be used by the judges in evaluating a submission, so entrants should take care in selecting a title that complements or contributes to the vision or message being presented in the image.