Abbotsford Photo Arts Club

Competition Editing Rules

Editing rules for all five competition groups on a single page

Restricted Editing
Authenticity Required
Edits must not alter the original scene. Applies to Documentary (Photojournalism and Nature).
Open Editing
Creative Freedom
Broad editing permitted using the maker's own photographic material. Applies to Open, Pictorial, and Creative.
Unrestricted Editing
Complete Freedom
No restrictions. External components permitted. Applies to Artistic. Club scores only; may not qualify for outside competitions.
At a glance: key rules by group
Rule PJ Nature Open & Pictorial Creative Artistic
Capture & In-Camera
HDR & Focus Stacking ✗ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
In-Camera Multiple Exposure ✗ ✗ ✓ ✓ ✓
Panoramic Stitching ✗ ✗ ✓ ✓ ✓
Physical Lens Filters ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Infrared ✗ ✗ ✓ ✓ ✓
Post-Processing
Digital Creative Filters ✗ ✗ ✓ ✓ ✓
Borders & Frames ✗ ✗ ✓ no text ✓ no text ✓
3rd Party Presets ✗ ✗ ✓ own content ✓ own content ✓
Clone / Remove / Relocate Elements crop only crop only ✓ ✓ ✓
Add / Replace Pictorial Elements ✗ ✗ ✗ ✓ ✓
Composite from Multiple Shoots ✗ ✗ ✗ ✓ own images ✓
External Components (not maker's own) ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✓
Subject Must Be Recognizable N/A N/A Required Not required Not required
AI & Computer Generation
AI-Generated Components ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✓
✓ Permitted
✗ Not permitted
✓ note Permitted with restriction
Rules that apply to every group and category
Physical lens filters (polarizing, ND, etc.) are permitted.
Images may be converted to monochrome.
Non-photographic components that identify the maker (signatures, watermarks, etc.) are not permitted.
Images may not be solely created by a computer application.
AI-generated components are not permitted. Exception: the Artistic category permits components from any source, which may include AI-generated elements, provided the image as a whole is not solely computer-generated.
DO
Documentary
2 categories • Photojournalism • Nature
Restricted Editing
PJ Photojournalism
Permitted
✓Techniques that enhance presentation without changing the story, pictorial content, or original scene: distortion correction, straightening horizons, local and global adjustment of contrast, brightness, colour balance, saturation, cropping, sharpening, noise reduction.
✓Minor cleanup: removal of sensor dust, scratches, chromatic aberration.
✓Dodging and burning.
✓Conversion to monochrome.
✓Physical lens filters.
✓All allowed adjustments must appear natural.
Not Permitted
✗HDR, focus stacking, or in-camera multiple exposure (at any time interval).
✗Post-processing HDR.
✗Softening, blurring, or vignetting the background.
✗Panoramic stitching.
✗Flipping the image.
✗Techniques that add, relocate, clone, replace, or remove pictorial elements (cropping excepted).
✗Infrared images.
✗Borders, edge effects, or frames.
✗Third party presets, applications, brushes, or actions.
✗Digital Creative Filters (in-camera or post-processing).
NA Nature
Differs from Photojournalism in three ways: Nature permits HDR and focus stacking, and permits flipping the image. However Nature adds two extra restrictions not in Photojournalism: long exposures of clouds or water that do not look realistic are not permitted, and star trails in long exposures are not permitted.
▼ Full Nature editing rules ▶
Permitted
✓Techniques that enhance presentation without changing the story, pictorial content, or original scene: distortion correction, straightening horizons, local and global adjustment of contrast, brightness, colour balance, saturation, cropping, sharpening, noise reduction.
✓HDR and focus stacking.
✓Physical lens filters.
✓Minor cleanup: removal of sensor dust, scratches, chromatic aberration.
✓Flipping the image.
✓Dodging and burning.
✓Conversion to monochrome.
✓All allowed adjustments must appear natural.
Not Permitted
✗Softening, blurring, or vignetting the background.
✗Panoramic stitching.
✗In-camera multiple exposure.
✗Techniques that add, relocate, clone, replace, or remove pictorial elements (cropping excepted).
✗Infrared images.
✗Borders, edge effects, or frames.
✗Third party presets, applications, brushes, or actions.
✗Digital Creative Filters (in-camera or post-processing).
✗Long exposures of clouds or water that do not look realistic.
✗Star trails in long exposures.
🌿 APAC Nature Photography Ethics ▶
Do not do anything to injure or distress animals or destroy their habitat in an attempt to secure an image.
Maintain an appropriate distance from an active nest, and in most cases avoid them entirely.
Do not bait wildlife, to avoid possible long-term impacts.
Do not stress wildlife by getting too close.
Learn about the species' behaviour and the ecology of the area.
Use appropriate lenses and techniques that minimize stress on wildlife. Be a naturalist as well as a nature photographer, and be especially careful and respectful when photographing species-at-risk and threatened species.
Consider avoiding the photography of species-at-risk altogether. For more information consult the Canadian Federal Species At Risk Act, Schedule 1.
OP
Open & Pictorial
Open (2 categories) • Pictorial (12 categories)
Open Editing
Open Group categories
MC Monochrome
OP Open
Pictorial Group categories
A Action
AR Architecture
LA Landscape & Seascape
DC Domestic & Captive Animals
UR Urban or Rural
FL Floral
PT Portraiture
MA Macro
ST Sport
SL Still Life
SP Street Photography
ZM Mature
Permitted
✓Any in-camera, on-camera, and/or post-processing techniques, as long as the subject is recognizable.
✓HDR, focus stacking, and in-camera multiple exposure taken at the same location at the same time (continuous sequence).
✓Post-processing HDR.
✓Physical lens filters.
✓Panoramic stitching.
✓Third party presets, applications, brushes, and actions using only the maker's own content.
✓Digital Creative Filters (in-camera or post-processing).
✓Digital frame, pin-line, borders, edge effects, discrete borders, and mats provided they do not contain any text.
✓Techniques that relocate, clone, or remove pictorial elements.
✓Conversion to monochrome.
✓Infrared images.
Not Permitted
✗Combining multiple images not shot as a continuous sequence for compositing to create a final image.
✗Third party presets, applications, or processing that includes images or components not created by the maker.
✗Signatures, watermarks, or other non-photographic components that identify the maker.
✗Images solely created by a computer application.
CR
Creative
3 categories • In Camera Effects • Creative Edit • Abstract
Open Editing
1. Adding and replacing elements is permitted. Open and Pictorial only allow relocating, cloning, and removing. Creative also permits adding new pictorial elements and replacing existing ones, as long as they are from the maker's own photographic material.
2. Compositing from multiple shoots is permitted. Open and Pictorial restrict compositing to images from a single continuous sequence. Creative allows combining images from different shoots and different times, provided all components were created by the maker.
3. Subject does not need to be recognizable. Open and Pictorial require the subject to remain recognizable. Creative imposes no such requirement.
▼ Full Creative editing rules ▶
Permitted
✓Any in-camera, on-camera, and/or post-processing techniques.
✓HDR, focus stacking, and in-camera multiple exposure taken at the same location at the same time (continuous sequence).
✓Post-processing HDR.
✓Physical lens filters.
✓Panoramic stitching.
✓Third party presets, applications, brushes, and actions using only the maker's own content.
✓Digital Creative Filters (in-camera or post-processing).
✓Digital frame, pin-line, borders, edge effects, discrete borders, and mats, provided they do not contain any text.
✓Techniques that add, relocate, clone, replace, or remove pictorial elements.
✓Combining multiple images and elements or compositing to create a final image, provided all components were created by the maker.
✓Conversion to monochrome.
✓Infrared images.
Not Permitted
✗Any third party preset, application, brushes, or processing that includes images or components not created by the maker.
✗Signatures, watermarks, or other non-photographic components that identify the maker.
✗Images solely created by a computer application.
AA
Artistic
1 category • Artistic
Unrestricted
External components and third party content are permitted. Creative requires all components in composites, presets, and processing to be the maker's own work. Artistic removes this restriction entirely. Images or components from any source may be used, with one exception: using someone else's work in its entirety is not permitted and is treated as plagiarism. Borders and frames may contain text.
▼ Full Artistic editing rules ▶
Permitted
✓Any in-camera, on-camera, and/or post-processing techniques.
✓HDR, focus stacking, and in-camera multiple exposure taken at the same location at the same time (continuous sequence).
✓Post-processing HDR.
✓Physical lens filters.
✓Panoramic stitching.
✓Third party presets, applications, brushes, and actions. Images or components not created by the maker are permitted.
✓Digital Creative Filters (in-camera or post-processing).
✓Digital frame, pin-line, borders, edge effects, discrete borders, and mats (text in borders is permitted).
✓Techniques that add, relocate, clone, replace, or remove pictorial elements.
✓Combining multiple images and elements or compositing, including images or components not created by the maker.
✓Conversion to monochrome.
✓Infrared images.
Not Permitted
✗Images solely created by a computer application.
✗Signatures, watermarks, or other non-photographic components that identify the maker.
✗Using someone else's work in its entirety (plagiarism).


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