RCPS competitions for 2025-2026
Each year, we run 4 competitions plus the President’s Cup. All members are warmly invited to enter the competitions. Do carefully read the brief for each competition: the judge will use the same brief to assess your entries.
Please follow the competition rules. And remember to check the maximum number of images you can enter for each competition below, as it can vary.
Competition 1 – “Monochrome“
Any subject, any style, any format – as long as it’s presented in monochrome. Each image should use tints of a single colour (eg black, red or sepia). Black, for example, would range through greys to white. The image can be taken as monochrome, or converted from colour to monochrome.
Duotones, or heavily desaturated colour, are not monotones. Images must be monotone – a single colour, with tints fading to white.
- Judge: John Gill
- Submission date
Entries are now closed - Judging date
20 Oct 2025
Competition 2 – “Open colour“
Any subject, any style, any format – as long as it’s in colour and not monochrome!
You can submit up to FOUR images in any combination of prints and PDIs except all four being of one type.
- Judge:
Simon Hill HonFRPS – president, Royal Photographic Society - Submission date
Entries are now closed - Judging date
1 Dec 2025
Competition 3 – “Square format“
Does what it says on the tin: your images must be perfectly square. Think about your composition and/or your cropping. PDIs and your print references should be a maximum of 1200×1200 pixels.
- Judge: TBA
- Submission date
2 Feb 2026 - Judging date
23 Feb 2026
Competition 4 – “Altered reality“
Your images must clearly show a change in the subject’s natural colour, form, shape, etc. You could use intentional camera movement, collage, multiple exposure, distortion, negatives, filters, etc. The ‘alteration’ can be done in-camera, in post-production, or both.
AI can be used in the way we normally permit, so you can use processes which do not contribute significantly to your image – such as ‘generative expand’ or ‘remove’. However, you may not use AI to generate any objects, backgrounds or ‘scapes. In other words, all of the key component parts of your images must be original to you.
- Judge: TBA
- Submission date
9 Mar 2026 - Judging date
30 Mar 2026
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Inspiration:
President’s Cup: “Professions“
A bit of fun (doesn’t count towards your year’s competition points) but obviously taken terribly seriously. To be judged by our president, Stuart Ward, whose brief is:
“Images will show an aspect of a profession. It could be a close-up of someone doing fine work, like jewellery; someone doing plumbing, mechanical work, or outdoor work like road resurfacing. It could be a musician, circus performer or military personnel. Let your imaginations go wild!”
- Judge: Stuart Ward – RCPS president
- Submission date
30 March 2026 - Judging date
20 April 2026
Any questions?
Please contact our competitions secretary