Something New—AI in Photography
In a nutshell: Use your own pixels.
The advent of AI generated content has the potential to impact our competition. We do not object to the use of AI tools for things like masking or object removal, provided they are used to perform tasks which we might otherwise do manually at far greater expense of time. However, photos with AI generated elements should NOT be submitted to our competitions.
This is a fine line. For example, using AI tools to mask a sky which you replace with another sky which you took is acceptable, while using AI to automatically replace a sky with one AI generated is not. Likewise, using a spot healing brush (which is actually a form of AI) is acceptable, as would be removal of an object which does not result in AI generating a “new” element in the image as part of the replacement process. But going beyond filling the space of the removed object with a clear and obvious reconstruction of what appears to be behind it is not acceptable.
In essence, using pixels that come from your own photographic work is okay. Using content generated from words, prompts, etc. is not.
By entering your image into any DAPC contest, you are certifying that all photographic materials are your own and no generative AI was used.
If you have questions, please use the form below to ask them. We'll post questions and answers anonymously, but please enter your name and email so we'll know you're a club member. If the form isn't working for you, just ask your question in an email.
In a nutshell: Use your own pixels.
The advent of AI generated content has the potential to impact our competition. We do not object to the use of AI tools for things like masking or object removal, provided they are used to perform tasks which we might otherwise do manually at far greater expense of time. However, photos with AI generated elements should NOT be submitted to our competitions.
This is a fine line. For example, using AI tools to mask a sky which you replace with another sky which you took is acceptable, while using AI to automatically replace a sky with one AI generated is not. Likewise, using a spot healing brush (which is actually a form of AI) is acceptable, as would be removal of an object which does not result in AI generating a “new” element in the image as part of the replacement process. But going beyond filling the space of the removed object with a clear and obvious reconstruction of what appears to be behind it is not acceptable.
In essence, using pixels that come from your own photographic work is okay. Using content generated from words, prompts, etc. is not.
By entering your image into any DAPC contest, you are certifying that all photographic materials are your own and no generative AI was used.
If you have questions, please use the form below to ask them. We'll post questions and answers anonymously, but please enter your name and email so we'll know you're a club member. If the form isn't working for you, just ask your question in an email.
DAPC Print Contests
We are currently planning three quarterly print contests in 2025, in March, June, and September, at the regularly scheduled in-person club meetings.
All Doña Ana Photography Club Members may bring up to 3 prints to the meeting for a friendly little contest. The prints will be displayed and judged by the members at the beginning of the meeting and the results tallied while the program is presented. Results will be shown and discussed after the program, with the emphasis being to learn how to make a great photograph.
This is an excellent opportunity to prepare for our Photo of the Year Competition. Since even a friendly little contest needs rules, here are ours:
Entries must be prints with the image no larger than 8.5” x 11”. Mounting is not required.
We are currently planning three quarterly print contests in 2025, in March, June, and September, at the regularly scheduled in-person club meetings.
All Doña Ana Photography Club Members may bring up to 3 prints to the meeting for a friendly little contest. The prints will be displayed and judged by the members at the beginning of the meeting and the results tallied while the program is presented. Results will be shown and discussed after the program, with the emphasis being to learn how to make a great photograph.
This is an excellent opportunity to prepare for our Photo of the Year Competition. Since even a friendly little contest needs rules, here are ours:
Entries must be prints with the image no larger than 8.5” x 11”. Mounting is not required.
- The title of the photo and your name must be on the back of the entry. No information should be on the front.
- You may submit up to 3 photos that have not been awarded a ribbon in any prior print contest or Photo of the Year competition.
- Use your own pixels. See discussion of AI in photography above
- There is no time limit for the print contests, but entries taken in the past two years are eligible for the Photo of the Year contest.
- Approximately one-third of the entries submitted will receive either a red or a blue ribbon. There are no classes or categories—all entries compete equally.
- All entries will also count toward our Photographer of the Year award.
- To enter, you must be a paid-up Doña Ana Photography Club member. You may pay your dues online or at any club event, just before submitting your entry..
- Entries are to be brought to the club meeting on the date of the competition between 7 and 7:15 pm, and picked up at the end of the meeting.
- You should be present to learn from this experience; but if you can't be, have someone else bring and pick up your entries.
- By submitting an entry, you consent to it being used for Club publicity.
June Print Contest Winners
Blue Ribbons
Will Keener - Corn Mountain-Zuni Pueblo
Jim Rodgers - City of Rocks Milky Way
Matt Pollard - Mono Wing
JT Evans - Reflections of Shiprock
Jim Rodgers - Lightning Show
Red Ribbons
Will Keener - Joy-Old Mesilla Plaza
Amy Thompson West - Morning at the Distressed Bench
JT Evans - Stone to Sky
Terry Gaume - On Tap
Keith Kingdon - Little Patos Lighthouse and Northern San Juan
Will Keener - Corn Mountain-Zuni Pueblo
Jim Rodgers - City of Rocks Milky Way
Matt Pollard - Mono Wing
JT Evans - Reflections of Shiprock
Jim Rodgers - Lightning Show
Red Ribbons
Will Keener - Joy-Old Mesilla Plaza
Amy Thompson West - Morning at the Distressed Bench
JT Evans - Stone to Sky
Terry Gaume - On Tap
Keith Kingdon - Little Patos Lighthouse and Northern San Juan
2024 Photo of the Year Contest
Rules for the 2024 DAPC Photo of the Year Award
Judges will be asked to rate each image and provide comments if desired. The winning image, based on a combination of the ratings, will be named the “Photo of the Year” and will be featured in photo club publicity and in local media.Paid-up members may send up to 3 JPEG photos they have taken since November 2022 to: POY@DAPhotoClub.org by midnight Thursday, November 14, 2024. No late entries will be accepted. If you have not paid your 2024 dues, you can do so on the Membership page of the website. One nice thing about paying dues now is that they will count toward your 2025 membership.
One-third of all entries will win ribbons. These are fantastic odds!
Every contest must have rules, so here are ours:
Winners will be announced at the January 7 DAPC meeting. Check our home page in the not so distant future for information on this.
Judges will be asked to rate each image and provide comments if desired. The winning image, based on a combination of the ratings, will be named the “Photo of the Year” and will be featured in photo club publicity and in local media.
For awarding ribbons and to help everyone compete with their peers, there will be two classes:
Judges will be asked to rate each image and provide comments if desired. The winning image, based on a combination of the ratings, will be named the “Photo of the Year” and will be featured in photo club publicity and in local media.Paid-up members may send up to 3 JPEG photos they have taken since November 2022 to: POY@DAPhotoClub.org by midnight Thursday, November 14, 2024. No late entries will be accepted. If you have not paid your 2024 dues, you can do so on the Membership page of the website. One nice thing about paying dues now is that they will count toward your 2025 membership.
One-third of all entries will win ribbons. These are fantastic odds!
Every contest must have rules, so here are ours:
- Photos must not have been submitted in the 2023 “Photo of the Year” competition.
- There will be two categories: Color and Monochrome (grayscale or shades of one color).
- The image file name must consist of: the photographer’s name and the photo’s title For example: “John Smith-Taos Sunset.jpg”. Please don’t use anything like “Untitled” as a title—judges will see the title, but not the name of the photographer, so your titles should be unique and avoid identifying all your images as being from the same photographer.
- No watermark, copyright, or other visible information that could identify you may be part of the image.
- Images will be delivered to the judges with a maximum dimension of 1920 pixels horizontally and 1080 pixels vertically. If your image does not fit within these dimensions, it will be resized at your risk. (For most images, you can simply use 1080 pixels high.) If this is confusing, please ask for help.
- Use your own pixels. See discussion of AI in photography above.
Winners will be announced at the January 7 DAPC meeting. Check our home page in the not so distant future for information on this.
Judges will be asked to rate each image and provide comments if desired. The winning image, based on a combination of the ratings, will be named the “Photo of the Year” and will be featured in photo club publicity and in local media.
For awarding ribbons and to help everyone compete with their peers, there will be two classes:
- Class A is members who have won at least one blue or two red ribbons in the last 5 Photo of the Year competitions (we know who you are) and for those members who elect this honor (if you do, please include that information with your submissions).
- Class B is everyone else. Class B members have won the Photo of the Year award several times, so it could be you!
- Ribbons will be awarded to the top 1/3rd (split evenly between Blue and Red) of the images in each of these groups: Class A Monochrome, Class A Color, Class B Monochrome, Class B Color.
- By submitting an entry, you consent to it being used (with credit) for photo club publicity.